excerpts from the twin album

Lemuria

Thyphon

Uthark Runa

The Dreams Of Swedenborg

An Arrow From The Sun

Feuer Overtüre/Prometheus entfesselt

Sirius B

Blood Of Kingu

Son Of The Sun

The Khlysti Evangelist

Kali Yuga Part1

Kali Yuga Part2

Call Of Dragon

Sirius B

Christofer Johnsson - guitars

Kristian Niemann - guitar

Johann Niemann - bass

More than 170 musicians involved

release date 24th May 

preview- review  by Marco "Norman Knight" Signore____   

Back is the Megatherion! The magnificent nordic combo returns after the valid double live album with a twin project that is at least comparable with the previous best productions of Therion. It is pretty meaningless trying to resume in few words the background of a band that must be considered one of the pillars of heavy metal music. And yet, after more than a decade of extremely good symphonic productions, Therion seem to have more than just few surprises for us. This preview will of course take into account only few tracks from each of the albums due to be released, the first named Lemuria and the second Sirius B.

Typhon is the first track from Lemuria, a concept possibly strongly based on the alleged submerged continent, the sister of Atlantis. It seems that time never spreads its wing upon Therion, as the sounds that emerge from the speakers when we listen to this track are coming both from the past and the future of Therion. New and old sonorities mix up in this very good track. The song itself is very well structured with parts of clean, choral voices mixed with menacing growl, all enlaced on the precious carpet of carefully chosen sounds of guitars, bass, drums and the splendid strings that culminate in solutions that, even emerging from the heavy symphonic metal of Therion’s legacy, deepen their roots in the progressive rock – even reminiscences of Rush’s darkest sonorities of “Counterparts”.

With Uthark Runa we are greeted by a choir repeating the obsessive, rhythmic refrain that frames the excellent vocals as the scratching and characteristic voice of Mats Levén speaks of ancient nordic signs that return to life. And among the majestic choirs and the atmospheric guitars this song almost takes the legacy left by “Secret of the Runes”… “decipher the signs from the North” this is the invitation that Therion bestow upon us. Needless to say the power of their symphony moves our deepest cords to follow this invitation… and run with our fantasy towards the eternally grey shores of Norse reigns lost in the mists of time.

A delicate acoustig guitar arpeggio introduces the splendid voice  that relates us the tale of Lemuria, the kingdom under the waves, and this mesmerizing tale is only enriched by the other instruments and voice that enter in a soft and yet marked crescendo of gloomy atmosphere reminiscent of the ethereal Ljusalfheim from “Secret of the Runes”. And all in all this song has the same oniric atmospheres that can only be used to tell of the Light Elves or, as in this case, of the undersea lost kingdom; the song is preciously concluded by a nice flute solo.

We come out from the dream under the waves only to be brought on the wings of another dream, this time the Dream of Swedenborg that starts as any other dream… with delicate steps into a treacherous ground that transforms itself into a powerful and yet never harsh ballad where the vocals create patterns like those on the intricate decorations of the Norse, where the acoustic guitar once again becomes dominant, and leads the dance of strings and drums that transport us on an ideal drakkar of music towards Swedenborg, whose oar strikes are marked by the guitar solo that end the song in a fade out that only leaves us asking for more.

And An Arrow from the Sun is what we asked for. Again we are greeted by the embracing female voice , that sings along with the choir on a carpet of acoustic chords and repeated palm-muted electric, and then – here it comes, the arrow, in the form of marked drums and brief guitar riffs that introduce a deep male voice telling us of the birth of the sun. Quite an unusual song this one, with good effect use and the great choir work that creates the land upon which the scorching arrow from our yellow star finds its mark in the beautiful refrains of Johnsson marked by a series of stopped acoutic chords that really stand out in the soft carpet of other instruments and voice, but never being too oppriment or too present. And from the electric guitar in palm muting we are brought before the last song from Lemuria. This is a symphonic and grand piece of orchestral score called Feuer Overtüre / Prometheus entfesselt. The fire of the title is latent in the bass vocals singing in German as the track lifts off from the air like the flames flickering from a great fire and ascends in the skies telling the tale of Prometheus under a bass/drum work that is really impressive and marking the excellent guitar work of both Johnsson and Niemann. As the other intruments make their entrance the song becomes a true masterpiece in the latest Therion’s style, and again mixing the new way (like Secret of the Runes itself) with the old one (the immortal times of Theli).

From this first listening emerges the new direction of Therion’s melodies

Of a different atmosphere seems to be Sirius B, whose title honours one of the oldest and deepest mysteries of mankind; more aggressive, more heavy metal oriented, and a bit less symphonic than Lemuria. And here… the few initial notes of Blood of Kingu carry us in the old Fertile Crescent as the second Husband of Tiamat is killed by Marduk, in a driving and relentless song that haunts the listener, almost painting the horizon with the living blood that created humankind, and the music created by Johnsson and company transport us in the eternal struggle between the forces of Chaos and Order – the birth of the World being only the result of these two great Forces as the birth of contrasting feelings of fear and yet wish for more discoveries is created by this song. The grandeur of the music becomes epic composition as the battle comes to an end and from the Blood of Kingu humanity is born.

A driving and powerful guitar riff introduces Son of the Sun that brings us to a closer land… we are still 3000 years before Christ and bow down towards the almighty gaze of the Pharaoh, the Se-Re (Son of the Sun) whose life meant the life of the Tawi, the Two Lands… and whose death meant ascendance towards his Father and his Divine Relatives as his body started the eternal journey from the mummified form in the pyramid, petrified rays of the Sun – this song drives us in the same way that the life-giving rays of the sun lead the Egyptians towards the most fascinating and complex of all ancient cultures. The fine electric guitar of Johnsson only adds pathos to the song as the china cymbal of the new Therion drummer carry us to the final refrain closed by the immediate and striking riff that opened the song.

We then move to Russia and follow the Orthodox heresy of the Khlysty, the “Sons of God”, as the vocal power of the choir weaves in music and notes the gelid and frozen thundra introduce us to The Khlysti Evangelist, only to explode once again in a powerful heavy metal riff with driving bass/drum work marked by a very dark distortion of the guitars, that would not be out of place in a Symphonic or Prog metal album. The aggressive lead vocals come from Mats Levén and we are but forced to stay transfixed by the river of notes that really gives us flashing images of torchlit monasteries lost in the frozen white thundra of Russia. And the ice and snow that threaten our life and sanity is cracked by the violent and symphonic guitar solo that precedes the return of the lead vocals. Certainly this is one of the best songs of this album.

It is significative that the next son is titled Kali Yuga, the “Age of Iron” of Hindu cosmology. This song is actually composed of two part. The Part One is opened by a cadenced drum that marks a very “Therion-like” riff of guitar that however carries inside the seeds of music, as the voice, crackling in a sort of crunch effect, intermingles with the sound of the electric guitars only to find freedom in the refrain, announcing the Kali Yuga, the present age, the final and most negative of the four Yugic Cycles… and as the choir heralds the coming of this age, the guitar explodes in the Part Two, maybe the most aggressive song in this promo, with choirs again marking a fierce musical landscape that the strings cannot (and maybe don’t want to) mitigate. And this song is a crescendo of anxiety and uncertainty marked by the anguish of the chord sequence, worthy of the best Therion production indeed. The finale is really grand, making this maybe the most beautiful song of the album, as the violins form patterns with the voices guided by the omnipresent and serrated drums and bass. “Living in Kali Yuga, in the dark night of the soul” repeats the vocal work as the song comes to an end of powerful music crowning this masterpiece of the “Age of Iron”.

In Call of Dagon we find perhaps the most symphonic song of this promo, a continuous flow of notes built on a solid and yet ever flowing stream of pedal horns and strings that actually sound like a call of some sort; in this case the the call is issued forth from the Philistine God Dagon – the God of the Waters and Sea. It is of no small significance that the song itself resembles a liquid body flowing onward, a river, or perhaps the flow and ebb of the tide – the Domains of Dagon in any case. Once again, Therion managed to put in music what has been muted by the sands of time, painstakingly providing us with the feelings that maybe the Ancient Ones felt by thinking about this Master of Waters. 

The last song of this promo is the dark and obscure almost as its title, Sirius B, “he who reigns on the void”, as the Egyptians called it – without consciously knowing its presence as the dark companion of the star Sirius. The song is dark and full of mysterious echoes, with a bass voice obsessively repeating a single vocalism (in this song I have found faint reminiscences of Robert Berry’s “The Aiel Approach”), a gloomy and ominous conclusion to this perfect album.

All in all there are very few words to say… if this cannot be considered a masterpiece, then what else may be? Therion totally devastate our senses once again and confirm their preminent and unique position as the harbingers and heralds of the true symphonic heavy metal. Hail to the Ones! To Megatherion!

Rating: 10/10 (strictly considering these 13 tracks only)

© GryphonMetal.ch  June 2001-2007Niederrohrdorf - Switzerland