Album Review // 2026-08-07
Draconian
In Somnolent Ruin
Released: 2026-05-08
This album was a request. I had only heard a few songs by the band and went into it with the knowledge that they were doom metal.
This album features Lisa Johansson, who I understand has shared vocal responsibility over the years, but this has been one of her most prominent showcases with the band. I tried to figure out the changes in lineup. It seems there has been a lot of change.
It sounds like the process proved challenging. Even narrowing down songs that would make it to the album was a huge undertaking. This album was 4 years in the making.
Hearing the name Draconian made me think of dragons. I kind of lean towards thinking about dragons. I love dragons! But the dragons this band wants to associate their name with may actually be of the darker kind. I tend to lean towards the long-nosed, fire-breathing types imagined in medieval stories or seen in board games or video games.
The album title In Solmnolent Ruin made me get out the dictionary to see what solmnolent meant. Apparently it means inclined to cause sleep. This feels like a weird name, maybe not if it was a sleepy time album? You know that exhaustion that comes mentally and physically; maybe this is the vibe.
Here are my thoughts on the album.
Artwork
Looking at the artwork, I wanted to know what kind of bird this is? To me, it looks like a fancy pigeon. Maybe it has no significance? The darkness is emphasized in this art. It feels like it is this lady and the bird and no one else. And she is in further darkness because of the veil. Feels a little cliché for the style of music. A portrait of someone feeling so isolated that they can't tolerate a hint of light.
Mood
It feels like it's trying hard to be melancholic, but I don't find it is. It might even be the opposite, and the band have been doing this style of music too long, and it comes with ease but lacks passion. I don't know, but it feels a little unnatural, almost forced. I am having a hard time finding the emotion in it that I can relate to.
Vocals
Lisa's vocals in The Monochrome Blade actually took my breath away because they are so nicely done. They escalate in a way that not everyone can do. They stay soft but powerful.
The verses of I Gave You WIngs I found felt whiny and like they didn't fit in with this style. I didn't find it got better, just reminded me of a Disney princess singing her part. I realize some people really like that; I am not one of them. The combination of vocals with the drawn-out doom drumming is too much for me.
I don't love the interaction between male and female vocals. Unless it is amazing, it makes me wonder what benefit is brought, even if the vocalists are great? Why not pick one or the other? In this case, if it was only male, I might like it more. If it was all female, I wouldn't ever listen to it.
The spoken words I could do without, just adds seconds to the song. I realize they have great meaning for the band, but doesn't do anything for me. Female or male, they are unnecessary to me.
The funny thing about my critique is that I can't sing as well as Lisa, but I know that if I was singing in a band doom metal would be a good fit.
Music
The music has some good riffs, and tones. There isn't anything unexpected about it. The background noises create an atmosphere of isolation. The drawn-out pace seen in doom metal made its appearance, but some songs had a bit more forward motion and energy, such as Cold Heavens Some songs felt longer than they are, leading me to check just how long they are such as Misanthrope River.
The atmospheric song Asteria Beneath The Tranquil Sea felt forgettable. A song like Anima felt like a copy of another song I know in the same genre, different words but....
The first time I listened to this album, the music felt like it was an easy listen, and I was impressed by how it hit the doom checklist and felt comfortable for me. More listens and it lost its magic.
Lyrics
I Welcome Thy Arrow
Maybe we should call it poetic and cathartic, but the point is someone is not feeling right, and would choose an arrow if possible.
Hand me thy poisonous chalice
Impale me on thy spear
And adhere!
Steadfast in my sorrow
I welcome thy arrow
The Monochrome Blade
The writer has hit the bottom and feels to blame.
Erase me from this vision
Halt the burning season
This burden, this burden
Is it my own?
Am I alone in writing my song?
Anima
Makes me think of the way the "you "that is inside you keeps pushing you forward, even in the hardest of circumstances.
For my heart is tired
Tired from trying
Freeing the soul
From all of this dying
From shipwrecks and tides
And counterfeit smiles
Til You my Anima dies
The Face of God
This feels like a nightmare where it is just you, no God, no person, no support. You have thrown hope away.
To imagine what's true
With images
With cutting nightmares
Cringing while sleeping
In wreckage
Slithering
By sea, come forth
Through dark ocean eyes
And rivers' flooding out
Petrified and dreaming
I Gave You Wings
This feels like a very personal letting go of someone.
You and I
We are the residues of light
And we took the sacrifice
Long ago
This derelict path
Through drizzling snow
The path to wisdom edged with thorns
Now, I have no ardour left within me
It was turned into tears
For the world to see
Asteria Beneath the Tranquil Sea
I guess when the going gets tough, sing a song?
Something's always wrong
Even when I'm sleeping
So I cracked the moon
And sang along
Cold Heavens
Feels like someone who feels like they have no future.
I am estranged
A desperate plea for escape
So we must part
This tether now must break
Just let it burn
For all this waiting is murdering my soul
Be it life, be it death
It's all perpetual unrest
Misanthrope River
I don't see a connection to a dislike of people as this title indicates. It feels more like moving along in a direction you don't want to go.
When nothing is what it seems
And the world has been
Pulled over your eyes
When false light beings flock
In the dissonance
We're moving upstream
Down the misanthrope river
Where shall I go if one of us dies?
Where shall I go if one of us dies?
Lethe
Feels like judgement is expected. It is unavoidable and being anticipated.
An Archon waits by the river
The Archon waits for me
Watching myself dissolve
I'm stuck inside this dream
And they call us Sinners
But we are the last Believers
They call us Sinners
There's an Archon by the river
They've always preyed on me
Even now as life has left me
Their current, my ceaseless tide
Playlist Pick
Cold Heavens was my favourite song on the album, probably due to the pace and how relevant Lisa's part was. I still don't think I would listen to it though.
Maybe it's the theme, maybe it's the emotional disconnect with the album. Maybe it's the style of female vocals or the fact that there are both female and male vocals used heavily. I was very curious about the band, so I am glad to have heard this, and there's nothing terrible about it. But overall, not for me,
