THERION - Lemuria & Sirius B (2004)
THERION – “Lemuria & Sirius B”
(Nuclear Blast)
Running Time : 42:41 & 56:59
THERION return to the forefront, after quite a while. It’s been almost 3 years since their last effort, “Secret of the runes”. So what the heck has been going on in Kliffoth, all that time. Well three albums were composed in the interim and here we have two o them. THERION have embraced their metal rules more this time, while maintaining the classical edge as well. The albums have a rather separate sense of identity. “Lemuria” is a rather pompous and metallic variant, perhaps close to “Theli” with hints of “Vovin” and a couple of surprises, thrown in for good measure. “Sirius” has a totally different ambience and is more like a twisted classical soundtrack of a really wicked out worldly movie. Both albums require consecutive listens to be fully understood and appreciated. While in albums like “Deggial” the hooks were big and the songs where mega-catchy, here things are a little more subtle but also a lot more engrossing, once one has delved into the depths of the album. The albums draw inspiration from classical music, 70s prog and 80s metal. The fusion of all this elements is done in a really harmonious way. The metallic elements do not override the orchestral arrangements and a choir comes lightly in, in places and just adds an air of grace and splendor. But lets take a closer look at the new “master-work” of Christopher Johnson.
“Typhon” – a reference to Greek mythology is a nice way to open the proceedings. One thing that immediately catches the listeners attention is the inclusion of death metal style vocals, something that the band hasn’t incorporated in their music in a long time. It’s a rather weird choice for an opener as it’s not mega catchy, and is rather twisted in a lot of ways. But a beautiful solo and some nice rhythm stuff really get the track going. “Urthak runa” begins with a nice intro, breaks into some nice choir stuff has a far better chorus than the opener with some excellent eastern melodies and a power metal finish. It’s funny how the change in styles seems to be flowing effortlessly after a while. And on we go to the “Three ships of Berik”, in two parts. An amazing intro with the choir as usual taking over. Then a part that reminded me very much of CREMOTORY circa their “Awake” era complete with some death metal vocals as well. And a repetition of the opening motif. Then the second part entitled is a triumphant horn laden paean to the victory of Berik. A really magnificent way to climax. “Lemuria” follows in an acoustic mood, with acoustic guitars taking over. A mix of the choir over some really nice acoustic theme, leads to a vocal lead, very much in the early SCORPIONS vein, a really dreamy piece. “Quetzalcoatl” – the feathered snake of Ancient Mexico, begins with a scorching Riff, reminiscent of something like “In the Desert of Set” from “Theli”, but slows down and repeats a catchy motif a couple of times. Funnily enough there’s a Balalaika there for a short bit. Interesting. “The Dreams of Swedenborg” One of the best songs on offer. It’s almost like a reprise of Scorpions “Fly to the rainbow” well not a reprise, but it creates exactly the same wicked vibe as “Fly to the rainbow” Most excellent, I m lost for words. BRAVO! Hurray! Hats off! After that moment of glory follows “Arrows from the sun”. Hm. Nice intro and built, nice riff and everything, until a baritone comes in and he sounds a bit over the top in places. It creates a stark contrast with the soprano vocals that precede and follow his part. More choirs and another awesome part with a balalaika, there should have been more of that! Over all it’s very nice. “Abraxas” is more metal, another inspired riff, nothing amazing happening, but still a worthwhile inclusion. Finally what concludes “Lemuria” is “Feuer Overtüre/Prometheus entfesselt”, I think it must mean , The overture of Fire, Prometheus Bound. A song about Prometheus stealing the fire from the gods and giving it to man, but why in German ? Anyhow, another awesome piece with a very prominent lead. Did I even mention that it’s beginning reminds me strongly of “The wings of the Hydra” from “Lepaca Kliffoth” ? Pretty good way to finish a fine selection of music. On to Sirius B now. Not as pompous as “Lemuria”, but if given enough listens just as rewarding. It has a vibe more akin to that of a soundtrack. It begins with a power metal song in “Blood of Kingu”, with a chorus chanted by sopranos. Weird but nice. Nice little solo before the close. “Son of the sun” is up next, an ok song with a great intro and a nice riff, but it plods a bit at five minutes, but if you could think of it in the context of a movie, it would have been more fitting. “The Khlysti Evangelist” begins with a male lead in what seems to be as a intro played of from an old vinyl complete with cracks and pops. It then goes classical and ends up as an almost epic metal piece. A Rather weird piece about Grigori Yefimovitch Rasputin who was a part of the Khlysti sect, believing that all human desires should be fulfilled. Indeed. The song covers a darker side of the life of one of the most famous figures of the modern history. “Dark Venus Persephone” is cool, basing it self on a nice motif, a phased out choir a soprano and the damn baritone. I can’t stand him. It’s not too bad however. I will not even begin to try and describe Kali Yaga Parts 1 & 2. A weird mix of phased choirs, lead parts, a nice little riff , but just too chaotic for me, the second part is a bit more structured, but still the mix of almost all the elements of the album in the most chaotic way is not really an appealing idea to me. “The wondrous world of Punt” comes, complete with church organ and everything, mainly based on choirs and classical leads, with a little electric part towards the end and more of that Balalaika. You got to love this stuff. “Melek Taus” another classical influenced track with the wickedest ending I wont spoil you the surprise, by telling you it slows down to a halt (Did I just do that ? Oops. I did it again !). “Call of Dagon”, probably influenced by the Lovecraft stories, is an amazing piece, with a beautiful brasses, announcing it, really gloomy, with female vocals and choirs taking it through, along with some really haunting flutes and strings. Really epic and magnificent. “Sirius B” is nice and although it’s a bit downbeat it is hypnotizing and commanding, perhaps the closest thing in the album to a soundtrack. It’s really gloomy and claustrophobic. “The voyage of Gurdjieff” that closes the album is really beautiful, starting with a solo part very reminiscent of Italian operas, then reprising it’s main theme in a frenzied power metal way, then doing the same with both the band and the choir as it builds and builds, before a small lead takes place while the song still builds and gets a bit faster and more glorious, until it finally dies down to a peaceful female laden outro. Really Great stuff. Well I ‘d dare say that THERION provide us with an epitome of their sound in this double offering which will be available for the price of a single CD. The number of glorious, pompous numbers on this selection is vast and if you like classically tinged and progressive metal it would be criminal not to own this double whammy bar of classical metal splendor. SUPERB!!
Lemuria : 9/10
Sirius B : 8/10
