THERION

Further deepening their symphonic approach on the basis of musical structures that intertwine and superimpose the rough guitar riffs characteristic of the various sub-branches of the metal genre of great relevance in their early works, with majestic and atmospheric orchestrations full of epic sonority and an overwhelming preponderance of both female and male choirs, Therion released in 1998 "Vovin", their sixth album (or seventh actually, considering the previous and experimental "A'Arab Zaraq Lucid Dreaming", a patchwork of snippets, covers, and the soundtrack of the untraceable short film "The Golden Embrace").

"Vovin" obsessively delves into the dusty paths of ancestral mythologies, biblical episodes, and esotericism, extracting elements that refer to the constant gods/demons dichotomy to understand and explain them according to the particular vision of the band's multifaceted frontman Christofer Johnsson.

From the dramatic and orientalised chords of the string quartet Indigo in the dramatic and iconic "The Rise of Sodom and Gomorrah", the album moves between dense mid-tempos like the rough sensuality of "Birth of Venus Illegitima", the haunting and occultist "Clavicula Nox" with great participation of soprano Martina Astner, the peaceful beauty of the hypnotic "Eye of Shiva" featuring soprano Sarah Jezebel Deva (Cradle of Filth) and a great guitar delay solo by Johnsson, or the obscurantist "Black Sun", and combines them with aggressive metal developments such as the galloping "Wine of Aluqah" or the very fast "Wild Hunt" with the vocal contribution of Ralf Scheepers (Primal Fear) and the awakening double bass drum of Wolf Simon.

And for the final section, after the brief and symphonic "Overture" and the sacred choirs of "Black Diamonds", both included in the mini-suite "Draconian Trilogy", the steamy and disturbing mid-tempo "Raven of Dispersion", gives an epic closure to one of the best albums of the Swedes.

Very good.

4 stars

After treading the hostile paths of black and death metal, Therion took a turn in their musical proposal, and ventured with "Theli" (1996), their fifth album, into less wild and more epopoeic territories, fusing elements of gothic rock, doom and heavy metal, tinged with sacred and operatic choruses taken from genres more akin to classical music.

From the majestic keyboards of the duo Christofer Johnsson and Jonas Mellberg that groove on the solemn instrumental intro "Preludium", the album develops mythical atmospheres full of allusions to symbolism and timeless characters, in pieces such as the apocalyptic and galloping "To Mega Therion" (the great beast to which the famous occultist Aleister Crowley referred to himself), or the incisive "Cults of the Shadow" (rituals in Greek mythology), as well as the thick mid-tempo with oriental touches of "In the Desert of Set" (god of chaos in Egyptian mythology), or the gothic and dark "Nightside of Eden" (a sobering vision of the biblical paradise).

And although more elaborate and decorated with brief peaceful interludes, the traces of the early works of the Swedes can be found in the aggressive power metal of the Babylonian "Invocation of Naamah", a contrasting step prior to the epic "The Siren of the Woods", a remarkable and nostalgic composition written in Arcadian (extinct Semitic language of ancient Mesopotamia), surely the best song of the album.

The orchestrated and instrumental "Grand Finale / Postludium" concludes one of Therion's most accomplished and iconic works, and one whose novel musical dimension would become the guide for the band's subsequent releases.

Very good.

4 stars

It is incredible to think Christofer Johnsson formed Therion more than 35 years ago, as they are still putting out wonderful symphonic albums of great depth, and here they are returning quickly with the second part of their 'Leviathan' trilogy. The first came out in 2021, this towards the end of 2022 while the next is due in 2023 so they were obviously conceived, if not recorded, at the same time. Johnsson said he has achieved everything he had wanted after the release of 'Beloved Antichrist', and was bereft of ideas so sat down with lead vocalist Thomas Vikström to work out what to do next, and they decided that instead of progressing in the way they wished to why not give the fans exactly what they wanted?

This means Christofer Johnsson (guitars), Sami Karppinen (drums), Nalle Påhlsson (bass) and Christian Vidal (guitars) providing hugely complex and complicated multi-layered arrangements which also have plenty of room for Thomas Vikström and Lori Lewis to really shine. It is symphonic, metallic, progressive, orchestral, melodic, designed for rock arenas and classical stages alike, blending together different forms so the join is seamless. One wonders how many hours were spent in the studio by the singers as they are multi-tracked time and again to create harmonies on top of harmonies, yet for all this the band never move away from being a guitar-led rock band. We even get some Middle Eastern influenced in "Marijin Min Nar" where Lori shows not only her rock voice but some professionally trained high soprano which is just sublime.

This is an album which has enough melody and hooks within it to capture the listener the first time of playing, but when more time is invested the rewards are great. When played on speakers one gets one level of understanding, although only if the volume is high, as there is much more to comprehend when using headphones. It is a compelling piece of work, and there is no doubt Johnsson has achieved his aim in giving fans what they want, and now we all eagerly await the conclusion of this set later this year. Yet again, Therion have delivered wonderful symphonic metallic music of the highest order.

One of Therion's best albums, "Secret of the Runes" delivers brilliant metal and opera vocals, lots of heavy classical influences, and all the Viking lyrics one could possibly desire. Christofer Johnsson and Thomas Karlsson do all most of the songwriting. A team of three vocalists, a choir, and quite a few classical performers contribute.

Vocals are often the make-it-or-break-it point for how much I like an album, and here they're simply astounding. There's room for guitar, bass, drums, and keyboards--sometimes even prominently--but they're not the main attraction here; the vocals are. Often, where a typical metal band would throw in a guitar solo, Therion throws in a cello solo, or something else unexpected. The classical influences are abundant.

Despite being a long-time progressive metal fan, I'm a bit late to Therion, having just discovered them a few months ago here on this website. I'm still digesting their music. A lot of their albums are good--or even great--but have elements I don't care for. "Secret of the Runes," though, is pretty much perfect. 5 stars.

"Theli" starts out with a gorgeous instrumental, a great start to a brilliant album. Heavy, unique, lots of classical and some opera influences, a variety of vocals, and bombastic. The main vocals are a bit on the rougher side, contrasting nicely with the abundance of classical sounds. This is not "typical" progressive metal.

"Invocation of Naamah" is my favorite song here, with a fantastic background choir and some great guitar riffs. "The Siren of the Woods" is also great, featuring some wonderful guest vocalists. Later Therion albums have a wider range of vocalists, but there are still a few guest vocalists here. They include Dan Swanö, lead singer of Nightingale (among many other projects).

The remastered version comes with three nice bonus tracks and a bonus DVD. Highly recommended. 4.5 stars.

Therion's 2007 release has the same great large mix of vocalists we've come to expect from the band, with plenty of metal, rock, and opera styles. The music falls a little bit short from their 2004 releases--it's not as cohesive, and not as interesting. It's heavier--less orchestration, heavier guitars, more bass; it's darker, both music-wise and lyric-wise. It's still bombastic, still progressive, and still a good listen. The best songs, unsurprisingly, are those that sound a lot like Therion's earlier works. Songwriter Christofer Johnsson takes a less prominent role in writing, which is unfortunate, as the best songs here are the ones he helped to write. That being said, there's not a bad song on the album. Disc 2 is quite a bit better than Disc 1. The version I have includes a couple of live songs.

Those new to the band shouldn't start here, but Therion fans will still find plenty to enjoy. 3.5 stars.

Sirius B, commonly packaged together with Lemuria, is wonderful progressive metal, where Therion creates a unique, bombastic, compelling music.

An orchestra, a choir, multiple metal and opera lead vocalists--and all packaged together with some great progressive metal. Quality-wise, Sirius B is at the same level as Lemuria. The vocals are the selling point--the mix of opera and metal vocals go extremely well together. The music is varying degrees of heavy, with the orchestra coming in much stronger in some parts than others.

If you're already a fan of Therion, you know what to expect here. Progressive metal that doesn't sound like anything else out there. Actor Patton Oswalt recently said "I love huge prog rock nonsense and I love raw-knuckle punk as long as they both OWN WHAT THEY ARE." Therion knows what it is, and it doesn't hold back. Recommended. 4 stars.

Fantastic progressive metal from Sweden. Like Ayreon and Avantasia, Therion uses a wide variety of vocalists, which makes this a much more interesting and engaging album. Therion is heavier than Ayreon and more progressive than Avantasia. Many of the vocalists featured on Lemuria clearly come from an opera background, but some of the vocals are traditional clean metal and some are more the growl variety. The guitars/bass/drums are all skilfully done, but the real highlights are the various vocals. An orchestra, a choir, and various other instruments also factor in.

My version is the double album that also includes the album Siriux B, which is not part of this review as it's a separate album. Sadly, this version lacks a CD booklet.

Bombastic, heavy, symphonic, and just a fun album. Progressive metal fans, especially those who enjoy classical and opera elements and those who like more unique music will enjoy this. 4 stars.

Swedish symphonic metal masters Therion are back with their 18th studio album, which is also the second instalment of their "Leviathan Trilogy" launched last year with the release of the first Leviathan album. Out on October 28th via Nuclear Blast, Leviathan II sticks to the template Christofer Johnsson announced for the trilogy: to give fans a bird-eye overview of Therion's classic sound in all its different facets, from bombastic and catchy "hits", to melancholic symphonies, to adventurous excursions in proggy territories. The first Leviathan mainly focused on the hits, while Leviathan II takes on the moodier aspects of the Swedes' music, using their iconic 1998 album Vovin as a blueprint.

The guitarist did keep to his word and the 11 songs we find on Leviathan II sound indeed as a sort of "best of" of Therion's most melancholic material from the period between Vovin and Sirius B. The songwriting mostly idles in the mid-tempo range, although there are frequent tempo changes that ensure unpredictable injections of energy, keeping proceedings lively. The mood is solemn and gloomy, an effect underscored by the use of grave and lush choral arrangements that use the full spectrum of voices, from soprano to bass. The vocal melodies are excellent and I love the smooth way that the operatic singing is intertwined with a more straightforward rock/metal style. The alternation between different vocal styles (and singers) throughout the album propels it forward dynamically, escaping the pitfall of unidimensionality that has plagued some previous Therion's records. The mellower and more introspective nature of Leviathan II also invites a slower unwinding of the music, without rushing for the big chorus hook as it was instead the case for the previous album. As a result, Leviathan II features a better balance between instrumental parts and vocals, compared to the first instalment of the trilogy. There are more spots for guitar and keyboard solos as well as lengthier instrumental passages, with great interplay between chuggy guitar riffs, orchestral scores, and 1970s Hammond and mellotron keyboards.

These qualities make Leviathan II a rather enthralling listen from start to finish. The quality of the material is consistently high and Johnsson wisely injects good variation across the 11 compositions, alternating soft ballads ("Lunar Coloured Fields", "Hades and Elysium") with more energetic pieces, in some cases even reviving the use of harsh vocals ("Lucifuge Rofocale"). The middle section of the album may plod a little, with material that feels a tad less inspired ("Hades and Elysium", "Midnight Star"), but things take a very interesting turn towards the end of the LP. Here Johnsson sneaked in a couple of proggy moments, perhaps as an appetizer for Leviathan Part III, which has been announced to lean into progressive rock territory. This is most apparent on "Cavern Cold as Ice", which is also my favourite track on the album. It starts with a Jethro Tull-like flute flourish that soon makes space for some beautiful ABBA-infused vocal harmonies and a melody that could feature in a Broadway musical. Things get even weirder as a menacing mid-section slows down the tempo to doom levels of sluggishness before the song explodes in a climactic solo. Quite an adventure indeed! "Pazuzu" is another gem, featuring a tremendous performance by Eclipse's singer Erik Mårtensson which adds an extra gritty kick to the song, closing the record in style.

For all its positives, Leviathan II (and the trilogy as a whole) puts this reviewer in a difficult conundrum. On this album, like on its predecessor, Therion deliberately take inspiration from their own back catalogue to capture and revive the essence of the "classic Therion sound", and write new classics with it. In that respect, Leviathan II is a resounding success: the music on this album is really strong, probably the best Therion have recorded in over a decade. However, why should you buy and listen to this record, rather than dust off the shelves your old copy of monumental albums like Vovin or Theli? There's no easy answer that works for everyone here. Personally, I find that those early albums possess a stronger mystique, and possibly better flow and coherence, too. On the other hand, Leviathan II has better production value (the choirs and orchestrations sound fantastic) as well as more refined songwriting and arrangements that come with the additional two decades of experience that Mr. Johnsson has meanwhile developed. In the end, I can happily live in a world where the Leviathan trilogy coexists with the band's back catalogue ? spinning the latter when I want a more immersive and momentous experience, and the former when I need a quick fix of quintessential Therion sound.

[Originally written for The Metal Observer]

Just one year after releasing a solid but somewhat lacklustre album like Deggial, Therion are back with what many consider the high point of their whole discography: Secret of the Runes. A concept album centred around the nine worlds of Norse mythology, Runes is a massive step-up relative to the band's previous releases, which improves and expands their blend of symphonic metal in multiple directions. There are a number of reasons for this advancement.

First, Therion are now a proper band rather than a solo project by Christofer Johnsson. Brothers Johan and Kristian Niemann (bass and guitar, respectively) and drummer Sami Karppinen had joined Johnsson already for the recording of Deggial in 2000. Although on Runes Johnsson retains control of most of the songwriting and arrangements, there are contributions from the other band members too (Kristian Niemann is credited as co-writer of the opening track "Ginnungagap") and, more generally, one gets the feeling that the ensemble now sounds more like a band, with more nuanced and personalized arrangements for the rock instruments and more freedom in terms of performances (more guitar solos, more drum fills). In short, there is more depth to the band's performance than on the preceding couple of albums (Vovin, Deggial), which were instead largely a Christofer Johnsson solo affair.

Second, the sound production has also improved on this album. This may sound strange since, for the recording of Runes, Therion actually transitioned from the famous Woodhouse Studios, where they had worked with renowned engineer and producer Siggi Bemm, to their very own, newly built Modern Art Studios, where they instead relied on in-house engineering (Karppinen, K. Niemann, Johnsson) and production. Mixing and mastering duties were instead assigned to Mikko Karmila and Mika Jussila (Amorphis, Childreon of Bodom, Nightwish, among many others). The album sounds much better than Vovin or Deggial, which were both recorded and produced at Woodhouse Studios. One difference between these albums is that on Runes the drum sound is lighter and drier and the drums are placed further back in the mix, so that they are less "in-your-face". This is great because Therion's songs often rely on simple grooves, which can make the music feel sluggish and undynamic when the drums dominate the mix. The arrangements are also airier and more spacious, which contributes to make Runes an easier and more immediately likeable album than the dark and oppressive Deggial or the occasionally rigid Vovin.

Ultimately, though, the superiority of Runes comes down to better, more inspired songwriting. The songs are varied and dynamic, moving between different sections and moods. This is a major improvement over previous albums, where often the same riffs were repeated over and over, making the songs feel monolithic and static. The vocal arrangements are also more varied. In some songs, Johnsson wrote counterpoint and multipart vocals melodies ("Jotunheim"; "Nifelheim"), and in general I get the feeling that more attention has been paid to the alternation between male and female vocals that in many occasions engage in playful duets ("Asgard"). Most importantly, the signers are finally given vocal melodies that are catchy and memorable. This is a huge difference relative to many of the songs that were recorded for Deggial, where the vocal parts were particularly lacklustre. Songs like "Ginnugagap", "Midgard" and "Asgard" feature some of the best melodies that Johnsson has written up to this point in his career. Some may miss the fact that on Runes Johnsson ended the tradition of writing songs with metal vocals mixed with the opera singing (the whole of Theli was built this way, as well as "The Wild Hunt" and "Flesh of the Gods" on Vovin and Deggial). Personally, I do not find this to be a problem, especially when the operatic vocals are given such quality melodies to sing.

There are many other aspects of the music and concept that contribute to make Runes a special album. The Norse mythology that inspired the concept of the album also influenced the songwriting, which features subtle but decisive folk influences on several tracks. The whole album has almost a Viking metal feel to it, with its icy atmospheres and at time raw choirs ("Nifelheim"). The use of different languages, including Johnsson's native Swedish, also contributes to the Nordic folk atmosphere of the album. Somewhat incongruently with the album's theme, Runes also contain two covers as bonus tracks, "Crying Days" by Scorpions and "Summernight City" by Abba. These tracks were recorded in 1999 with former Therion's drummer and singer Piotr Wawrzeniuk on vocals alongside the opera singers. Some people are disturbed by the fact that the inclusion of the two covers disrupts the concept of the album. I can see where they are coming from, but the two songs are objectively so good that I cannot help but be grateful for their inclusion on the album.

Despite all the great things one can hear on Runes, the album is not perfect. Its middle part tends to plod a little, with songs like "Schwarzalbenheim" and "Ljusalfheim" coming across as a tad too repetitive and uninventive. Part of the problem is that most songs on the album remain firmly in mid-tempo territory, which amplifies the sluggish feeling one has as soon as the quality drops a little. Sometimes I wish Johnsson would make more use of different tempos on his albums, to inject some dynamics and a sense of moving forward to the music which is sometimes lacking on Therion's records. However, despite the somewhat weaker mid-section, the album is quick to recover, with tracks like "Muspelheim", "Nifelheim" and "Helheim" providing stunning highlights, together with the opening trio of songs ("Ginnugagap", "Midgard" and "Asgard").

In conclusion, Secret of the Runes is one of the best albums in Therion's catalogue. If you are new to this band, this could be a great place to start (together with the breakthrough album Theli, of course). By the time this album was released, Christofer Johnsson had time to refine and perfect his skills at arranging songs that combine metal, classical music and operatic singing, and this clearly shows on the album. The vocal parts are catchy and memorable. The orchestral arrangements are merged seamlessly with the metal parts. The metal parts themselves are more dynamic than on previous albums, with richer and more accomplished performances by guitar, drums and keyboards. Add a touch of Nordic folk, and you have a nearly perfect album indeed!