Draconian Interview
“Under a Godless Veil”
Draconian is the dragon that lifts in the headwind and who now, after many years of fighting to hold height, has both an artistic momentum and a large fan base to rely on. With a new album ready to be released, the time was right to meet up with lyricist Anders Jacobsson to discuss his writing and what we can expect of the new tracks that ended up on ”Under a Godless Veil ”; the seventh cry from this gothic orchestra.
When asked to do this interview you replied that you´d promised yourself not to expose too much details about the lyrics on the new Draconian album. Why this posture?
Because I want people to have their own personal relationship with it, not thinking I am trying to preach anything to them. Not that I find the lyrics preachy, rather reflective and I want that experience to be personal for each listener. As it comes to Gnosticism, which heavily influenced the lyrical concept of this album, people can make their own research about the topic in question. Miguel Conner and his words, whom I consider somewhat of a mentor, very much inspired much of the lyrics as well.
Gnosticism, no matter how you slice it, represents a path to your own individual relationship to the divine already dwelling inside of you. No savior will come and save you. You have that power yourself. So, when you watch movies like The Matrix, Truman Show, Dark City, They Live, A Scanner Darkly and The Thirteenth Floor, to mention a few, you have already engaged in Gnostic thought-prophecies: That this world we inhabit is a simulation.
You also suggested that you´ve happened to become some kind of anti-Orthodox heretic. What´s behind such a statement?
Sounds a bit pretentious, obviously. Well, let me just quote from The Ten Major Principles of the Gnostic Revelation, from the book Exegesis, by Philip K. Dick:
”The creator of this world is demented. The world is not as it appears, in order to hide the evil in it, a delusive veil obscuring it and the deranged deity”.
As I’m not an Atheist I have come to view this is pretty accurate, and it’s highly heretical if you’re some bootlicking Christian or whatever flavor of the Demiurge rocking your sinking ship. You can say that the title of our new album ”Under a Godless Veil” derives from this idea that our world is veiled in darkness and we are sleepwalking through life only to be born again repeating the vicious cycle. This is what the Gnostics, in particularly the Sethians, held to be true. After the Nicaean creed was implemented and Christianity was distorted and politicized for social control the Gnostics were the first to burnt at the stake.
Photo by: Eleni Liverakou Eriksson. Edited by Hinsides.
Without being too explicit then; Would you mind to unveil your sources of inspiration to what became the literal part of the Dragon this time and how they respond to your personal state of mind these days? Would you refer to those latest writings as being introspective or extrovert, and how would you describe the overall expression in comparison to your earlier work?
Let’s put it like this. I am well, or even too aware of the shackles of existence. Perhaps it’s a form of madness but I cannot unsee that light and it doesn’t matter what perception others would give it. After all these years of writing about existential dread and trying to make sense of it all, using it in the band, I recognized a few years back from studies there was a whole system of thought devoted to it. A spiritual system with its own cosmology. It was an immediate inspiration for me because it was like suddenly I started remembering something I’d forgotten; that there actually is a reason and the reason was malevolent. Parasitic. At the same time I realized that malevolence is not a part of who We truly are but that collectively we are in a sleep-state.
It is definitely an introspective kind of thing, because again; it is about us as individuals, where we come from and why we are bound to this ‘crackwhore of Fate’, as Miguel Conner so eloquently puts it. Our OWN relationship with what most kind-hearted people call “God” is what’s important. It is about You and from mere thought-prophecies you can actually create and manifest destiny.
Revelation is to be shared, and one thing I’ve come to understand: It is better to ask “How did Good come into the world?”, rather than the age-old question how Evil came into the world. Sometimes it is just better being a true Hegelian. Makes life a bit easier and you can focus on that divine spark.
Another thing you mentioned was that it´s been long since you were this happy with a new album and that the collaboration between you, Johan and Heike were accountable for this excitement. What was it that made the process so enjoyable and rewarding?
Indeed I am very happy about it and it could’ve been even greater and more inclusive we’d worked harder together on during longer periods of time. The album has been worked on for several years and in a very scattered fashion, which I think the album suffers from a bit… But perhaps it’s by and large my own prejudiced impression, knowing all three of us has been dealing with challenging stuff individually since the last album. The process when finally all the three of us was in the studio together recording takes, coming up with new ones, arranging passages and ideas together was perhaps a bit scarce but they were amazing, beautifully creative moments in my view. All the magic we’d come up with individually was wonderfully sown together creating something with a life and a story of its own. That’s a process I find almost religious. To come home knowing you’ve been part of creating something extraordinary that perhaps hundreds of thousands will enjoy and take to heart. And well, to come home feeling like shit and a fucking loser because you just couldn’t do it right that day is horrible, but it is part of the process.
It really is.
Drawing by L G Malmberg, previously assumed to represent Erik Johan Stagnelius (1793-1823).
I know you fancy Stagnelius a lot but what other writers and poets, past and present, has been of importance for you? What genres do you read the most?
If I read poetry I fancy stuff from the Romantic era. There were many Gnostics during that time expressing their passions, not even knowing what Gnosticism is. The great William Blake is a given in that area. And Stagnelius himself often wrote about the shackles of the Demiurge, the pain of having to live in this cold, heartless world with false narratives keeping you down and isolated, yearning for the eternal, for transcendence, to no longer be trapped in matter.
William Blake and Percy Byssche Shelley remain my favorites, apart from Stagnelius. John Keats is very close to my heart as well. John Clare is another one. Almost all of these gents are English and all of them but Blake left this world around 30 years of age. I am now 45 and I am no way near their brilliance and will never be, but I feel as if I’m always going to be 30 no matter what. When it comes to more modern authors it is very scarce and I don’t read fiction, but I guess the modern Gnostic seer Philip K. Dick is an exception.
Since you put a lot of effort on the lyrics I´m sure you get a lot of feedback on how your fans respond to them? What´s the most common response and how would you describe a typical Draconian fan that´s not only paying attention to the music?
I do and they are too good to me. I am my own worst and perhaps most honest critic. After all these years I want to do better and not just for others or for the sake of the band, but for myself.
Through my lyrics and Draconian’s music I have connected with so many amazing folks all over the world. I have loved and I have lost. But the sad part is that you might not even get to meet most of what are, or could be true friends and allies. Radiant souls were spread out at a high altitude, it seems, but some still latch on to each other in our fall from grace.
Well, whether they are fans or not, many people just read it as poetry or mere thoughts put into words from a their own subjective world. When scratching the surface of so many people you begin to realize how much of the pain and existential woes, dreams and longings we share. And in the darkness there is hope, and again, unity. No one wants to be truly alone. A big heart has allot to give and allot to lose, therefore it will heal and hurt at the same time. You will be misunderstood, painted in bleak colors and often shunned by the world and your surroundings. It is better to remain true and not seek validation from the people who talk about you, rather than with you. Few truly cares. I have realized that truth don’t matter much to people. They just want a story and a narrative. So, be beautiful and supportive to the ones who remain at your side throughout all the bullshit that takes up the better part of our lives.
Take on the demons, for yes, they are real.
Image taken from: The Magus, or Celestial Intelligencer (Book II) by Barrett, Francis. (London 1801.)
You´ve just read an excerpt from a longer interview with Ander Jacobsson made by Hinsides Magazine. The conversation as a whole are soon to be published on paper in the first issue together with a lot of other exclusive content.
Pre-Orders of the limited (200ex) edition are being made here: