The Cry of Silence by Draconian

Draconian is a Swedish band playing Gothic Doom metal since 1994. Their music is known for high tunefulness, rich atmosphere and emotional background expressed by means of contamination of high-pitched female vocal by Lisa Johansson and extremely low growling by Anders Jacobsson. Their tune is always variable and rendering a wide range of emotions. As for the texts, they are mostly written in pure gothic tradition. It means that the plot is usually unfolds around some tragedy of a soul with a mysterious hint; there is a sincere expression of negative emotions like grief, sorrow, pain, anger, mistreat, boredom and depression, but meanwhile this gamma is interlacing with very beautiful reveal of love, faith, and hope. The contrast of two voices is absolutely suitable to play with these opposite emotions and feelings.

The Cry of Silence is a starting track in first Draconian’s full-length album Where Lovers Mourn released on October, 20 2003. The album was recorded at the Studio Mega in June 2003 and produced by Chris Silver and Draconian.

The song is as long as 12 minutes 44 seconds, which is rather long, but typical for gothic metal. This length, first of all, provides an opportunity to include maximum impression into the composition and give full development of emotion.

The song begins step by step, going from low tones higher and higher, creating a rigid atmosphere of tranquil sadness with inclusions of nostalgia and tenderness. First Jacobsson sings, “Fillled with sorrow”¦ Bleak inner self touched by pride, devoured by solitude”¦” and then Lisa moans of “the dust of my abandoned remains.” Suffering is taken with pride and dignity, as gothic tradition demands to worship death as a way of deliverance of all the pain and misery, “Such an exquisite pride in my suffering”¦” The voices of the singers are colliding and thus create the even more exciting and agonizing effect; feeling in the soul also begin to conflict with each other.

Further, the rhythm is intensifying and tension is growing aside. The stress is made on loneliness and forsakenness, but they are taken in an original way: “I am truly left alone, but somehow”¦ just somehow it feels like my loneliness is a victory over the self-delusion of joy”¦ and happiness.” The matter is, loneliness turns out to be much better than cold, unjust and miserable world of people. “Misanthropic view gets stronger,” and the tone becomes more aggressive, but not reaching the peak again calms to peaceful light grief of “many millions of tears to cry”¦ in silence” are a reason of wish to leave. With the demand for retribution, the rhythm again becomes frequent and hard, and finally the understanding of love to brotherhood comes and the only wish is left, to die in order to get free, “so please let me die in silence”¦ oh my god, let me die in silence!” The soft, praying, consolidative melody gives the last accords and gently fades away.

Works Cited
Dali, Salvador. The Persistence of Memory. 1931. Museum of Modern Art, New York.
Draconian. The Cry of Silence. Studio Mega, 2003. Mp3.
Poe, Edgar. Tales and The Raven and Other Poems. Columbus, OH: Charles E. Merrill, 1969.
Silverman, Kenneth. Edgar A. Poe: Mournful and Never-ending Remembrance. New York: Harper Perennial, 1991.



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