To Mega-Therion

A guy came into my place of employment a few weeks ago, wearing a Sirius B tee shirt. I told him that I am a big fan of Therion. He replied that it was the first time anyone had recognized the shirt and commented upon it, in the two years he had owned it! I guess that shows the band's lack of an audience in the USA.

I don't understand that, as the group is one of the pioneers of operatic, symphonic Heavy Metal music. Actually, Therion is really more of a project, as it consists of founder Christofer Johnsson and a changing, sometimes rotating, cast of supporting players. The brothers Kristian and Johann Niemann held down the lead guitar and bass positions, respectively, from 1999 to 2008. They were joined by drummer Petter Karlsson in 2004, though he also left in 2008. The lineup with those three was probably the best Therion has ever had, so it saddens me that the 2007 double album Gothic Kabbalah was the one studio project to include them all.

Mats Leven and Snowy Shaw assisted as vocalists in this era, with all five contributing to the songwriting. It gave Gothic Kabbalah (and the concert CD/DVD Live Gothic) a dynamic lacking in the band's previous work. The album confounded many listeners upon its release, as the songs were more accessible, and less bombastic, than the rest of Therion's catalog. Were they selling out? Hardly, instead they were bringing the concept to its fullest realization. That's now clear, listing to the material with an experienced ear, three years after its release. The older songs, even many of the great ones, sound plodding and underwhelming by comparison. I would very much like to have heard what this crew could come up with on a second go-round.

Leven left, and Shaw has done so too, though Snowy did contribute vocals and songwriting to the forthcoming Sitra Ahra CD. But Therion is for all practical purposes a new band, and this is perhaps the fifth time in its history that this has occurred. It emerged triumphant from all previous changes, so I need to have some faith, based on Johnsson's track record. But the shoes to be filled were never before so large. I have a nagging fear that Sitra Ahra will somehow be a disappointment. I hope I'm wrong! Eight years ago, I had low hopes for an album by Nightwish, a band heavily influenced by Therion, but Century Child turned out to be my favorite of theirs, so, as Chris Tonozzi likes to say, anything's possible.

Here's a sort of game to play, listen to these two samples, and decide if there's any similarity. The first is Helheim from Therion's Secret of the Runes album. The other is a Waffen-SS March from the World War 2 era. For all I know, both were influenced by some earlier source, but it is also possible that this was a sort of in-joke by Johnsson. If the latter is the case, it would likely be because Secret of the Runes was intended to emulate Wagnerian operas, and Richard Wagner was a favorite of many leading Nazis. As well, Heinrich Himmler and the SS leadership dabbled in concepts based on Nordic Mythology, the subject of the CD. Regardless, please note that I'm not accusing Johnson of any negative associations, but the similarity is there to be heard!

I'm writing this before bed on a Friday night. The plan is for me to DM an adventure known as Menace of the Icy Spire, on Saturday afternoon. I like this one a whole lot, so I'll give it my best and hope the players enjoy it too.