When fifteen-year-old prodigy Christofer Johnsson founded THERION as a death metal band in 1987, little did he know that exactly thirty years later he would put the final touches to a project that will go down in history as symphonic metal's most ambitious release. While "metal operas" are no longer an unusual creation, this term will forever receive a new meaning on January 26, 2018 when the curtain opens for Johnsson's lifelong creation: "Beloved Antichrist" is the title of his spectacular brainchild, consisting of three full-length CDs. It's more than just a concept album, but a complete rock opera with multiple chapters unveiling a sweeping story, partly based on and inspired by Vladimir Solovyov's "A Short Tale Of The Antichrist". With an incredible total of twenty-nine different roles and characters, who all required a unique voice, THERION hired not only a big choir, but also twenty-nine vocalists to bring the epic story to life. With longtime collaborators like Thomas Vikström, Lori Lewis and Chiara Malvestiti, fans will hear the classical THERION vibe but also be able to drown in a magical maelstrom of many new as well as familiar voices. Divided into several chapters, the opera reaches a full-length of three and a half hours and THERION is currently working on the possibility of bringing the entire production to the stage. And while this monumental undertaking still simmers away in the Swedish production halls, the band has announced a pan-European tour, including U.K. dates, where they will perform some of their new masterpieces live in a classical concert setting. Support comes from Russia's IMPERIAL AGE, Germany's NULL POSITIV and New York symphonic metallers MIDNIGHT ETERNAL. THERION tour dates with IMPERIAL AGE, NULL POSITIV and MIDNIGHT ETERNAL: Feb. 01 - DE - Essen, Turock Feb. 02 - NL - Amsterdam, Melkweg Feb. 03 - UK - London, Islington Assembly Hall Feb. 04 - UK - Manchester, Rebellion Feb. 07 - UK - Aberdeen, The Assembly Feb. 08 - UK - Glasgow, Audio Feb. 09 - UK - Sheffield, Corporation Feb. 10 - UK - Belfast, Limelight Feb. 11 - IRE - Dublin, Tivoli Feb. 13 - UK - Bristol, Bierkeller Feb. 14 - UK - Birmingham, O2 Institute Feb. 16 - FR - Paris, Trabendo Feb. 20 - ES - Bilbao, Santana 27 Feb. 21 - PT - Oporto, Hard Club Feb. 22 - Pt - Lisboa, Lisboa Oa Vivo Feb. 23 - ES - Sevilla, Sala Custom Feb. 24 - ES - Madrid, Sala But 2 Feb. 25 - ES - Barcelona, Razzmatazz 2 Mar. 01 - IT - Brescia, Circolo Colony Mar. 02 - IT - Rome, Orion Mar. 03 - IT - Bologna, Zona Roveri Mar. 04 - SLO - Ljubljana, Kino Siska Mar. 05 - HR - Zagreb, Tvornica Mar. 06 - SRB - Belgrade, Dom Obladine Mar. 08 - GR - Thessaloniki, Principal Club Theater Mar. 09 - GR - Athens, Poraeus 117 Academy Mar. 10 - BG - Sofia, Weekender Club Mar. 11 - RO - Bucharest, Arenele Romane Mar. 13 - HU - Budapest, Barba Negra Mar. 14 - SK - Bratislava, Majestic Music Club Mar. 15 - CZ - Praha, Meetfactory Mar. 16 - PL - Wroclaw, A2 Mar. 17 - PL - Warsaw, Progresja Mar. 18 - PL - Gdansk, B90 Mar. 20 - LT - Vilnius, Rock River Club Mar. 21 - LV - Riga, Melna Piektdiena Mar. 29 - DE - Bremen, Tivoli Apr. 03 - DE - Munich, Backstage Apr. 05 - DE - Jena, F Haus Apr. 07 - NL - Tilburg, 013 Apr. 10 - ISR - Tel Aviv, [to be announced] More information on "Beloved Antichrist" will be revealed soon.
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