Beauty is the focus. In the Draconian universe, it’s everything.
But what is beauty without darkness, without the harsh and the ugly as a contrast?
Heike Langhan is in the absolute elite of living vocalists. Everyone else is Biz Markie compared to her, with a few exceptions.** Read reviews of recent Draconian albums; you’re going to find the word, “angelic,” used over and over. Her celestial voice is as delicate and clear as a wineglass stem, holding up a chaliced blend of a dark, lustrous, complex, and savorous red, with incredible depth and poignance.

Anders Jakobsson is her counter. His growls seem at first like standard-issue Death Metal delivery, but with familiarity, his words and delivery are found to bear a subtle pathos. He and Langhan dance and play off of each other like angel and demon, sun and moon, sometimes like lovers, sometimes like combatants between the ropes, always entangled, always connected, held together by the cords of the melodies. This is what Draconian is all about.
Throughout their criminally under-appreciated history, Draconian have been masters of the art of the moment - - even with the singers prior to Heike. Their best songs flow with deliberate grace and pace, all of the song’s elements coalescing into timely works of elemental splendor. These are not vast, complex cityscapes of architecture and highways; but rather natural monuments of wonder, like glaciers, mountains, galaxies, forests. . .
OK, enough waxing poetic.
“Under a Godless Veil” is Draconian’s 2020 followup to 2016’s “Sovran.” It feels like a continuation, like it could be sides 3 and 4 of a “Sovran/Under A Godless Veil” double album. All of the glorious Doom transcendence of Draconian’s past is here. The same songwriting patterns, formulae, templates, and feel are all carried over from “Sovran” - - they must have been thinking: “Why mess with perfection?” Each song is a slow-tempo dirge, with only a few sections that will repeat once, maybe twice, with vocal sections alternating between Jakobsson’s coalmine voice and Langhan’s diamonds.
“Sovran” touches the darkest fathoms of the soul. For those of you who are receptive, it will change your life. No hyperbole. Song by song, “Godless Veil” doesn’t pack the same emotional power and charcoal gray beatitude as “Sovran,” but few albums in human history do, so that’s a tough comparison. Unto itself, and even held up against the *rest* of Draconian’s excellent catalog, “Under a Godless Veil” is an incredible, transcendent, must-hear achievement.
“Lustrous Heart” is possibly THE Metal song of 2020. The chorus evokes Pink Floyd’s most powerful moments. It’s everything that makes Draconian so beloved by their core fanbase.
“Sorrow of Sophia” is the album opener, and seemingly the sail that they’re hoisting to draw attention to the record. It’s a solid tune, and a decent representation of what Draconian is all about, but I’d advise listeners to push past that one and dive into the depths of the rest of the album.
“Sleepwalkers,” “Moon Over Sabaoth,” and “Ascend Into Darkness” are also just knee-weakening in their majesty - - but the other timeless monument on “Godless Veil” is “Burial Fields.” It’s borderline Enya or LORELEI (Heike Langhan’s other project) in its tone, with a chord progression slightly-reminiscent of Nine Inch Nails’s “A Warm Place.” It’s just beyond lovely
In summary, “Sovran” is still Draconian’s masterpiece, but “Under a Godless Veil” is a worthy follow-up, and essential listening for all humans and spirits. A lock to be counted among the top albums of 2020.


**I love Biz Markie, but he's Just a Friend.