THERION new album: Les Fleurs du Mal

[KingsGene]

From http://www.bravewords.com/news/190799 :

Swedish symphonic metal masters THERION are busy making final preparations to celebrate their 25th anniversary by releasing their new album, Les Fleurs du Mal, and embarking on a 25th anniversary tour. The band has signed a licensing deal with End Of The Light Records to release the album in the US, Canada and Mexico. It will be released in North America on November 13th. Therion will introduce the new album to the world during their Flowers Of Evil 25th anniversary tour.

The album, Les Fleurs du Mal, is a part of an art project that Christofer Johnsson has been thinking about for some time: "The time was never right for it, but in celebration of the band's 25th anniversary, I thought now will finally be the right time for it," Christofer explains.

There are still many details that are unknown about this mystical art project, and so far only the album title Les Fleurs du Mal can be officially announced. The album title refers to Charles Baudelaire's (French author and poet 1821 - 1867) famous poem collection Flowers Of Evil (Les Fleurs du Mal in French) that caused such an upset of emotions in France that the author was brought to court and got fined for "insulting the public" with six of the poems, that remained forbidden in France until 1949 when the ban was finally lifted. The spirit of the project is a tribute to Baudelaire, and is imbued into both music and artwork. The album was recorded at Adulruna studio, located in a separate building next to Johnsson's decadent Villa Adulruna, where the band lived together while recording.

Christofer continued about the project: "The project was seen as too controversial for Therion's record label, Nuclear Blast, by the final results, so I asked if it was possible to buy back the master tapes of the record and release it on my own label. And after some negotiations, my wish was granted. But Therion is of course is still signed to Nuclear Blast Records for future releases," Christofer clarifies.

By having full control of the release now, Christofer has decided to do everything his own way, and starts by releasing the album to the loyal fans first that come to the concerts in Europe during Therion's 25th Anniversary Flowers Of Evil tour.

Christofer went on to explain: "This is the beginning of a new period that will last for a number of years, where the band will focus on doing certain projects performed by Therion rather than releasing regular albums. In the planning after the art project is a rock opera that is scheduled to take several years to complete."

Now during Therion's Flowers Of Evil Tour and the band's 25th anniversary the audience can expect a breathtaking performance which combines all the elements which have been the key to Therion's success throughout the years.

Updates to follow. More on Therion at this location.

 

[deathmetalpat]

1. Overture

2. Les Fleurs du Mal part 1

3. Les Fleurs du Mal part 2

4. Les Fleurs du Mal part 3

5. Les Fleurs du Mal part 4

6. Les Fleurs du Mal part 5

7. Les Fleurs du Mal part 6

8. Les Fleurs du Mal part 7

9. Les Fleurs du Mal part 8

10. Les Fleurs du Mal part 9

11. Les Fleurs du Mal part 10

12. Les Fleurs du Mal part 11

13. Les Fleurs du Mal part 12

14. Finale

15. Epilogue




Bonus track: Adulruna Rediviva (folk version) Track Listings from some Ebay sellers,project is so secret not even song titles are on cd!

 

[draak334]

cant wait for this one...... Therion are my fave of all times.

 

[CD INZANE]

The PREORDER is up for this one. We can ship this on November 24th and the price is ONLY $13.15 each:

http://www.cdinzane.com/product.php?productid=11850

 

[VenomGA]

according to MA, here is the actual track listing:
1. Poupée de cire, poupée de son 02:52
2. Une fleur dans le coeur 03:03
3. Initials B.B. 03:44 Show lyrics
4. Mon amour, mon ami 04:36
5. Polichinelle 02:29
6. La Maritza 03:54 Show lyrics
7. Soeur angelique 03:06
8. Dis-moi poupée 03:24 Show lyrics
9. Lilith 02:31
10. En Alabama 02:39
11. Wahala manitou 02:35
12. Je n'ai besoin que de tendresse 02:14
13. La licorne d'or 02:46
14. J'ai le mal de toi 02:51
15. Poupée de cire, poupée de son 02:32
16. Les sucettes 02:40 Show lyrics
47:56

 

[nomisofsiman]

First day purchase for me. Therion has been in my top 10 for years.

 

[33948]

I have been looking for places to post my review. I have spinned the album many times now after, er... "acquiring" it. At first I listened on youtube, but the album is actually better than youtube suggests.

An art project by Therion this album consists entirely of old french folksy symphonic cover songs from the 1950s and 1960s. The album is most similar to the previous "Sitra Ahra" release and has the same line up as Sitra Ahra. In some ways it is better that Sitra Ahra, but unlike Sitra Ahra there isn't any metal in this album (not that there was much in SA but at least we had some heavy moments).

Firstly the album obviously sounds like Therion. It sounds like Therion, but different at the same time (sort of like every album they do).

You have to get this album because of its originality. Nobody else has done an album like this. It is like a modern version of old style music that isn't made anymore. It takes you back to the 1940s or 1950s, except the sound quality is much better than any old recording.

The production is perfect. The performance of the band and singers is top notch. I mean probably some of the best performances Therion members have done. None of the songs suck, although some of them can get boring at times and almost put a rocker to sleep. A few songs stand out as being "hits" and are superb to anyone's ears. Some of them sound familiar as we've probably heard these melodies before (they are cover songs after all).

The songs all fit together. This is not a random assortment of songs like lemuria/sirius b or Gothic Kabbalah. There are no annoying 80s metal screams ruining the flow of an operatic song. Snowy sings in two songs from what I heard, but he sings in a style that is sort of operatic itself, so it all fits together very well. It may take a few spins to realize it, but the instrumentals are complex and extremely well done. I mean there are some odd time changes and such that remind me of Gothic Kabbalah. But you don't really notice the instruments. The guitars and drum beats are mostly in the background backing up the vocals. This whole album focuses on vocals and melodies. And the almost classical style timing is a product of the old timy music they are covering rather than any attempt to be complex. But it has that distinct old timy feel to it, hard to explain in places.

I have to hold back a five star rating for a couple of reasons. For one, the entire album being in French gets a bit annoying after repeated listens. I just need to mix in some other music. Second because the album is a little bit boring from a metal heads prospective. There are no noteable guitar solos or heavy moments. It is jazzed up. The songs do rock more than the original versions, but this album cannot be considered metal by any stretch of the imagination. I mean this has to be why nuclear blast dropped the album- it's not metal and the whole thing in French might not be too popular among some people. It's still clearly Therion- just a slightly mellowed out version of Therion. This is music you sit back in your chair and drink a glass of wine to rather than something you head bang to. It may have a little metal influence here and there from the "therionization" of the songs, but no the songs are not metal songs- none of them. What this is, is actually another rock opera masterpiece by Therion. Much like Secret of the Runes before it, this will bore the h*ll out of metal fans, while delightfully pleasing fans of opera or fans of old time music.

 

[Megawozniak]

Mostly this is just me being contrary, but...

1. I'm sure French people get tired of English songs on 99% of metal releases.
2. On Therion's prior releases, a person can't realistically decipher the majority of words without a lyric sheet anyway.
3. SOTR definitely had some metal. You can't say Ginnungagap isn't metal. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gktpYGhJHWE


With all that out of the way, SA really disappointed me, both production and songwriting. I consider GK to be their best album, and upon looking at the writing credits I think it's because CJ let everyone contribute more. Hopefully this is a step forward, or at least neutral.

 

[33948]

SOTRs did have metal. This new album doesn't. It does remind me of SOTRs in that it is very opera oriented and will probably get a similar reaction from metal heads who said SOTRs was "boring".

This album has some moments that are a bit heavy, but none of the songs are metal on the new album. Some of it even sounds a bit Gothic, but still the main element is always operatic vocals. I think there is one very short guitar solo.

It almost reminds me of a cross between SOTRs and Sitra Ahra for some reason. I like the French vocals, it really adds character to the songs. Don't know why, but it does get boring listening to them through the whole album though, but not too much so. Also a little boring is that I already heard some of these songs before. Some of these songs are really famous. I have never listened to them personally but I'm sure I've heard them on a commercial or from somewhere. But I like the therion versions better.

 

[Rider of Theli]

not metal? really? ....

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_6zI8gmv10&feature=related[/ame]

I beg to differ.

and being a Therion fan (and one of the biggest on these forums), I have to thoroughly disagree with you concerning SotR. Some of Therion's heaviest moments exist on that album. Sure, they played more extensively with some of the female operatic vocals on that one, but have you paid any attention to the concept of the album? Viking Mythology, which in turn lends itself to many operatic themes. Three words come to mind when describing SotR to anyone unfamiliar with Therion: classical, epic, and HEAVY!

But I digress.... only since reading your review 30 minutes ago, I've listened to about 5 of the video uploads of various songs from the forthcoming Therion release. And while I was previously becoming disheartened by some of the reviews such as yours since the news broke this past week, I am still honestly firmly entrenched in the Therion fan camp.

Personally I won't be "acquiring" this album. I'll be purchasing it as a fan since 1995.

 

[Cheiron]

This album is a bit strange. On one listen, I'll say that it has some good songs, but overall I felt like the compositions were not nearly as strong as we had on Gothic Kaballah (which is perhaps their best or second best album). I'll have to give it more spins, as sometimes a Therion album ends up taking time to grow on me (Sitra Ahra never quite did, though I enjoyed several songs).

 

[33948]

Secret of the Runes is my favorite album of all time from any band. I really like Les Fleurs Du Mal. I think its one of Therion's best albums as well. What I'm saying is that people who are more into headbanging metal did not like these albums as much.

First spin I didn't think much of it. It was because it wasn't metal. Once I accepted that fact I found it to be some of Therion's best work. Although after listening to it many times now I hear influences from Therion's early albums in the orchestration (Theli, Lucid Dreaming etc.) along with influences from many different albums. Overall though this is the softest album Therion has done.

I thought Sitra Ahra was good but Therions weakest album.

The new album is sort of like "Midgard" or "Land of Canaan" type songs that aren't real heavy. That video you posted is the heaviest song on the whole album. There are three songs (maybe four) out of 16 songs that are a little heavy. But even those aren't too heavy. I'd consider it more like hard rock with metal influences (sort of like Metallicas load and reload but not as sucky).

To tell the truth most of the best songs on this album are the softest ones. Yet they are playing the heavier songs live.

My favorite songs:

7.Soeur angelique
13.La licorne d'or
14.J'ai le mal de toi

 

[broegaard]

not metal? really? ....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_6zI8gmv10&feature=related

I beg to differ.

and being a Therion fan (and one of the biggest on these forums), I have to thoroughly disagree with you concerning SotR. Some of Therion's heaviest moments exist on that album. Sure, they played more extensively with some of the female operatic vocals on that one, but have you paid any attention to the concept of the album? Viking Mythology, which in turn lends itself to many operatic themes. Three words come to mind when describing SotR to anyone unfamiliar with Therion: classical, epic, and HEAVY!

But I digress.... only since reading your review 30 minutes ago, I've listened to about 5 of the video uploads of various songs from the forthcoming Therion release. And while I was previously becoming disheartened by some of the reviews such as yours since the news broke this past week, I am still honestly firmly entrenched in the Therion fan camp.

Personally I won't be "acquiring" this album. I'll be purchasing it as a fan since 1995.

twisted sister meets king diamond?

 

[ScottG]

So the whole album is cover songs??

 

[spag]

As with most everything Therion, all of it that I've listened to so far is excellent. Yes, I wouldn't call it metal, but I guess since I don't listen to 100% metal, all is good. Could give a shit that it's in French as well. Kind of a pain in the ass listening on Youtube, so I probably haven't heard all the songs. And the audio quality sucks on YT, but the production on the last couple of Therions have been great, so I imagine this one will be as well. Insanely talented band.

 

[33948]

The sound quality on the new album is top notch. I downloaded it, but I'll buy it once it comes out in stores over here.

 

[Stevie WOnder]

Mostly this is just me being contrary, but...

1. I'm sure French people get tired of English songs on 99% of metal releases.

Au contraire mon ami, I actually find most metal sung in french annoying with the exception of a few. To my ears, it doesn't fit since it's a poetic language. It's like german fits perfectly with industrial metal like Rammstein.

Cheers!

Steve

 

[seh750]

Au contraire mon ami, I actually find most metal sung in french annoying with the exception of a few...

"À tout le Monde, à tous mes amis, je vous aime, je dois partir"

Hope that's one of the exceptions, because I dig that song. Particularly the duet with Cristina Scabbia.

 

[Stevie WOnder]

"À tout le Monde, à tous mes amis, je vous aime, je dois partir"

Hope that's one of the exceptions, because I dig that song. Particularly the duet with Cristina Scabbia.

It's ok since it's a classic and the melody's awesome but the thick accent doesn't flow to my ears. I also liked the Scabbia duet.

Cheers!

Steve

 

[draak334]

i read that part of "it's not metal" - then what else is it??

this cd is metal through and through, although the particular choice of songs (which appear to be covers) has a different taste from all other therion albums.

it has some memorable moments where strings are just awesome and even certain folkish atmospheres with accordion. looks like a really inspired work, and these videos they made are deliberately hilarious but awesome as well.

these were my five cents to the topic...