Dragonland: Discography (2001 - 2011)

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Dragonland: Discography (2001 - 2011)

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Dragonland is a power metal band from Sweden. The group is most notable for basing their first two and fifth albums upon the self-produced The Dragonland Chronicles fantasy saga and for the original symphonic/electronic parts by Elias Holmlid.

The band was founded in September/October 1999 by guitarist Nicklas Magnusson and Jonas Heidgert. Soon after Daniel Kvist, Magnus Olin and Christer Pederson joined in. Their first demo was recorded on January 2000. Only 3 months before the recording of their debut album, The Battle of the Ivory Plains started, Kvist decided to leave the band and was soon replaced by Olof Mörck. The album was released on April 30, 2001, and the second album, Holy War, was released on February 8, 2002. Both featured singer Jonas Heidgert on drums.

In 2003, Dragonland invited Japanese power metal band Galneryus to play with throughout the Japan tour.[citation needed] That was also the first time Dragonland performed the song, "to the End of the World", which was included a year later in their third album, Starfall, which was released on October 27, 2004, featuring Jesse Lindskog on drums. Johanna Andersson, Tom S. Englund and Henrik Danhage (Tom and Henrik from Evergrey) provided guest performances on the album, including vocals and guitar solos.
Their fourth album, Astronomy, was released on November 11, 2006. Nightrage's Marios Iliopoulos, Amaranthe's Elize Ryd and Jake E and Dead by April's Jimmie Strimell provided guest appearances on this album.

Work on a fifth Dragonland album was announced via Blabbermouth on the 27th of April, 2008. In September 2009, Dragonland launched their re-designed Myspace site, together with a high-quality preproduction of "The Shadow of The Mithril Mountains", a song from the fifth album. It took some time before the album was completely ready. Five years after "Astronomy" the band finally released the new album, Under the Grey Banner, on November 11, 2011. Where "Starfall" and "Astronomy" are two separate albums "Under the Grey Banner" continues the story of their first two albums.

On October 25, 2014, it was announced that there will be two new albums, which are a reissue of the first album, the Battle of the Ivory Plains, and a remastered version of the second album, Holy War. Both albums will have brand new cover artwork, and they will be released on December 5 this year. In the first album, there will also be a new song, "a New Dawn", as its bonus track. That song does not resemble Evergrey's new song, "a New Dawn" (Evergrey is the progressive metal band whose guitarists Tom S. Englund (who is also the lead singer) and Henrik Danhage contributed to Dragonland's third album, Starfall, as mentioned above).

~ wiki

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Dragonland: Discography (2001 - 2011)

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Dragonland: Discography (2001 - 2011)

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There is not much scope for variety in the area of power metal dominated by fantasy based lyrical themes. The main issue is that fantasy stories themselves lack much originality and most of them draw heavy inspiration from Lord Of The Rings. The Battle Of Ivory Plains is based on The Dragon Chronicles and based on the lyrics its all about a hero preparing to go to war, saying his farewell to his loved ones, falling in battle and all that usual fantasy stuff which gets quite boring and cheesy after a while.

But if you ignore the cheesy lyrics there is not much to complain about in Dragonland's debut album. Dragondawn is a decent instrumental introduction giving a nice positive and epic feel, the length is just right, leaving you fairly satisfied but yearning for more music. 'Storming Across Heaven' has a very catchy chorus and it is something Dragonland has been able to do with remarkable consistency. The most disappointing song for me in this album is 'A Last Farewell', it is a lot softer song with a slower tempo, while the melody is still catchy the lyrics are too cheesy to be ignored mainly because the voice provides the melody line in the song. The rest of the songs are decent but nothing path breaking in the genre and can be better understood by listening to the album rather than reading about it.

However, before I close this review I will draw attention to the eighth track in the album 'Rondo ala Turca', which, if you are unfamiliar with western classical music, is a famous composition by Mozart. Now I am pretty sure a lot of classical music can be covered in power metal, heavy metal etc. but not this song, it sounds like a cellphone ring tone played in fast forward and the track itself does not add much to the album. In the story being narrated in the album the protagonist is about die and before his death reveal something and suddenly out of nowhere this cover pops up. 'Rondo ala Turca' gives off a very positive sensation which is completely out of place as a bridge song between 'Graveheart' and 'A Secret Unveiled' and, in my humble opinion, ruins the continuity and feel of the album.

Besides that the album is good, there is good continuity between songs otherwise and the band has put in alot of effort into the melody and lyrics to give off a feeling like you are living the story they are trying to tell, especially in 'The Orcish March' and 'The Battle Of Ivory Plains' you get a sense of war and its tragedy's. It is definitely worth checking out and a good way to spend 49:39 minutes of your life multiple times. Maybe you can check out 'The Dragon Chronicles' along with it too and see if the album produces a similar feeling to the book. I am yet to read the original story but if the album and the story match in terms of the overall experience then this is definitely a brilliant album but till such a time when I finish the book this album is decent, only decent.

by wilchowo, metal-archives.com

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Dragonland: Discography (2001 - 2011)

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It really is interesting to find people writing stories in music, especially in metal music. Power metal for some reason seems to have made itself to be a stereotype. Complex guitar solos, fast drum beats and double bass, opera style vocals, very cheesy lyrics…yeah. Let’s face it, that’s about 90% of all power metal bands and Dragonland is pretty much an epitome of that. Even so, Dragonland’s debut album The Battle of the Ivory Plains was a rather solid one. It’s still what you’d expect from a power metal album, but for what it was, it was a fun experience all the same. Now there’s their second album and the continuation of their story Holy War. To be fair, it’s not really the so-called “sophomore slump” that many music critics use to portray that the second album isn’t as good as the first. If anything Holy War is almost exactly the same as the first album. Nothing has really changed compared to their debut aside from a few improvements but in all seriousness, it’s still pretty damn good.

Much like the first album, much of the instrumentation is spot on. Fast-paced guitar strumming, complex solos, excellent drumming, it’s what Dragonland is good at. You can’t really deny that it’s a fun experience despite how predictable it is. There are few changes from The Battle of the Ivory Plains, but those that are present improve the finer aspects of Dragonland's sound. First off, the vocals are better than they were last time. Jonas Heidgert sounds as if he’s getting more comfortable with the overall music as he doesn’t strain much, and his falsetto is less common. The orchestra is more prominent than before, with the intro and outro tracks featuring the orchestra exclusively, Hundred Years Have Passed and One With All that are simply nothing but orchestration. Many of the songs like Majesty of the Mithril Mountains and the title track contain intro backed up with organ synths that are mixed in rather quite well. Additionally, Dragonland shows a little variety and slows down with Forever Walking Alone. It's a nice change of pace from their debut, which consisted of speed from beginning to end. The two instrumentals also show signs of slowing down but Forever Walking Alone is probably the first time that Dragonland takes the initiative and decides that slow instrumentals aren’t really enough.

As for the things that haven’t changed, I’ve stated them before. The changes on Holy War are minor the most part, and don't have an enormous impact on Dragonland's sound. It’s a predictable fair and it’s everything you’d expect from a band called “Dragonland.” The lyrics are still cheesy as to the style of fantasy fiction writing and the story that the band has created, the guitars and the drums are fast-paced as usual, and the vocal style is still the same, even if it has improved. However, Holy War isn’t a bad album. It’s just that it’s not going to win Dragonland any more fans than it already has. Pre-established Dragonland fans will be the prime customer for Holy War, but if you're seeking to hear the band for the first time, it won't kill you…hopefully.

by Christopher Geriak, sputnikmusic.com

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Dragonland: Discography (2001 - 2011)

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Although the power metal revival movement of the '90s and 2000s has had some worthwhile American bands, the majority of participants have been from Western Europe – some from Germany, Austria, and the Netherlands, some from Great Britain, some from Italy and Spain, some from the Scandinavian countries. And one of the many Scandinavian power metal revival outfits is Sweden's Dragonland, who show no awareness of post-'80s metal trends on the proudly retro Starfall. Sweden, of course, had a ton of death metal/black metal activity in the '90s and early to mid-'00s, but there isn't a trace of death metal or black metal on Starfall; nor is there any alternative metal, rap-metal or metalcore influence on this disc. Although recorded in 2003 and 2004, Starfall is a total throwback to the old-school power metal of the '70s and '80s – and this grandiose, elaborate effort (which is full of stereotypical dungeons-and-dragons lyrics) gets a great deal of inspiration from progressive rock as well. Dragonland's hard-rocking yet consistently melodic approach is best described as Iron Maiden, Queensrÿche, Savatage and Manowar by way of Rush, Kansas, and Emerson, Lake & Palmer; this is a 2000s recording that sounds like it could have been made at least 20 years earlier. Dragonland isn't the least bit groundbreaking – there are quite a few other European power metal revival acts that have been influenced by progressive rock and give the impression that they could enjoy Queensrÿche's Operation: Mindcrime one minute and Yes' Tales from Topographic Oceans the next. But even though Starfall isn't big on originality, the CD certainly deserves credit for craftsmanship and quality. And while Starfall isn't remarkable, it is an enjoyable (if derivative) effort that is worth hearing if one is a die-hard power metal enthusiast who also appreciates progressive rock.

by Alex Henderson, AMG

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Dragonland: Discography (2001 - 2011)

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Dragonland are a Swedish power/symphonic metal band, and in my opinion are one of the best in the world. Their newest release, Astronomy, should be put into the ranks of the best power metal albums, ever. While at first listen it may not seem like anything special, after repeated listenings it becomes clear that there is a lot of talent and creativity in this band. Every song brings a new surprise; and they just keep getting better and better until the final epic, The Old House on Haunted Hill.

The album begins with Supernova, which starts out with space ambience and an astronaut talking in the background. The song then explodes with a clash of synthesized orchestra and guitars. Jonas Heidgert then commences with his ever catchy vocal melodies. This song is a great way to start off the album as it incorporates all of this CD’s elements: heavy, crunched guitars, a strong keyboard/orchestra presence, and huge, very accessible choruses. The song ends as it begins, with the aggressive
opening riff ending the first part of this journey.

The second track, Cassiopeia, begins with guest female vocalist Elise Ryd oooing and ahhhing over a classical acoustic guitar line. The guitars then come in with another heavy riff. This song is more or less a duet between Jonas and Elise, who has a very beautiful voice and it seems to meld with Jonas’ almost perfectly. Another very strong track.

The next song is Contact. This song is much faster and more “power metally” than the first two and pretty much the rest of the songs on the CD. The guitar playing by both Olof Morck and Niklas Magnusson on this song is phenomenal. There is a lot of shredding going on in the background that is technical and entertaining enough to be full blown solos. Keyboardist Elias Holmlid also has a nice synth solo in this song to show off his skills. This song, while not as good as the first two, is still a great power metal tune

The title track, Astronomy is next. It again begins with a style of riffing that is becoming familiar to the listener. Jake E from Dreamland makes his first of two appearances on this song, and the dueling vocals is as good as any other I have heard. Another great song on about the goodness level of Contact .

Antimatter is next. This is probably the heaviest track on the album. Jimmie Strimmel of Nightrage lends his harsh vocals, and although I couldn’t take a whole a CD of his screaming, the short parts he has in this song work well. Blast beats are also commonplace on this track to help bring the pain.

The instrumental The Scrolls of Geometia Divina is next. This song is entirley composed of synthesized orchestrations by Mr. Holmlid. The instruments sound so real that I had to do some research to confirm that there was indeed no orchestra playing these parts. This song works well as a divider between the first- and second-halves of the album. While the first 5 songs are great, the best is only yet to come.

The next song, Beethoven’s Nightmare, is one of the highlights of the album. This song borrows from a few of Beethoven’s works; it reminds me of something Trans-Siberian Orchestra would do. The song is apparently an autobiography of Beethoven and, while it is extremely cheesy, it is very, very good. Jonas sings, “ See my hands conducting a nightmare, the symphony of a tragedy, so great it devours me, these notes are just fantasy…” Like I said: cheesy. But, this song is extremely emotional and shows the near-virtuoso piano playing of Elias. One of my favorites, I cannot describe in words how great this song is: a very strong 5/5.

Too Late for Sorrow comes next. This is the ballad of the album, but don’t let that scare you away, it is still one of the strongest songs on here. Ms. Ryd makes another appearance for a beautiful duet with Jonas. You can’t help but to sing along to the extremely catchy chorus. Elias and Olof share another great solo to help make this another one of my favorite songs.

The last “real” song is Direction:Perfection. This is another pounding, heavy track, and Nightrage's Jimmie is again on this track, only this time he “harmonizes” with an extremely high falsetto-style singing by Jonas which sounds in one word: awesome. Elias’ orchestrations play over an intense bridge and the song eventually slows down and fades out into the finale.

The epic finale, The Old House on the Hill Chapters 1-3 closes out the album, but not without completly blowing your mind first. The three tracks together add up to be about 15 minutes of excellence. They are completely instrumental, but tell the story of a man who inherets his uncle’s house, but there is a monster in the basement. There is a lot more to the story, but this review’s getting long enough without adding that in here. One could compare this to one of Symphony X’s long songs because of the seemless transactions between symphonic and guitar parts, but in my opinion this is better than anything Michael Romeo & company could ever put together, or at least has put together yet. Everything that you could ask for from a power metal epic is here: dynamics, beauty, emotion, and technicality. It is a great way to close a great album

I cannot rave enough about this CD. When I got it last winter, I couldn’t stop listening to it. I highly recommend it to everyone. This is power metal, hell, music in general, at its best.

by Mr Fahrenheit, sputnikmusic.com

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Well after taking a nearly ten year break from their story The Dragonland Chronicles and after releasing the two previous non-story albums Starfall and Astronomy, Dragonland had finally released part three of their epic tale of heroes, elves, monsters, and of course dragons. While some people may question on why they took such a long break, especially considering the fact that Astronomy was released five years prior, others might think that this slight hiatus was necessary for them, as it will help get some rest and practice for their next release. Not to mention this overall halt in this story and the other two releases did certainly give Dragonland the time needed to give Under that Grey Banner the energy it needed, as not only is this record probably the most epic of the tale, but probably one of their best releases to date.

There are three things that listeners will notice compared to the first two albums. One: the production is a lot cleaner than The Battle of the Ivory Plains and Holy War. It’s polished quite well, almost to the point of sounding mainstream. Even so, it doesn’t affect them negatively, as it’s a sound that is rather fitting for Dragonland, even if it is one that has been heard before. Two: the vocals are much improved from Dragonland’s preceding albums. Jonas has once again improved his voice to a more mature sound. He doesn’t go to his squeamish falsetto voice as much and no longer feel strained. And three: there are far more guest artists than Astronomy. The one band that Dragonland has seemed to have the most peculiar interest in is partner metal artist, Amaranthe, as literally all of the vocalists (from 2011 that is), Elize Ryd, Jake E, and touring member Andy Solveström have joined in on this album along with two other singers, Fred Johanson (obviously by his voice you can tell he plays the villain of the story), and Anna Mariann Lundberg. The guest artists are fitted rather excellently throughout the album and certainly add more atmosphere to the album, though at times they can be distracting as the sheer numbers of them certainly take hold in the last few songs.

This album in particular actually focuses less on the orchestrations than Ivory Plains and Holy War and more on the guitar work and drumming. They’re less audible than the rest of the band but still backup the music very well. Again, the guitar work is fantastic and the drums keep the energy alive throughout. The album opener Shadow of the Mithril Mountains (putting the actual first track aside) brings out the fast pacing guitar work and drumming that is typical yet enjoyable for power metal artists to do, and certainly shows how much Dragonland has improved. There is a lot more variety as well as there are more slow-paced songs present in this record, but it’s not softer sounding as you would think. The Tempest and Dûrnir's Forge are heavier and brutal than much of the album and yet keep the flow consistent. Even so, Lady of Goldenwood ends up having that necessary soft sound as it breaks any monotony that the album contains, despite not being as slow paced as it should be.

It’s actually hard to find major flaws in this record, but the one that some may find unappealing is that Under the Grey Banner is just simply another “fans-only” album. Not really saying that some people that are outside the fanbase won’t enjoy this, but you have to know Dragonland’s previous records to really enjoy this. The outsiders of the fanbase won’t really find this to be a real groundbreaking album for Dragonland or for power metal in general. It’s the stuff that many mainstream audiences have heard before, even if it’s enjoyable to say the least. But the fact that Dragonland has improved in the style that their story has set is what makes this album worthwhile. And whether or not Dragonland will continue to improve throughout their story is a question that only time can answer.

So with that said, Under the Grey Banner is the most consistent album that the three story-based albums have to offer. Whether or not people will enjoy this album as much as the fans do, it is likely that it won’t be the case. But until the next album that Dragonland releases, we can surely enjoy the three story-based albums for now and the other two records prior to this one. Fans of power metal will certainly enjoy this, and the fans of the band will really enjoy this. It’s just the way it works.

by Christopher Geriak, sputnikmusic.com