Norwegian project “Dracula – Swing of Death” is spearheaded by the rather well known musicians Jørn Lande and Trond Holter, the former a distinct presence in the hard rock and metal scene internationally as a vocalist for a quarter of a century by now, the latter a well regarded musician in various bands of which Wig Wam is perhaps the most well known. With a core trio of additional musicians participating, the end result was released through Italian label Frontiers Music at the start of 2015.
As one might assume from the title of this CD, this is a conceptual creation, revolving around the timeless horror story of the dark creature Dracula and the encounters it had with English woman Mina Harker, albeit the way the story pans out on this album isn’t quite as it is in the original novel. Indeed, from what I understand quite a few people over the years have regarded Bram Stoker’s novel as rather allegorical when it comes to the aspect of bloodlust and being a vampire, and the act of sucking blood in itself as allegorical of a rather more intimate aspect of existence. One might say that the story explored here, at least to some extent, plays upon some of those interpretations.
How well or not the story is explored is a secondary aspect of such production though, as the music will always be of primary importance. In this case I suspect one might generally describe this as a rock opera, or perhaps it would be better to state that this is a musical explored within a hard rock and heavy metal framework, as the expression rock opera does come with some associations that this production doesn’t entertain.
What mainly separates this album from a regular rock opera is that there’s only two roles here, two persons, and the main parts of the story revolves around a key lead character. So there’s only two vocalists present in this chamber play, and the music used to tell the story doesn’t entertain the often expected majestic proportions explored by many of the albums classified as rock operas either. Hence my use of the word musical here, this is a production that in structure and approach reminds me more of Clive Nolan’s exploits in this department in later years than, for instance, Ayreon’s range of rock opera albums.
The songs all revolve around a foundation of classic heavy metal, with firm powerful guitar riffs, flowing guitar solo runs and steady, powerful rhythm section in support. As in most rock operas there’s a symphonic backdrop at hand making some key appearances, adding a majestic flair and additional depth to the proceedings, with plucked strings and other orchestral details also used to good effect throughout. Additional facets to this specific album are a liberal amount of instrument details giving many of the songs a subtle, and at times mover overtly, folk music flair. We’re also treated to a combination of old fashioned swing combined with hard rock here, as well as a token, elegant ragtime interlude. An intriguing aspect of this production, and one that may be somewhat divisive in some metal circles, is the general use of singalong type chorus sections I guess, giving many of these compositions something of a hair metal flair. That many cuts also alternates between gentler and harder edged sections in a manner that should intrigue fans of progressive rock an additional detail that might not be appreciated by the metal community at large.
The lead vocals is the main and key feature of this production though. Lande’s trademark gritty, powerful yet melodic vocals provides the passion and intensity needed to breathe life (sic) into this melodramatic chamber play, and Lena Fløitmoen Børresen does a quality job in the numbers where her voice is used to give life to the secondary role of Mina Harker as well.
For those with a taste for rock opera productions in general, “Dracula – Swing of Death” is an album that should be given a spin, presumably it is on Spotify and other streaming services so that this can easily be done. Those with a special interest in chamber plays given life in a rock opera context, who are also fond of these being explored through a foundation of melodic hard rock and metal with some occasional progressive rock inspired structural choices and approaches, yet without closely approaching this style on a stylistic level, should treasure highly the qualities of this CD. Especially those with a particular affection for high quality lead vocals.
My rating: 82/100
