Therion Lemuria/Sirius B
Nuclear Blast Records May 24th, 2004
By Jason Jordan
You have to take this review with a grain of salt, because I only have half of each album. With that said, I can easily warn you that Therions latest is marginal at best. Perhaps the most irksome aspect of this double album is the blending of operatic vocals with choir passages. It only makes the release a laborious chore. When I want to listen to a choir Ill go to church or watch a Lord of the Rings film. Theyre fine when used sparingly (see: Solefalds Christiana), but here they tend to grate on my nerves.
Disclaimers aside, the Lemuria disc begins promisingly enough with Typhon. The guitar tones are a bit too fuzzy for my liking, but the riffs are quite alluring. Also noteworthy are particular drumfills, which add spice to the song. Most tracks commence nicely but then falter irreversibly. All these songs just get boring after a couple minutes. Comparisons to Samael are deserved upon hearing Feuer Overture/Prometheus Entfesselt.. The aforementioned is one of the better compositions on the release.
Sirius B occasionally features high-pitched, power metal vocals that dont sit well with me. Blood of Kingu however presents quality guitar leads over much of its rhythm sections. Call of Dagon actually accomplishes what it set out to do: conjure grandiose images of all that is epic. The material on Sirius B is more industrially-tinged than that of Lemuria, and the former tends to be more innovative also. Like I mentioned earlier, I only have half of each album (first half of Lemuria and last half of Sirius B) but I can reasonably infer that I wont be supporting Therions musical ventures any time soon. My advice would be to scale down the choirs, lose the power metal vocals, and stop meandering so much.
Lemuria: 6.5/10
Sirius B: 7.0/10
Official Therion website
Official Nuclear Blast website
Nuclear Blast Records May 24th, 2004
By Jason Jordan
You have to take this review with a grain of salt, because I only have half of each album. With that said, I can easily warn you that Therions latest is marginal at best. Perhaps the most irksome aspect of this double album is the blending of operatic vocals with choir passages. It only makes the release a laborious chore. When I want to listen to a choir Ill go to church or watch a Lord of the Rings film. Theyre fine when used sparingly (see: Solefalds Christiana), but here they tend to grate on my nerves.
Disclaimers aside, the Lemuria disc begins promisingly enough with Typhon. The guitar tones are a bit too fuzzy for my liking, but the riffs are quite alluring. Also noteworthy are particular drumfills, which add spice to the song. Most tracks commence nicely but then falter irreversibly. All these songs just get boring after a couple minutes. Comparisons to Samael are deserved upon hearing Feuer Overture/Prometheus Entfesselt.. The aforementioned is one of the better compositions on the release.
Sirius B occasionally features high-pitched, power metal vocals that dont sit well with me. Blood of Kingu however presents quality guitar leads over much of its rhythm sections. Call of Dagon actually accomplishes what it set out to do: conjure grandiose images of all that is epic. The material on Sirius B is more industrially-tinged than that of Lemuria, and the former tends to be more innovative also. Like I mentioned earlier, I only have half of each album (first half of Lemuria and last half of Sirius B) but I can reasonably infer that I wont be supporting Therions musical ventures any time soon. My advice would be to scale down the choirs, lose the power metal vocals, and stop meandering so much.
Lemuria: 6.5/10
Sirius B: 7.0/10
Official Therion website
Official Nuclear Blast website
