🎶 Draconian
🌎Säffle, Sweden
📀 In Somnolent Ruin
® Napalm Records
📅 08/05/2026

The announcement by Draconian of their new album, combined with the release of its first single, came as an unexpected but welcome surprise—like a gift to the band’s fans. The return of Lisa Johansson stands out as one of the most defining elements of this new era, without in any way diminishing the contribution of Heike Langhans in previous years—a fact that highlights the rare privilege of a band having two equally distinctive vocalists in its history.

Six years after its predecessor, the Swedes’ eighth album arrives to reaffirm the consistency and strength of their artistic identity. “In Somnolent Ruin” gathers all the elements that define their sound: a heavy, imposing atmosphere, melodic lines and an intense emotional charge that moves between melancholy, despair and hope.

“I Welcome Thy Arrow,” with its tolling bells in the intro and Johansson’s angelic voice echoing in the listener’s ears, sets the tone with an almost ritualistic atmosphere before the growls of Anders Jacobsson, combined with crushing riffs, heighten the drama.

Hand me thy poisonous chalice
With arms outstretched
Come here;
This is thy prey!

In contrast, “The Monochrome Blade” flips the dynamic, launching with greater intensity as Jacobsson takes the lead. Even Lisa’s clean vocals carry more force here, resulting in a more aggressive and cinematic outcome.

With a downcast face
and tears aligned
We’re leaving this place
to reclaim the divine

One of the album’s most distinctive tracks is undoubtedly “Anima,” thanks to the contribution of Daniel Anghebe, whose clean male vocals blend beautifully with Lisa’s. In the second half, Jacobsson joins this vocal interplay, shifting the tempo—a characteristic feature throughout “In Somnolent Ruin”.

I lie awake with the rustlings
in the attic of my mind
The harrowing trauma
paints the shadow that walks beside me

“The Face of God” pushes further into doom and post-metal territory, offering some of the album’s most powerful and emotionally charged lyrics.

I saw the face of God
And it was weeping
The spirit of Man
Fitfully Sleeping

The bass provides essential depth, the drums dictate the slow, dragging pace, and the guitar work adds a distinctive dynamic to the composition.

“I Gave You Wings” stands out for its spoken passages and shifting rhythms, which accompany the intense vocal interplay between Anders and Lisa.

You gave me wings
I gave you death
I gave you life
And you were blessed

What follows is the brief “Asteria Beneath The Tranquil Sea,” essentially a musical bridge between “I Gave You Wings” and the subsequent “Cold Heavens”—a simple, atmospheric melody evoking the absolute calm of the open sea.

Something’s always wrong
Even when I’m sleeping
So, I cracked the moon
and sang along

That calm is disrupted by “Cold Heavens,” the album’s first single. It was arguably the most fitting choice—one of the strongest tracks on the record and perhaps the most immediate and accessible among its nine songs. As Johan Ericson himself has stated, this was precisely the intention: to create a more “radio-friendly” track that balances the album’s longer compositions.

With any raging storm some bitter funeral
How dreadfully cold must the heavens be
A land of misery bestowed on me
I see no saving grace in your master’s face

The penultimate track, “Misanthrope River”, also released as a single, leans into a more atmospheric, introspective and emotional direction. Beginning with narration by Simon Bibby, it evolves into one of the album’s most gothic and post-metal moments, with lyrics that evoke a chilling, almost physical sensation.

Cleansing our souls
down the misanthrope river
And cold is the shiver
with a brushing stroke of winter
Cold, cold is the shiver
As I’m moving upstream
down the misanthrope river…

This musical journey concludes with “Lethe” (from the greek word “Λήθη” meaning “oblivion). As the river of oblivion pulls the listener into its current, Johansson’s ethereal voice delivers a haunting farewell.

An Archon waits by the river
The Archon waits for me
Watching myself dissolve
I’m stuck inside this dream

Like a dream, “Lethe” does not gradually return the listener to reality nor does it offer catharsis; instead, it draws them deeper into the album’s emotional vortex, almost inviting repeated immersion. In fact, listening to “I Welcome Thy Arrow” immediately after “Lethe” reveals a sense of continuity—a cyclical, endless loop, much like the chain of emotions that define the human experience.

Draconian return revitalized with the reappearance of Lisa Johansson, without losing sight of their artistic path. “In Somnolent Ruin” is an album that stands confidently alongside their earlier works—not by imitating them, but by expanding and enriching the legacy of these beloved Swedish pioneers of gothic doom metal.

★ 8.5/10
✍🏻 Kostas Boudoukos