Wow, 3 discs ? Now this tickles my curiosity while I haven't listened to any Therion album for ages.

Also, there are so many tracks I doubt it will have any epics...

Written by blindg on 17.12.2017 at 14:50

Also, there are so many tracks I doubt it will have any epics...

I'm hoping for a colossal 25+ minute grand finale!

The longest track is 9 minutes

First track I guess.

Very high expectations here. Two new songs:





(the animation on this last one is atrocious but the music is, again, spot on).

I just don't "feel" the singer. Music's cool though.

So far sounds like just a shadow of Theli/Vovin, minus (sadly) the female fronted apect. And 3 discs? Quite afraid of 50.000 tons of filler.

Written by Tomas Piller on 02.02.2018 at 14:57

So far sounds like just a shadow of Theli/Vovin, minus (sadly) the female fronted apect. And 3 discs? Quite afraid of 50.000 tons of filler.

There will be a shitload of filler for sure. But it's ok. After filtering you will end up with at least 1 hour of new music.

3 hours is just way too long...

It's risky to release a three hours long album in the times when people tend to have this listening to 3-4 songs off an album habit. However, for some reason Christofer thought it's a good idea. Nothing really new or out of ordinary on this release, in fact, it's a bunch of riffs used 100 times over Therion's career. Christofer keeps everything very safe, very calculated which in this case ends up in repetitiveness, boring melodies, fillers. It's not one of those albums where you can discover new things by listening to it multiple times. The music is very simple, heard before mainly on Vovin, Crowning of Atlantis, Deggial and Secret of the Runes. However, those albums were masterpieces compared to this one. Not one moment which would stand out, and we're talking about 183 minutes of music. It would have been awesome some more daring musical journeys, because this monotony almost made me fall asleep. I had to actually fight myself to stay awake. The vocal melodies on the other hand are pretty good at times. This is the only thing saving the album from fading into complete monotony. Out of 46 songs I couldn't name ONE which would make it to my playlist of favourite songs. Nice try, but maybe next time.

Hell, even the statue on the album artwork looks bored

Written by BlackMetalDay on 09.02.2018 at 11:34

Hell, even the statue on the album artwork looks bored

lol

Hm while nothing really new, it is OK. Not excellent but OK. Probably because I had really low expectations out of this, so I feel that is not actually bad at all, and even though it is three hours long it is not boring. But it is not exhilarating either. If I compare it to Swallow the Sun's Songs from the North, which is similar in length, StS is much better.
That said, give it a chance, after "Les Fleurs Du Mal" I really expected much worse.. it is far from the band's best albums like Theli, Gothic Kabbalah, Vovin, Lemuria, Secret of the Runes.. but although monotonous at times because of its length and that most of the songs sound similar, it is still a decent album. Not fantastic, no, but pretty decent, yes.

Don't want to say much before giving it some more spins (and it's not easy to find time and enough focus to evaluate more than 3h of music), but so far seems good although not excelent.

Or better said: probably it's so perfect and so excelent that it's above something a listener can actually enjoy. Curious to read reviews by audiophiles or professional musicians, probably they will appreciate this work beyond words, since it seems so masterfully executed. But what about the "common" music fan? Risking some stupid analogy with football: it's like that team that breaths technical and tactical perfection, every movement and ball circulation is perfect, but takes ages to actually get to the goal, if ever reaches it. While the other team plays "dumb", direct passing, just go forward and shoot whenever you want. And actually get much more frequently close to score. For most of the fans watching the game, the second team is much more enjoyable to watch, while for professional managers the first team is the one that makes their jaw drop. Therion seems to be the first team: professionals will be amazed, the casual listeners would actually prefer some shorter album with songs that can actually standout to figure in their favorite playlists. Since I don't consider myself any expert in music, I would prefer this last option.

Being Therion one of my favorite bands and Christofer one of the musicians I most admire, i really really wanted to enjoy this rock opera more and consider it a masterpiece. But so far, I can't really. Also maybe too much safe to attract the mainstream audience, something Christofer said many times he wanted to do.

Still, if they can bring this whole production to stage like some "Jesus Christ Superstar", I'll make sure I'll be there. Can't miss something like that.

Anti-christ:noidea:,I'm a Catholic,should I listen to this album?

Written by BlackMetalDay on 09.02.2018 at 11:34

Hell, even the statue on the album artwork looks bored

Joke aside, after listening to the album twice (not in a row!) I find it not that horrible. It has its share of enjoyable moments and is not too boring. The variety of the singers helps a lot. There are good musical parts. Also, for those who have listened only to the first act, I have to say that the second one is better and for sure contains much more metal elements. It is the same for the first half of the songs of act 3, which means that the a-little-too-long parts are either in the first act or at the end of the album.

At first time..this album not catching me...the act 3 was very disapointing to me...but after 2-3 times..i really love it...songs like "bring her home"..."anthem".."behold antichrist"..."day of wrath" and many others are awesome...maybe the problem at first time of this album it was i expect one vovin 2 or theli 2....the best part i agree its the second act

I think Disc 3 is the strongest disc, so far.

After some more spins, this is really growing on me. Also it helps to listen the songs while following not only the lyrics but the scene descriptions in the booklet. Would be great if they could bring this rock opera on stage and record it. This deff needs visuals to be whole.

I like it. It gives me the Therion experience I've missed for so long.

Its so so so so looon

I really really like it, it's anthemic and rocky and melodic and fun. It doesn't work as a metal album (it's no Gothic Kabbalah, no Lemuria/Sirius, no Theli) because there's not enough dynamism and it doesn't rock hard enough, but as a whole it works perfectly well. I understand it as a mature album: there's plenty of nostalgia here, there's plenty of effort put in its concept and performance, which means it is more calm (not necessarily better written) than all their previous ones bar Sitra Ahra.
With every spin the melodies get clearer and catchier. It ticks the other "Therion" boxes: both topic and lyrics can sometimes be too simple, or too cryptic, or cheesy and even plainly bad. But the fun of it all, its poppiness, compensates the downfalls. All in all it is a perfectly decent Therion work, with plenty to digest and discover.
Favourite songs:
Garden of Peace
The Palace Ball
Bringing the gospel
Laudate dominum

So pretentious, too long , unnecessary ... 3 discs, oh no ! Forgot !

This disc is a big Odyssey, it takes a lot of time to appreciate, but is really worth it. It is 3 disc and hours long, but easily you can pick up around an hour of great material. Take your time and listen carefully, this is not easy to digest.

Thou, overall a good album.

Its interesting most of the songs start 'monotonous' expecially the longer ones(5+minutes) and the 'cathcy parts' usually begins at the second part of the song and sometimes toward the end of song,thinking of songs like:Forgive Me/Morning Has Broken/Hail Caesar!/The Arrival Of Apollonius/Burning The Palace etc

The worst Therion album by a long shot. The first Therion album I cannot listen in its entirety and had to use the rewind button. Boring, derivative, stale, unnecessary long with so many songs that even the term filler can be considered a compliment. The album does have some good songs, mostly at the very end of the 3rd disc, but when you have to pass through 2 hours of boredom... it is not worthy.

This isn't even a rock or metal opera per see. It does not have the structure or the cohesiveness of a rock opera. Staleness is what describes this album. You can't get more pretentious then that. Chris surely has some severe issues with his ego, otherwise I cannot explain this pile of pretentious crap. I doubt that even he can listen to this entire pile of crap without rewinding.

Written by ManiacBlasphemer on 08.03.2018 at 09:47
had to use the rewind button.

Then you must have liked it a lot.

Its sooooo long. Cut the album down to 40 minutes and it would be pretty good. But this is just boring.

I loved this album a lot. there were definitely moments of monotony that hurt a bit. i dont think you can listen to this album to much in a casual way or that where the monotony shines. If you listen to it in the same way you listen a live broadway show, actually investing yourself in the story and environment, it makes for a fantastic experience. This album made me feel like I was atttending a production in a ancient Greek amphitheatre. i never listened to all three Acts in one sitting I spaced them out so i could enjoy ever scene thoroughly and without getting burnt out from the duration. This isn't my favorite Therion experience, but it was a unique one for me that I'm very appreciative for.