Therion - Lemuria/Sirius B
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Free Music Notes for Lemuria/Sirius B
Free Music Review: good stuff
Hit: 5 Stars
I happen to like both the cd's from this release. It has everything I'd expect from Therion.Free Music Review: Majestic
Hit: 5 Stars
My first Therion album was Theli, which sounded by all accounts as a good starting point. All I can say is if you've only heard Theli and thought the band wasn't quite your cup of tea (like I nearly did), don't forsake them until you've heard Lemuria/Sirius B.
Theli isn't a bad album, just really tough to get into and a little tedious at times. Lemuria/Sirius B is not only a better album (both of them), but also easier to get your teeth into simply because the songwriting and performances are so much stronger and more cohesive. Even the death vocals, which I usually hate, works beautifully the few times they are used here.
Lemuria is the standout album, with hardly a weak moment across all 10 tracks. Typhon is a blistering opening track, with beautiful female singing mixed with a few murderous bursts of death vocals. So often death vocals end up sounding cheesy, but here they actually manage to sound mean and scary. It's magnificently done.
I'm not going to describe every song, it's hard to describe Therion's music in words. Let's just say there's enough beautiful melodies, varied singing and great guitar solos on Lemuria to keep current Therion fans happy and win them lots of new ones.
Typhon, Uthark Runa, Three Ships of Berik, Lemuria, Quetzalcoatl and Abraxas count as my favorites here.
Sirius B continues in much the same vein. The only song that I'm finding a little hard to get into here is Kali Yuga Part 1, but that's hardly a blot on the page. Sirius B, the song, is also just a little off course, a little tedious to get through. The rest of the album rocks, with The Blood Of Kingu, Son Of The Sun, The Khlysti Evangelist, The Wondrous World Of Punt, Melek Taus and Voyage Of Gurdjieff all deserving special mention.
I don't easily give out 5 stars, but Therion has earned it with two albums that could hardly be a whole lot better than they are. The variety in the songs, like different vocalists on different songs, melodic guitar solos, well implemented and executed death growling, choirs, orchestras, it's the whole package.
Whatever genre you want to throw this in, the bottom line is it's good music, plain and simple. Really good. Choirs and orchestra mixed with opera and metal isn't exactly a new or original concept in music, but Therion executes it so much better and on a much grander scale than most of the other pretenders.
The word "majestic" describes Lemuria/Sirus B quite well and although I haven't heard any other Therion albums except these two and Theli, I can't imagine a better starting point than Lemuria/Sirus B for anyone who wants to explore this band's music.
Free Music Review: As hard to review as it is to classify.
Hit: 5 Stars
I've wanted to write a review about this double CD set ever since I listened to both, but coming up with a rating was difficult. See, I don't want to keep giving out as many 5 stars as I've given out, and while I for the most part love this music, there are a few minor niggles I have with it. In the end though, I decided that the value of getting two close to excellent CDs for just a bit over the price of one means I can't give it anything but five stars.
Ok, so with that out of the way, why should you buy it? You definitely need to like either classical music or some version of Metal. You probably need to at least be able to tolerate the other genre. If you're able to listen to Phantom of the Opera and love mid range to heavy Metal, then you'll probably like this. If you love both, you might just have found your Nirvana of music.
The history's been documented in other reviews, but basically goes like:
Boys form death metal band.
Boys add more complexity in the form of classical instruments, choirs, etc.
Boys suddenly come out with a masterpiece that more or less creates a new genre in which they incorporate classical instruments, classically trained singers, choirs and whole orchestras while retaining their Metal roots (but dropping the growls). See "Theli" (which by the way I have not yet heard.. it's currently flying my way though).
With most things that I hear great things about, I'm ultimately somewhat disappointed. My initial reaction is often almost fanboyish. If I'm told the music/book/movie is spectacular and it fits a genre I like, I also think it's spectacular on my first listening/reading/viewing. Usually however, after a few songs/chapters/scenes, cracks start showing and while I might still very much like the purchase, it drops to the above average-good category for me (3-4 stars here).
Well, the first time I listened to "Lemuria", I was busy doing other things. I paused for a moment to listen once in awhile, and decided that "I liked it" but I didn't just stop everything to listen to it, unlike some more recent metal purchases. A few days later, I dropped "Sirius B" into the player, and pulled out the lyrics pamphlet (and by the way, everything about this product screams quality, including the full color artwork on each page of both pamphlets). Instead of feeling less fulfilling as the tracks changed, the music seemed to only get richer and more interesting.
It's hard to describe exactly what it sounds like, but the basic point is you get a melding of Metal riffs and hooks (expertly done), classical instruments, classical singers and choirs to such an extent that it's hard to envision (enlisten?) what the music would sound like without any of the other elements present.
That said, there are a couple of niggles. If you can't stand Death Metal 'growls', they make an appearance in a couple of songs (mainly Lemuria). I don't like them as a rule myself, but they work better here in moderation than they do exclusively on other CDs. It seems that ever since Theli, the band dropped the growls, until this CD came out. So you might prefer to try "Secret of the Runes" instead as your entry point to Therion. Additionally, "Sirius B" is billed as the more 'experimental' CD and I'll agree. Some parts feel off when listened to very closely, the best example for me is the switching between vocalists from verse to verse. A couple of songs on the second CD have at least 4 vocalists, with wildly varying styles, each singing one verse only of a quarter. It's still good music, but more disjointed than the rest.
The Metal aspect of the CDs is pretty heavy in many cases, but often the heaviest of the tracks also have more balancing lightness in the form of other instruments and sopranos. There are a couple of songs that are very upbeat/catchy, along with the heavier, more melancholy tracks. Unlike many CDs, not all the songs sound the same, although if you put this in with a mix of other artists, it will be almost immediately obvious that a Therion song has come up.
I've seen a frequent comparison to Nightwish in other forums and here. While it's apt to some degree (especially the "Once" CD where Nightwish brings in a full orchestra), the two really have very different feels. Whereas "Nightwish" might be a very tasty Samuel Adams (or other ale of your choice), Therion feels much more like a Guinness or 90 minute Indian Brown Ale. You might enjoy both, and if you do, then only your mood at the time will determine which you most want to listen to. But for those times when you need something dark, complex and filling, you could do a lot worse than Therion.
Free Music Review: Highly enjoyable album that keeps growing on me!
Hit: 5 Stars
Nobody does symphonic hybrid metal better than the Scandinavians. And nobody does this type of metal better than Therion. Sure Nightwish's latest had a nice rounded Bob Rock-type production quality, and Tarja's voice is very cool, but the compositions were fairly bland in my opinion. Tristiana just gets a tad annoying with all the vocal growling in behind the choral vocals. There are of course bands like Rhapsody, but it's hard to get into anything that is really just power-puff metal filled with absurdly poppish style riffs, or even Thy Majestie, who do a very good job at blending more medieval elements with their unique use of their choirs... but one can only take so much double-kick! And so one is left with the truely outstanding Therion. Now this is not to say that all their albums are outstanding. Far from it. However, those that are ("Secret of the Runes", "Vovin", and this double-album) are really good. I especially like how the keyboards are layered in with orchestra samples and live orchestral elements which reduces the cheeze factor often associated with keyboards and metal music (yeah, I need some more DX7 Bells and Supersaw oscillators to really make my day [sarc]). I'm very much looking forward to their newest "Gothic Kabbalah" due in 2007 to see what they bring to us next.Free Music Review: A smidge overrated.
Hit: 4 Stars
Ok, ok, Therion is great, symphony, opera, orhcestra, metal, it's all very nice, but it's overproduced and the guitars are oversimplified. Great album, could be better, but hey, at least they used a real orchestra.