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Therion’s last studio album, ‘Beloved Antichrist’, was an almighty affair (sorry, not sorry). A 3-hour long, triple album, rock opera featuring 46 songs, and 27 characters played by 15 different vocalists. An exhausting experience for the listener who tackled it the way that Therion mastermind Christofer Johnsson intended it to be tackled: in one fell swoop. Johnsson’s passion project was a mesmerizing masterpiece, but if it left the listener exhausted, then spare a thought for Johnsson, for the entire experience of taking the project from an idea to reality must have left him totally spent. So how does he follow up such a lengthy, immersive project? By going in the entirely opposite direction that’s how.
This is Therion though, and even an album of shorter, more accessible “classic” tracks still has more moving parts than most albums to be released this year. ‘Leviathan’ is 11 tracks and 43 minutes in length, 10 minutes less than the shortest of the 3 discs that make up ‘Beloved Antichrist’. It’s a rip-roaring, romp of an album that Johnsson and long-time cohort Thomas Vikström have made look easy.
With its 80’s metal-influenced intro, opening track ‘The Leaf of the Oak of Far’ is a fantastic way to launch the album. A speedy intro full of bite, which leads into epic dual vocals from Thomas Vikström and Rosa Sairem, before ending with a bombastic conclusion complete with lashings of the Hellscore Choir. ‘Tuonela’ quickly follows on and, well, it’s rather special indeed. Taida Nazraić from The Loudest Silence and Marko Hietala (whose recent departure from Nightwish came as a great shock) join up with Vikström for a three-pronged vocal attack, and along with the choir at the beginning, it’s a smorgasbord of different vocal styles. It also has a great groove to it, as well as some beautiful string arrangements, and the melodic guitar hooks towards the end soar with delight. A track that gets better with each listen. The gorgeous title-track sparks recollections of previous albums ‘Lemuria’ and ‘Sirius B’ both released in 2004 and features the impressive work of American soprano Lori Lewis, with Chiara Malvestiti also onboard.
The folkie, almost Leaves Eyes vibe on ‘Die Wellen der Zeit’ might split the Therion faithful. Taida Nazraić again handles the lead vocals, on a track that for anyone of Celtic origin is (consciously or not) a stirring and emotional tip-of-the-hat to the great Scottish film composer Patrick Doyle. Some of the subtle arrangements running through the background are at times spellbinding. Hey, it’s a Celtic thing, humour me. The mid-album combination of ‘Azi Dahaka’ and ‘Eye of Algol’ is a knockout one-two. The former a Middle Eastern-influenced gem with a fantastic drum performance from Snowy Shaw, the latter a riff-heavy, gothic piece of art with killer vocals from Rosa Sairem, and a rather lovely melodic guitar solo which fades into some deep, dark choral vocals. ‘Nocturnal Light’ is perhaps the most symphonic moment on ‘Leviathan’, lashings of bombast on a cinematic scale (70mm David Lean scale of course), and a nice surprise just when you might expect it to fade out.
The high-quality continues on the heaviest track on the album (and at 2.37, also the shortest), the uptempo ‘Great Marquis of Hell’, a track that constantly thrills. The always amazing Mats Levén pops up on ‘Psalm of Retribution’, a track full of mystery and suspense thanks to the ‘Omen’-esque choir, and a track that takes a surprising turn when it launches into a mindblowing classical melody, which even after repeated listens, still comes as a surprise. ‘El Primer Sol’ has Rosa Sairem stealing the show, and ‘Ten Courts of Diyo’ brings the album to an epic conclusion with its Far-Eastern tinges which includes an incredible vocal performance from Noa Gruman of Scardust, who also happens to be the conductor of the Hellscore Choir.
As previously touched on, ‘Leviathan’ is Therion at their most accessible, it’s a fantastic album that the listener can easily dip in and out of. It is also the first part of the ‘Leviathan’ trilogy which Christofer Johnsson recently announced on his social media channels, with parts II and III expected to be more melancholic and darker. Sounds like the complete saga will have something for everyone, from the Therion die-hards to the casual listener.
‘Leviathan’ is available now through Nuclear Blast, purchase copies signed by Christofer Johnsson here.
THERION online.
Review – Dave
