Dragony - "Hic Svnt Dracones"
Any story can have dragons if you want it to
A band called “Dragony” can only reasonably belong to one genre: Power Metal.
It’s so very stereotypical, but sometimes you just have to roll with it.
And Hic Svnt Dracones is worth rolling with. It’s Dragony’s fifth album, releasing twelve years after their debut, and I believe it is indicative of the band really beginning to reach their full potential. I must, of course, stress that this is only my second Dragony album; I thought that 2021’s Viribus Unitus was good (it rated a Green with me at the time), but it didn’t really leave a lasting impression.1
Hic Svnt Dracones (or, “Here Be Dragons”) leaves a couple of different impressions with its strong Power and Symphonic blend.
First, the album is full of perfect Power Metal — it does everything that the genre does best, and it does it well. Soaring, anthemic melodies fill every song. It feels epic and carries this intense energy that really just makes you want to fucking move.
These songs would absolutely slay live.
Second, all of that is intensified by deeper Symphonic elements and instrumentation which pervade the album from start to finish, adding additional flavor to the already rich Power foundation. Several songs (such as “Perfect Storm”) take it a step further and implement electronic elements. The resultant genric blend is deep, lively, and compelling.
Most importantly, Hic Svnt Dracones is a wild ride of a concept album. The only way to really illustrate how wild is to briefly sum up the story’s beginning and end:
The album opens with a short (1:20) instrumental track (“From the New World (1584)”) and then kicks off properly with “Dreamchasers”, in which Sir Walter Raleigh and Queen Elizabeth I sing about their plans for starting a colony in the New World.
The album’s final track, “Beyond the Rainbow Bridge”, sees British survivors and Vikings escaping Valhalla, and Ragnarok, by fleeing together through the Bifrost.
I have to also note that the last actual track on the album, as it exists on Spotify, is a bonus track called “The Untold Story (Albion Online)”, which is a song that the band created for the MMORPG Albion Online.
It’s really a wild transition and I don’t know how to explain it other than “Power Metal Bands gonna Power Metal”. The story of the Roanoke Colony, which is the focus of tracks 2-5, didn’t have enough dragons.
Or maybe they’re just fans of Volo.
Track 6, “Perfect Storm”, serves as a transition. A ship which had been sent to try and save the colony sinks on its way home to England. In Track 7, the album’s title track, the crew awakens to find themselves in an isekai story (*ahem*) alive and well in Asgard, having fallen through some portal in the ocean’s depths. They make friends with the local Vikings only to immediately have Ragnarok kick off around them.
It’s a wildly silly Historical AU Fiction story which I think only a serious Power Metal act could pull off. And I’ll be damned if Dragony didn’t just turn it into one of the most epic albums of the year. I might have joked about Power Metal tropes a bit in this review, but I love everything about this album.
And I love that it’s the second time that a (perceived) mid-tier Power Metal band with “Dragon” in their name surprised me with an unexpectedly incredible concept album;2 two nickels, and all that.
If you’re a fan of Power Metal, this is a must. And if you’re looking to explore the genre, this is a great album to try and dip your toes in with.
Rating: Blue
Frankly, I debated with myself on whether to include this album, given how far behind I’ve been running. But I don’t get enough Power Metal.
The first was 2022’s Power of the Nightstar by Dragonland. There are actually no dragons in that one — it’s a sci-fi concept album!