Therion
| Therion | |
|---|---|
 |
|
 Therion at Wacken Open Air , 2007 |
|
| General information | |
| Genre (s) | Death metal , symphonic metal |
| founding | 1987 |
| Website | http://www.megatherion.com/ |
| Founding members | |
| Christofer Johnsson | |
| Peter Hansson (until 1993) | |
| Oskar Forss (until 1993) | |
| Current occupation | |
guitar |
Christofer Johnsson |
guitar |
Christian Vidal (since 2010) |
bass |
Nalle Påhlsson (since 2008) |
Drums |
Sami Karppinen (1998–2001, since 2017) |
singing |
Thomas Vikström (since 2009) |
singing |
Lori Lewis (since 2011) |
| former members | |
guitar |
Magnus Barthelsson (1993-1994) |
guitar |
Jonas Mellberg (1995–1996) |
guitar |
Kristian Niemann (1999-2008) |
bass |
Erik Gustafsson (1988-1992) |
bass |
Andreas Wahl (1993–1994) |
bass |
Fredrik Isaksson (1994) |
bass |
Lars Rosenberg (1994-1996) |
bass |
Johan Niemann (1999-2008) |
Drums, vocals |
Piotr Wawrzeniuk (1992–1996) |
Drums |
Johan Kullberg (2008-2016) |
Drums |
Richard Evensand (2001-2004) |
Drums |
Petter Karlsson (2004-2008) |
| Session and tour members | |
|
|
Therion ( Greek θηρίον , animal ') is a Swedish Death - / symphonic metal - band , which in 1987 by Christofer Johnsson ( guitar , formerly Bass ) from its the 1987 band Blitzkrieg originally released as Megatherion was founded. The name has its origins in ancient Greek to mega therion (τὸ μέγα ϑηρίον), which means, for example, 'the great beast' and is taken from the Revelation of John (see also number of the great beast ). The name was soon shortened to Therion, however . While they started out as a death metal band, they later turned to symphonic metal - the appearance of Theli is seen as a turning point here.
With an often changing line-up, Therion developed a symbiosis of classical and metal based on death metal , in which Christofer Johnsson's admiration for Richard Wagner can be clearly heard; alongside Slayer's Reign in Blood, this is one of Johnsson's most important influences. Most of the texts were written by Thomas Karlsson, the founder of the magical order Dragon Rouge, of which Johnsson is also a member.
history
About Blitzkrieg and Megatherion
Therion was founded in 1987 under the name Blitzkrieg in Upplands Väsby ( Sweden ). Christofer Johnsson was a singer and bassist at the time, and he was just beginning to learn to play this instrument. Co-founders were Peter Hansson as guitarist and Oskar Forss as drummer. Their music was influenced by Metallica and Slayer , although the result was more towards Venom and Motörhead . In the spring of 1988 Blitzkrieg broke up after two concerts. Since the band had never recorded demos, there are only a few recordings of that time, but they found their way on the fan club CD Bells of Doom in 2001 .
Johnsson never gave up the idea of a band and switched from bass to guitar. Under the musical influence of bands like Celtic Frost , he reformed the band together with Peter Hansson under the name Megatherion. A little later, Oskar Forss took part again. After a while, the band also took on Erik Gustafsson, who had just left the death metal band Dismember , as bassist. Shortly thereafter, the band's name was shortened to Therion.
Record deal and first albums
The band recorded the first two demos Paroxysmal Holocaust and Beyond the Darkest Veils of Inner Wickedness on cassette in 1989 . In contrast to the earlier Blitzkrieg sounds, the sound went strongly towards Death Metal. In 1990 they recorded a third demo, Time Shall Tell , which a local record store released on vinyl. It was supposed to be limited to 1000 copies, but the record store also pressed it as a bootleg . The recording attracted quite a bit of attention and led to the first record deal.
In 1991 Therion released their first album Of Darkness on Deaf Records … . Although new material was already available, only old songs were put together on this first album; The band wanted to save their new material for the next release, Of Darkness ... should be both a debut and the end of an era. Since the contract with Deaf Records was limited to one album and the relationship was never particularly good, the band switched to Active Records .
In 1992, shortly before the start of the recording of the second album, Erik Gustafsson left the band and moved back to his native USA. Therion continued their work as a trio, with both Christofer Johnsson and Peter Hansson taking over the work on bass. First attempts with keyboards and clear vocals (Anna Granqvist and Fredrik Lundberg) brought the band a reputation as an experimental death metal band. The release of Beyond Sanctorum was a success, which brought the band first offers for concerts in Central Europe (Benelux countries).
After the recordings, Oskar Forss left the band because his wife was expecting their second child and the responsibility to his family was not compatible with a life as a poorly paid and often traveling musician. Shortly afterwards, Peter Hansson also gave up his work with the band for health and musical reasons. The concerts in the Netherlands and Belgium were played with Piotr Wawrzeniuk, whom Johnsson knew from the band Carbonized , on drums, Andreas Wahl on bass and Magnus Barthelsson, a school friend of Johnsson's guitar. Due to the departure of the other founding members and the removal of Therion's original musical style, Johnsson considered renaming the band, but kept the name as he was the main composer and intended to play the songs of the first two albums live in the future.
With the new line-up, the band started recording Ho Drakon Ho Megas . This third album is still the most experimental of all Therion records and contains death metal, elements of jazz , industrial metal , gothic metal and 80s heavy metal as well as choral singing, classical music and influences from the Arab world. The record company Active Records decided to cease their activities, the owner founded Megarock Records and continued to release Therion albums there. After the release, Therion went on tour through Germany with Grave and Massacra .
Since the income from record sales was still low, Magnus Barthelsson and Andreas Wahl had to end their collaboration with Therion in 1994 for financial reasons. Fredrik Isaksson joined the band as the new bass player. Johnsson didn't pause for a few months from Therion's music and worked on an album by the Swiss band Messiah ; after his return he got an offer from Nuclear Blast . Therion had a good relationship with their previous label and Megarock Records let the band go voluntarily despite an existing contract.
Shortly before the release of the next album Lepaca Kliffoth , the first single The Beauty in Black was released in 1995 , which was as successful as the album, which meant a lot for the single, but not for the album. 15,000 copies of the again very experimental album were sold and Therion left her Death Metal roots behind. The band went on tour through Germany together with Annihilator and also played their first concerts in Argentina and Chile. Since Fredrik Isaksson could not take part in the tour for personal reasons, Lars Rosenberg was signed by Entombed as a session player. However, since Wawrzeniuk had problems with Isaksson, he was eventually fired and Rosenberg took his place.
Sales were still not good and the budget was accordingly small. However, the list of songs that Johnsson was unable to realize had grown longer and longer. Since he didn't want to continue like this, he called Markus Staiger from Nuclear Blast and explained the situation.
"No more album based on my vocals and I need two choirs, a better recording studio, two producers and more time in the studio - if not I rather give up the band and stay happy with what I achieved so far [.]"
In addition to two choirs, a better recording studio, two producers and more time in the studio, he also asked for more concert appearances, as these would improve the band's profile and thereby increase sales and budget. Staiger, a fan of the band, responded. Ex- Unanimated guitarist Jonas Mellberg joined Therion as a guitarist and the recordings for the fifth album could begin.
Theli - The breakthrough
Theli was recorded in the Impuls Studio in Hamburg . Johnsson considered this album his masterpiece, although he felt it would be his last album as he thought it was too experimental to be accepted by many metal fans. Wawrzeniuk was more confident, but began studying history as a precaution. In addition to a rock and a classical choir, heavy use of keyboards and classical music and smaller vocal interludes by Johnsson in the style of the previous album, the singing was mainly performed by Dan Swanö (including Edge of Sanity , Nightingale , Katatonia ) and Wawrzeniuk. Before mixing, the band went on a short European tour. The band needed some distance from the music at first, Johnsson assumed that this would be their last tour, as he did not believe that the new songs could be performed live. During the tour it became apparent that both Mellberg and Rosenberg had alcohol problems, with Mellberg there were also personal problems. Before the release of the new album Theli , the band recorded a song for an Iron Maiden tribute album. One day Mellberg left the studio without a word and with it the band, Johnsson had to do his part of the recording.
The album Theli received positive reviews in major music magazines, the sales figures were more than twice as high as with Lepaca Kliffoth after a month and finally the offer of a tour with the then very popular band Amorphis came up . However, the problems and worries were far from over: the songs were too complex for a live performance. Choirs were already expensive for the recordings, a tour with a choir would not have been affordable. The recordings had already cost Nuclear Blast 56,000 German marks (around 28,000 euros) and were the most expensive in the history of the label to date. Eventually, with the help of his friends and girlfriend, Johnsson managed to put together a choir of amateur musicians. His friend Tommy Eriksson ( Shadowseeds , Nocturnal Rites ) took on the role of drummer for Wawrzeniuk, who was busy with his history studies, Tobias Sidegård ( Necrophobic ) played guitar and Kimberly Goss (later with Dimmu Borgir and Sinergy ) was hired for keyboard and vocals .
The tour was a huge hit, but Johnsson felt the band sounded like shit. In addition, members of the choir had problems adjusting to life on tour; the soprano began using drugs and Rosenberg's alcohol problem worsened significantly. He could barely play and eventually collapsed on stage. Johnsson drew the consequences from this: Rosenberg was fired after the tour and the choir was never used again. However, sales had risen sharply and Therion is now an attractive band for promoters. A second tour with Andreas Wahl as bassist, two professional sopranos and Piotr Wawrzeniuk (who briefly interrupted his studies for this tour) as tenor was planned and carried out in early 1997 together with Sentenced and My Dying Bride . That year Therion also celebrated their 10th anniversary with A'arab Zaraq - Lucid Dreaming - the album contained some unused songs by Theli , covers and a soundtrack that Johnsson made for the film The Golden Embrace . And finally, that same year they went on a third tour with Crematory and Lake of Tears , with Therion headlining outside of Germany . Sarah Jezebel Deva ( Cradle of Filth ) was there for the first time as a singer.
The tour increased sales again, Therion got a manager and Nuclear Blast gave the band a guaranteed bigger budget in recognition of their success in a renegotiated contract. Still, there was one big problem - the band was basically just Johnsson and hired musicians. The professional studio musicians Wolf Simons and Jan Kazda were employed for the next album , Tommy Eriksson helped out on the guitar, Sarah Jezebel Deva and Martina Hornbacher (now Astner, ex- Dreams of Sanity ) sang soprano, and for the first time there was a real string orchestra There is also an opera choir. However, Johnsson considers Vovin to be his solo album.
Vovin , Deggial, and Secret of the Runes
Vovin was more melodic, the production cleaner, and overall the album was more accessible to the masses. The sales doubled compared to Theli and Therion were suddenly one of the most played bands in the metal scene in Europe and the best-selling band at Nuclear Blast. An extended tour with Moonspell through Europe (from Scotland via Hungary and Portugal to Finland) followed, and the drummer Sami Karppinen, who was hired for the tour, was offered a permanent place in the band. With the new line-up, the EP Crowning of Atlantis was recorded. Live tracks and covers were later added before it was released in 1999.
Karppinen was a well-known drummer in the Swedish metal scene and had good contacts. Through him, Kristian Niemann first came to the band as guitarist and a short time later his brother Johan Niemann also joined the band as bassist. So the band had a stable line-up again. Johnsson already had enough material for the next album, which meant that the Niemann brothers could no longer contribute with their own pieces and Deggial actually became a solo album again. The pieces on Deggial were more complex than on Vovin and were recorded for the first time with a full symphony orchestra. Accordingly, the album received very different reviews. However, it sold better than Theli and is considered a huge hit among fans in the official biography. To promote their new album, Therion went on tour again, for the first time as a headliner. They were accompanied by Voivod and supported by Flowing Tears .
2001 Therion released Secret of the Runes , a concept album based on elements of Norse mythology . Each of the songs presents one of the nine worlds of the world tree Yggdrasil , the prologue describes the creation of the world and the epilogue sums up the entire concept. Two cover versions (from ABBA and the Scorpions ) were added as a bonus. For the recording of the album, Johnsson decided to take a drastic step. From the budget he built his own studio for Therion, called Modern Art , so that he was no longer dependent on the schedules of other recording studios and their rent. Sami Karppinen was not only the architect of the studio, but also worked on the construction himself. He also took on the role of sound engineer during the recording . The album was mixed later in Finnvox Studios in Finland. For the first time, Johnsson did without a conductor for the recordings and gave his instructions directly to the orchestra and choir, whose opinion on details in the performance he occasionally tried to implement. This time the album was followed by a tour with Evergrey and My Insanity in the opening act. After the tour, Karppinen decided to leave the band to work full time in the Modern Art Studio and to work on other bands and projects as a guest drummer. However, he still organized his replacement, Richard Evensand. The Secret of the Runes album is also included with a book on runic magic written by Thomas Karlsson in 2004.
In 2001 a CD was also created with Bells of Doom , which was limited to 1000 copies and reserved for the official fan club. In addition to unpublished material, it also contained pieces from the time when Therion was still called Blitzkrieg. Since the fan club no longer exists in its former form and has been replaced by the Therion Society , the CD can now also be purchased by non-members.
In 2002 Therion celebrated their 15th anniversary and released a live double album called Live in Midgård on the occasion .
Lemuria and Sirius B
After another tour, Therion worked on Christofer Johnsson's ideas from before Secret of the Runes . Since then, many new pieces had been created, supplemented by contributions from Johan and Kristian Nieman. After sorting through all of the material, the band discovered that they had 55 new songs in store. Some were not quite complete yet, but there was enough material for three albums. They decided to record two of the three albums at the same time in order to get somewhat up to date with their creativity. 171 musicians were involved in the nine-month recording of the albums, including a 32-piece choir that was recorded in a Prague studio. The church organ was recorded in the oldest church in Copenhagen and finally recorded in the Sun Studio with producer Lars Nissen Hammond organ and Mellotron before the songs were mixed there. The result was Lemuria and Sirius B , which appeared in May 2004. The albums are again more guitar-heavy and a bit heavier than their last predecessors. Piotr Wawrzeniuk provided his voice for the recordings and acted as a singer together with Mats Levén .
Since the drummer Richard Evensand played in several other projects and no longer wanted to be a permanent member of Therion, the band first looked for a guest drummer for tours, but found a new permanent drummer in Petter Karlsson. Together with him, Mats Levén and soprano Karin Fjellander, the band went on a world tour in 2004, which lasted two years and included 106 concerts; the performance at the ProgPower Festival 2006 in Cheltenham , with which it ended, was also Johnsson's last appearance as a singer. During the tour also was Atlantis Lucid Dreaming , a compilation of songs from albums Lucid Dreaming - A'arab Zaraq 1997, Crowning of Atlantis in 1999 and a live version of Black Sun .
On May 5th, 2006 Therion released their first DVD. Celebrators of Becoming is a set of four DVDs and two CDs. The first DVD contains a full-length concert of the Lemuria / Sirius B tour, the footage has been cut from the two concerts in Mexico City (the first two concerts of the tour). The second DVD contains live and backstage material from the entire tour, including a live version of the Russian national anthem from the Moscow concert. The third DVD contains, among other things, various video clips and the art film The Golden Embrace , and the fourth DVD finally illustrates the band's history from the very first video recording as a teenage band to the Secret-of-the-Runes tour. The two CDs contain the audio track from the first DVD.
Gothic Kabbalah
Gothic Kabbalah was released on January 12, 2007 , in which Mats Levén (formerly Yngwie Malmsteen and others ) and Snowy Shaw (formerly Dream Evil , Mercyful Fate and others ) participated as a singer. Gothic Kabbalah is a concept album that is thematically dedicated to Johannes Bureus and is based on the book Adulrunan och den götiska kabbalan (sw. 'Adulruna and the Gothic Kabbala ') by Thomas Karlsson, who also wrote the lyrics for the album. The name Gothic Kabbalah initially caused a bit of excitement when the album was released, as many misunderstood the Gothic in the name as a reference to the Gothic music direction .
At the beginning of May 2007 it was announced that Mats Levén would leave the band because he was not satisfied with the newly designed roles of the singers for Gothic Kabbalah . He was replaced by Thomas Vikström, who is best known outside of Sweden as a singer on Candlemass ' Chapter VI .
In 2011, Lori Lewis became a permanent member of Therion after being friends with the band for several years and working as an opera singer. In the future, she should also actively participate in the composition of upcoming publications.
Les Fleurs du Mal
In 2012 the album Les Fleurs du Mal was released , named after the poetry book of the same name by Charles Baudelaire . It contains only covers of French songs and was released by the band themselves and not through Nuclear Blast. Snowy Shaw also left the band as his enthusiasm waned and he wanted to devote himself to his own projects. He participated in the album with a vocal passage. The split occurred without any conflict between Shaw and Therion.
Music style and lyrics
In their early days under the name Blitzkrieg, the band was influenced by Metallica and Slayer , but the sound went more towards Venom and Motörhead . After the reunification under the name Megatherion, the band, which was influenced by Celtic Frost , among others, oriented itself towards Death Metal.
On their debut album, especially influenced by Celtic Frost's Into the Pandemonium , more progressive for the time, Death Metal with unorthodox influences and keyboards can be heard. Lyrically, the band took up political issues as they were known from bands like Nuclear Assault and Napalm Death . Because death metal was traditionally devoted to death-related issues, it was hated in the emerging black metal scene, which Therion referred to as the "life metal" band, threatened them with death , and even set fire to Johnsson's house. From the second album the band switched to an occult orientation; Mika Luttinen from the Finnish band Impaled Nazarene (which was also threatened by the Norwegian black metal scene and distanced itself from black metal) then described it as a “fact […] that Therion played greenhouse effect death metal and now suddenly occult trend metal. But I wouldn't kill her for it. "
On the third album Lepaca Kliffoth are soprano - and Bass - baritone chants to hear more keyboards, more Persian influences and more melodies, also Johnsson put no growls more and let himself increasingly from 1970 years- Progressive - and symphonic rock -Bands like Klaatu , Pavlov's Dog , Eloy , Pink Floyd and Mandalaband inspire. A real string orchestra was used for the first time when recording Vovin .
Due to their current orientation, Michayah Belfagor ( Nefandus , Ofermod ) even recognizes the band as a black / death metal band; in 2010 he also appeared on her album Sitra Ahra as a guest singer.
Occupations
Discography
Studio albums
| year | Title music label |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, music label , placements, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 DE
|
 CH
|
 AT
|
 SE
|
|||
| 1991 | Of Darkness ... Deaf Records |
- | - | - | - |
First published: February 1991
|
| 1992 | Beyond Sanctorum Active Records |
- | - | - | - |
First published: January 1992
|
| 1993 | Symphony Masses - Ho Drakon Ho Megas mega skirt |
- | - | - | - |
First published: April 1993
|
| 1995 | Lepaca Kliffoth Nuclear Blast |
- | - | - | - |
First published: April 4, 1995
|
| 1996 | Theli Nuclear Blast |
- | - | - | - |
First published: August 9, 1996
|
| 1997 | A'arab Zaraq Lucid Dreaming Nuclear Blast |
DE98 (1 week) DE |
- | - | - |
First published: May 16, 1997
|
| 1998 | Vovin Nuclear Blast |
DE46 (4 weeks) DE |
AT48 (2 weeks) AT |
- | - |
First published: May 4, 1998
|
| 1999 | Crowning of Atlantis Nuclear Blast |
DE87 (1 week) DE |
- | - | - |
First published: June 7, 1999
|
| 2000 | Deggial Nuclear Blast |
DE43 (2 weeks) DE |
- | - | - |
First published: January 31, 2000
|
| 2001 | Secret of the Runes Nuclear Blast |
DE74 (1 week) DE |
- | - | - |
First published: October 8, 2001
|
| 2004 | Lemuria / Sirius B Nuclear Blast |
DE63 (1 week) DE |
- | - | - |
First published: May 24, 2004
|
| 2007 | Gothic Kabbalah Nuclear Blast |
DE59 (2 weeks) DE |
- |
CH73 (2 weeks) CH |
SE26 (2 weeks) SE |
First published: January 12, 2007
|
| 2010 | Sitra Ahra Nuclear Blast |
DE73 (1 week) DE |
AT75 (1 week) AT |
- | - |
First published: September 17, 2010
|
| 2012 |
Les Fleurs du Mal Nuclear Blast |
- | - | - | - |
First published: September 28, 2012
|
| 2018 | Beloved Antichrist Nuclear Blast |
DE25 (2 weeks) DE |
AT46 (1 week) AT |
CH18 (2 weeks) CH |
- |
First published: February 9, 2018
|
Web links
- Official website (English)
- Therion at Discogs (English)
- Therion at laut.de
swell
- ↑ a b Lori Lewis get permanent status in Therion ( memento of the original from October 14, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. .
- ↑ Christofer Johnsson: RIP Johanna Mårlöv ( Memento of the original from June 18, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , June 2, 2013, accessed June 8, 2013.
- ↑ Musicians who have worked with Therion ( Memento from August 26, 2010 in the Internet Archive ).
- ↑ a b Zoltán Koncsok: Christofer Johnsson (Therion) ( Memento of 30 March 2006 at the Internet Archive ).
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Biography ( Memento of the original from September 21, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Thomas Karlsson (en) : Uthark - In the shadow realm of the runes . Arun 2004, ISBN 9783935581295 (incl. Therion CD Secret of the Runes )
- ↑ NEWS ( Memento of the original from July 23, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Adulruna and the Gothic Kabbalah ( Memento of February 16, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Line up change ( Memento from June 11, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Christofer Johnsson: Important news ( Memento of the original from December 24, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . September 14, 2012, accessed October 13, 2012
- ↑ a b Bård G. Eithun : Interview with Euronymous, done by Faust from Emperor for his zine Orcustus ( Memento from September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ). In: Orcustus
- ↑ a b c Interview with Euronymous ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . In: Close-Up , No. 4.
- ↑ a b Michael Moynihan , Didrik Søderlind: Lords of Chaos . The Bloody Rise of the Satanic Metal Underground . Feral House 1998, ISBN 0-922915-48-2 , p. 91
- ↑ Robert Müller: Satanic Verses . In: Metal Hammer , June 1993, p. 160
- ^ "There is nothing special about the Swedish sound, as every worthy band have developed their own sound. There is no other band that sounds like Marduk or Dissection (RIP), nor is there any band that sounds like Watain , Mortuus , Kaamos or Ofermod , or even Therion, which for me is Black / Death Metal, as what they deal with lyrically are the same qliphothic forces as Ofermod. “ Ofermod Interview 12/16/2008 ( Memento of the original from April 26, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
