Draconic (2)

Draconic’s musical journey began in 2003 as a project of keyboardist Branislav Stanković, who with the help of studio musicians from some of Serbia’s most prominent metal bands, recorded an album entitled “Conflux.” The record was released in 2004 by local label Rock Express Records. With intentions of turning the Draconic studio project into an actual working band, Stanković enlisted musicians from Belgrade’s local metal scene, two of which were guitarist Vanja Dušan Andrijašević and bassist David Lazar Galić. Once the promotion of “Conflux” had ended and the band began working on new material as a group, it became glaringly obvious that the new line-up had no interest in continuing to write music in the symphonic black metal style of the debut. Draconic spent the next several years honing their craft live and in the studio, writing and demoing new music, and searching for the right musicians to complete the new line-up. The culmination of this process came in the fall of 2008, with the completion of the band’s second album “From the Wrong Side of the Aperture.” The music Draconic embody today is an amalgam of metal styles bridging the gap between old school and new—a monstrously heavy and layered slab of modern progressive metal. The band creates music that puts lessons learned from the past into a modern context, providing the listener with metal that is both impressive and futuristic, but also sincere and rooted in tradition. Draconic graft together Pantera and Megadeth’s quest for the perfect riff with melodic influences ranging from Rush to Soilwork, wailing solos and atmospheric keyboards inspired by Dream Theater and Faith no More with the abrasiveness of Meshuggah, Strapping Young Lad and Emperor. All this is wrapped in a tight package through concise, catchy songwriting and memorable melodies. The band inked a deal in late 2008 with Austrian metal label Noisehead Records, who will release “From the Wrong Side of the Aperture” worldwide on April 3, 2009. Current band members: Branislav Stanković - keyboards Vanja Dušan Andrijašević - guitars Uroš Andrijašević - guitars David Lazar Galić - bass/vocals Milan Jejina Jeki - drums Ex members: Miloš Kovačević - drums (Decontrolled) Milan Šuput - bass (ex-Consecration, ex-Sacramental Blood) Matija Dagović - drums (ex-Decontrolled, Consecration, ZmA, Cisterna) Marjan Mijić - vocals (Tiarah, Fadelow, Chainroom) Petar Alargić - guitar Milan Kostić - drums Damir Adžić - drums (Alogia, Psychoparadox, ex- Rapid Force) Jelena Staničević - vocals