Draconian

Draconian is a Swedish gothic/doom metal band that formed in May of 1994. The drummer and vocalist Johan Ericson, bassist and vocalist Jesper Stolpe and guitarist Andy Hindenäs assembled the band Kerberos, initially playing death metal with black metal influences. Seven months later, lead vocalist and lyricist Anders Jacobsson joined the band, and its name changed to Draconian.

Their first demo — Shades of a Lost Moon — was recorded on October, 1995, a week subsequent to their first live concert. The demo counted with flutist and vocalist Jessica Eriksson, keyboardist and vocalist Susanne Arvidsson and with a special participation of Andreas Haag on the introductory section of "My Nemesis". The album was released on February of 1996. The band was then joined by guitarist Magnus Bergström.

No recording contract was obtained with Shades of a Lost Moon, so in early 1997 the band proceeded to record their second demo, entitled In Glorious Victory. The band, however, became discontented with the quality of the recording and discontinued the release.

In the following months, two members of Draconian had to complete their military service, slowing down the progress of the band. Their rehearsals, however, continued to some degree. Susanne Arvidsson left the band due to personal reasons and was replaced by Andreas Karlsson.

Both in 1998 and 1999, the band made concerts. After receiving positive reactions, they decided to enter studio once more. In August of 1999, Draconian recorded Closed Eye of Paradise, an album dealing mostly with the theme of Lucifer and his fallen angels. Susanne Arvidsson made guest vocal appearances on this release. The album was, however, badly produced, and the band decided to spend time polishing it before a release was attempted. Between May and June of 2000, Andreas Karlsson, Anders Jacobsson, and Johan Ericson worked on the recorded material, improving the mix of the instruments and correcting effects. The demo was then released.

Draconian's style had by then become slower and darker, and reflecting this, the 2-track promotional Frozen Features was released on CD format and over the internet. Guitarist Andy Hindenäs left the band and was replaced by drummer Johan Ericson; drums were then left to Jerry Torstensson, who joined the band. Concurrent with these line-up changes, the band's demo was receiving positive feedback from critics of the gothic metal scene. A final demo entitled Dark Oceans We Cry was recorded in 2002, being followed by a contract with label Napalm Records.

The debut album Where Lovers Mourn was recorded under the supervision of Chris Silver (ex-Sundown and Cemetary) in July 2003 and was released three months later. Most of the songs were re-recordings of their earlier compositions. A support tour followed.

Draconian's next release was the concept album Arcane Rain Fell, from 2005, which apart from new songs features a new version of their 15-minute long epic "Death, Come Near Me", and also counts with Ryan Henry (from Necare) as a guest. They released The Burning Halo in 2006 after several delays.

In September 2007, Draconian began recording their fourth album, Turning Season Within at the Fascination Street Studios in Örebro with producers Jens Bogren and David Castillo (Opeth, Katatonia).

Current Members:

Anders Jacobsson - Vocals (1995-)
Lisa Johansson - Vocals (2002-)
Johan Ericson - Lead guitar, backing vocals (1994-)
Daniel Arvidsson - Rhythm guitar (2005-)
Jerry Torstensson - Drums (2000-)
Fredrik Johansson - Bass (2006-)
Andreas Karlsson - Keyboards, programming (1997-)

Past Members:

Andy Hindenäs - Guitar (1994-2000)
Susanne Arvidsson - Vocals, keyboard (1995-1997)
Thomas Jäger - Bass (2002-2004)
Magnus Bergström - Guitar (1995-2005)
Jesper Stolpe - Bass (1994-2002, 2004-2006)

Discography:

Shades of a Lost Moon (Demo, 1995-1996)
In Glorious Victory (Promo, 1997)
The Closed Eyes of Paradise (Demo, 1999)
Frozen Features (Promo, 2000)
Dark Oceans We Cry (Demo, 2002
Where Lovers Mourn (Full Length, 2003)
Arcane Rain Fell (Full Length, 2005)
The Burning Halo (Bonus Full Length, 2006)
Turning Season Within (Full Length, 2008)

I spoke briefly with Anders a few months ago while they were recoding their new album, plus I have two friends who are building sites and pages for them. They are awesome and worth a listen. I recommend "The Cry Of Silence," "Death, Come Near Me," and "She Dies." I will post some pics of them later.

This is probably not of your interest but anyway... I have never heard about this band (Or any of the other bands in this forum section), but I am from Sweden anyway, just fun to know maybe? ^^'

^_^ wow we have health points and stuff now!

well do u like doom metal, nu metal, black metal, punk, or death metal? Draconian is doom metal and well worth a listen i love this band. Alesana is more like punk/nu metal, spineshank is nu metal, eternal tears of sorrow is black metal and divine heresy is death metal/black metal. but u should at least try them out, u might enjoy it.

I dunno if Arina listens to that stuff now sure

well she should they're awesome and i only post bands i like.

I am not very much for metal... my friend loves metal though. He has a band too, I think they play Thrash-Metal or something like that. If you want I can try to upload some of their songs, maybe ^^'

on the forum highly doubtful for sling music but i'd still like to hear some

I'll see what I can do! ^^

alright then