Therion

byrne

Certavi et vici
May 1, 2003
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At the Gates
www.hailmetal.com
I'm well versed in Beyond Sanctorum, but I have no idea about anything post that album other than the usual guff about "they sold out, they were no longer death metal" etc.

What is post-BS like? Do you prefer it/like it etc. Is it similar to Tiamat's Wildhoney, or is it more like Amorphis' Silent Waters. What do you recommend (if anything) from their discography?
 
Their later discography is extremely symphonic. They actually shy away from their death metal sound and pursue a sound more in the vein of symphonic power metal. Some of their records utilize nothing but choirs for vocals. Here are some samples:





 
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Call me odd, but Symphony Masses: Ho Drakon Ho Megas is my favorite Therion album.

 
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Ok thanks for the input. I listened to all of the tracks posted. The first 3 were horrible (sorry Einherjar), Asgard started well, but turned to shit pretty quickly. That being said Black Rose was good, but I think I'll stick to Beyond Sanctorum for now and may check out the rest of the album later on.
 
A brief summary of Therion post-BS:

1993 - Symphony Masses: rather awkward death metal with vague symphonic touches

1995 - Lepaca Kliffoth: rather awkward heavy/death metal with slightly more refined (though still minimal) symphonic touches

1996 - Theli: Their first real symphonic metal album, with opera-style choruses and plenty of keyboard usage (though it gets pretty cheesy at times). One plus to this album over the later ones is that the sound is still raw and crunchy

1998 - Vovin: Their best symph metal album imo, and the first one that's actually a pretty even blend of "symphonic" and "metal" rather than just "metal with symphonic embellishments". There are several nice orchestra-dominated sections, and the melodies are generally very pretty.

2000 - Deggial: Almost identical to Vovin, except the symphonic elements are more mature and atmospheric this time, though the songwriting's kinda inferior.

2001 - Secret of the Runes: Back to a more raw/crunchy sound (though still not as much as Theli and before) while still maintaining the strings/choirs. Pretty solid, though not one of my faves. Great ABBA cover though. :)

2004 - Sirius B/Lemuria: Probably their most bombastic and production-heavy albums. There's some pretty epic use of orchestras and choirs this time. There's actually a bit of a power metal feel to a lot of it. I think the songwriting on Sirius B is leagues above Lemuria, but stylistically of course they're almost identical.

2007 - Gothic Kabbalah: A transition away from symphonic metal and toward prog metal. If there's any Therion album that sounds like / is influenced by later Amorphis, it's this one (though from what I've heard the bands have never really sounded that similar). First 1/3 or so of this album has really great songwriting, and they actually have some charismatic solo vocals for once, but there's too much material on this album overall imo, and it gets really tedious toward the end.

Hope that helps :)
 
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Gothic Kaballah is definitely progressive, I agree; but it's also extremely symphonic I think. The orchestrations on that album might be even more embellished and extravagant than Lemuria/Sirius B.
 
Oh, on this note:

Is it similar to Tiamat's Wildhoney

Not terribly similar. Wildhoney is more psychedelic/psychological leaning thematically, whereas Therion stick pretty firmly to your typical "classical" themes of magic and mythology. I guess they have a similar sound being that they're both '90s Swedish non-extreme metal, but they're still in different subgenres of metal.
 
Gothic Kaballah is definitely progressive, I agree; but it's also extremely symphonic I think. The orchestrations on that album might be even more embellished and extravagant than Lemuria/Sirius B.

True. When I said "a transition away from symphonic metal" I was thinking mainly of the vocal style and song structure, which are both more overtly catchy and less "aloof" than before. Instrumentally, the symphonic elements are pretty much just as strong.
 
True. When I said "a transition away from symphonic metal" I was thinking mainly of the vocal style and song structure, which are both more overtly catchy and less "aloof" than before. Instrumentally, the symphonic elements are pretty much just as strong.

Okay, I completely agree with that. The vocals on Gothic Kaballah are definitely the catchiest they've ever done.

Everyone likes that song so much, I think it's the worst song in the entire Lemuria/Sirius B package. The great songs on Sirius B in my opinion are Son Of The Sun, Kali Yuga Part 2, The Wondrous World Of Punt, Call Of Dagon, Sirius B and Voyage of Gurdjieff (The Fourth Way).
Damn I love that album.

I love the energy of "The Khlysti Evangelist," and I think it's also one of the catchiest songs on the record. The chorus vocals are just so cool (I think).
 
Everyone likes that song so much, I think it's the worst song in the entire Lemuria/Sirius B package. The great songs on Sirius B in my opinion are Son Of The Sun, Kali Yuga Part 2, The Wondrous World Of Punt, Call Of Dagon, Sirius B and Voyage of Gurdjieff (The Fourth Way).
Damn I love that album.

As Omni would say, Khlysti Evangelist does have pretty "obvious melodies" :)

"Son of the Sun" and "Call of Dagon" are definitely fucking incredible songs and my two favorites on Sirius B. Most of the others are pretty good too. Lemuria just doesn't compare at all, though the title track on it is decent.