A NEW WORLD?

If you, upon finishing to read this review, realize that the music of Drawn is something that could appeal to your personal taste, I suggest you write it down somewhere just to remember, because it is unlikely that you may be hearing anything about them at all. Drawn is a project of Christer Cederberg, somewhat known for his brilliant work with the legendary In The Woods.... Drawn's only full-length album A New World? was released at the same time with In The Woods...'s Strange In Stereo, and was not only overshadowed by the obviously more superior work, but eventually disappeared and got lost in history. It may even be impossible to find a copy nowadays, however, the music here is valuable enough to spend your time searching.

The first logical thought is that Drawn must bear some resemblance to Christer's other group. This is both true and false. Having spent so much time in a collective, where music was not merely a way of income, but also a spiritual inspiration, it is evident that those days had an impact on his career outside of the group. A lot like In The Woods...'s output, A New World? is an extremely emotionally engaging, atmospheric and powerful work, but that is where the resemblance ends. Their sound is not an easy one to describe either, as it does not feel comfortable in any single genre. There are different flavours of extreme metal here, as well as psychedelic and progressive rock and ambient. Many vocal styles are being used, beginning with emotional clean vocals, clearly influenced by Jan Transit, to Roger Waters-like wailing to rhythmic shamanic spoken word, that is one of the eeriest voices I've ever heard in music. Although a good bulk of the riffs are Doom Metal-influenced and there is tremolo picked guitar playing reminiscent of the Black Metal style, the vocals do not really fit in the standards of those genres. There is a growled chorus on Yours and Mine, a song originally from the Plan Be EP, done in accompaniment with a deathly Doom riff, and it is the one of the weakest parts of the whole CD. There is a guest female vocalist appearance on the track A-Scape (get it?), whose name has been lost in history, and livens up the bleak and depressing moods of the album. Her voice is not what many associate with Gothic or Female Fronted Metal, and is pop- influenced, which makes the song on which it is performed more unusual.

Whereas some clean vocals sound too sappy, growls and screams, used about twice on the whole album (which should not bother those trying to avoid this vocal style), are incoherent and obviously done without prior training, the actual songwriting shines from the beginning until the very end. A particular highlight is the lead guitar work, which is quite flashy, but most importantly always fits the mood and appears to be more emotional than simply technical, - a sign of great inspiration and serious approach to songwriting. The production is not perfect, but enables each instrument to be heard, exposing appropriately hit drums, groovy bass guitar playing and audible rhythm guitar. It is suggested that one listens to the album in headphones, so that every sound is heard clearly. I was surprised upon first trying it, as I even heard additional "shaman" background vocals during specific instrumental sections. All of the compositions are diverse, showing the songwriter's understanding of fusing progressive rock with atmospheric metal without it resulting in just being parts with no connections whatsoever - a common problem of composers in this scene.

If you are looking to something engaging to listen to late in the evening or at night, that is not meant to express happiness or show technical prowess, but instead suck the listener into an atmospheric journey full of eerie emotions. There are moments of beauty here, that send chills down your spine and that make the music memorable without any catchiness involved in it whatsoever. Fans of Opeth, whose main songwriter was also keen on obscure 70's psychedelic rock, will be interested to meet a different vision of psychedelic metal fusion with its own aesthetic. Some parts will remind such listeners of Post-Still Life era of the group and will hear similarities in specific riffs and ideas.

In the end, Drawn is a unique and innovative group that did not have an evident influence, possibly did not influence too many, and could have existed five years prior to 1999 or could exist even now, as their music does not sound like anything else done during their time. They weren't a part of any scene and were not interested in the commercial side of music, consequently, it is not surprising that they did not reach popularity even after dissolving. However, that does not mean you should ignore it. Not exactly a masterpiece, but an effort definitely worth searching for and owning. I am sure I will be coming back to this album at least once a month (which for me is a sign of quality), and reveal things I haven't noticed before.

4 stars.

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