Release Date: 26th March 2021. Record Label: Majestic Mountain Records. Formats: CD/DD/Vinyl
Draken - S/T - Tracklisting
Grand General
(We Walk) In Circles
The Master
Strange Love
Mountain In An Endless Ocean
Members
Hallvard Gaardløs - Bass and lead vocals
Even Helte Hermansen - Guitar and background vocals
Andre Drage Haraldsen - Drums
Additional Musicians:
Per Spjutvøld (guest vocals on Way Down low)
Review
Draken's debut full-length album is one “bad-ass” record of different styles which veers into Hard Rock and Heavy Metal territory. The album manages to find a real creative “niche” by blending elements of Doom Metal, Psych Rock, Stoner Metal, Hard Rock, Prog Rock and even NWOBHM lurking in the darker corners of the album.
This album won’t be for everyone but if you’re in the mood for a challenging and hard-rocking experience then Draken will offer a different style of album with lots of different grooves to impress you with. All of the songs are quite different to each other and you would expect the rest of the album to follow the same structure as the excellent opening song Realm Of Silence.
Realm Of Silence has a trippy nature before venturing into the darker corners of Heavy Metal spliced with modern-day Doom Metal attitude and when the band bring a progressive atmosphere to the album then all bets are off at how this album ends up. Draken revel in the fact of trying something different with the different musical aspects they have at their disposal. The vocals have a classical and modern feel at the same time that can be quite bombastic and OTT in all the right places.
Draken carry on with their Doom/Stoner/Progressive hybrid style of music across 6 more interesting songs where the band focus on trying different things but still retaining a cool classic Hard Rock and Heavy Metal style of grooves. There is a lot of Thin Lizzy or Twin Guitar riff-loving worship going on within this album and it’s quite exciting to hear at times especially on songs such as: Way Down Low, (We Walk) In Circles, The Master and Mountain In An Endless Ocean.
The album in sense should really lose steam with the many different ideas that Draken adapts for this record but it never does. As the band plays to their creative and musical strengths with a lot of cool surprises along the way.
Another highlight of the album is how Draken operates effortlessly between the many different styles of Hard Rock and Heavy Metal over the last 60 years. The progressive nature of the album offers a darker and gloomy path for Draken to show their impressive musical skills throughout the entire album.
Overall, Draken's debut album is a delightfully dark and different album to entertain yourself with.
Words by Steve Howe
Thanks to Sheltered Life PR for the promo. The album is available to buy now on CD/DD/Vinyl via Majestic Mountain Records.
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