Melodic metal heads, prog fans, lovers of complex sounds with a heavy edge take heed, Swedish Dragonland are about to strike back with a new masterpiece combining bombastic yet melodic metal with epic atmosphere and stellar musicianship. With “Astronomy”, the follow-up to 2004’s much lauded “Starfall” album, Dragonland are about to return stronger than ever on November 13, 2006.

Lead guitarist Olof Mörck comments on the new album: “Astronomy” is evolution, the path we took from the common sphere of power metal with “Starfall” is further traversed on this album and we have really elaborated on the elements that felt truly unique for us. Though, said path is also a darker one. Where “Starfall” was happier and more focused on keyboards than our previous efforts, “Astronomy” is gloomier, more stygian and packed with crunching guitars, both furiously fast and bone-grindingly heavy. The lyrics I have written for this album also represent a delving into dimly illumined vistas and just like on “Starfall” there are no fantasy themed lyrics at all. Instead, a diverse array of themes revolving around the astronomical prism have been explored, ranging from ancient Greek myth to contact with non-terrestrial life forms and I truly hope that it will create a diverse and thrilling lyrical journey for the unsuspecting listener.

Both lyrically and musically, “The Old House On The Hill” is definitely the crown jewel of this album with its megalithic 14 minutes without a single repetition of any musical part and a five full page story to go with it. We set out to create something even more film score-esque than “The Book Of Shadows” trilogy, and after 5 long months of just working on this epic we can finally say we have achieved what we set out to create. In all, the two years of hard labour with this album really felt like it paid off. Now we look forward to the response of the metal scene, and we hope you will join us on our astral endeavours when “Astronomy” hit the streets on November 13.

The cover artwork for "Astronomy", has been posted online at this location. Created by art wizard Niklas Sundin (who has previously worked with ARCH ENEMY, IN FLAMES, and DARK TRANQUILLITY, among others), it "reflects the astronomical theme of the album, with Copernicus surrounded by astronomical instruments and symbols which represent mankinds delving into the utterly dark vistas and the Cyclopean stars, which has been the focal point of awe for millenia and has not only lead to scientific endavours but also baffling myths and foreboading astrology," according to the band.

"Astronomy" final track listing:

01. Supernova (5:09)
02. Cassiopeia (4:06)
03. Contact (4:25)
04. Astronomy (3:20)
05. Antimatter (3:00)
06. The Book of Shadows part IV: The Scrolls of Geometria Divina (4:04)
07. Beethoven's Nightmare (6:11)
08. Too Late for Sorrow (3:36)
09. Direction: Perfection (4:29)
10. The Old House on the Hill Chapter I: A Death in the Family (4:30)
11. The Old House on the Hill Chapter II: The Thing in the Cellar (3:07)
12. The Old House on the Hill Chapter III: The Ring of Edward Waldon (6:17)

Le titre "Contact" en écoute sur la page MySpace du groupe.