A THERION concert in moscow, almost exactly one year after the first. Having missed that first concert, I was upset for a long time — the question of whether I would attend this one simply didn't arise. Having bought a ticket very, very far in advance, I savoured the anticipation of seeing a band that had for some time held a stable place in my personal top ten.
What is THERION? In Greek: "beast" — a word so widely used by mystics and occultists. It is also a death metal band that emerged in Sweden some years ago. The first album was pure death metal, as was the second; the third was considerably more melodic; the fourth turned out to be something else entirely — some tracks leaning toward melodic death, but accompanied by incredibly beautiful instrumental passages, a vast number of keyboard parts, and finally the appearance of clean male and female quasi-operatic vocals. That album was the last before THERION became one of the most famous and celebrated bands on the heavy scene.
From there comes the well-known story of Jens Johansson approaching Marcus Steiger and asking simply for a symphony orchestra to record an album. The Nuclear Blast director, it should be noted, showed complete recklessness — he pawned his car and some of his belongings (this seems strangely remarkable now, but back in that distant 1996 NB was still only building its strength as an extreme music label, and the orchestra was literally assembled on the last available funds) — and so the album Theli appeared: a masterpiece, a unique work, one hundred percent original at the time. A choir of several men and women; solo male and female vocals with voices more characteristic of classical music; orchestral instruments supporting the standard guitar, bass, and drums; the most complex lyrics rooted in mythology; music like nothing else — music by which THERION is instantly recognisable ever since. People have tried and still try to find gothic, doom, death, progressive, and everything else here — and all of it is wrong. Critics, in despair, eventually settled on the term "symphonic metal" — simply describing the performance method. The question of genre remains open — and your humble servant would say it's simple: no label will do. This genre simply goes by the name "Therion."
Two years later came the band's new album. A pompous violin intro to the first song, a certain darkness and sinister yet simultaneously mysterious sound to most of the album, orchestral introductions to almost every track, the slow tempo of the songs lending an additional solemnity — all of this marked another masterpiece from the Swedish band: Vovin.
Deggial, released two years after that, was notable for a greater emphasis on guitars and predominantly male solo parts (for the song "Flesh Of The Gods" the famous Hansi Kürsch, frontman of BLIND GUARDIAN, was specially invited).
Finally, one year after that, an album appeared about which most people prefer to stay quiet. The concept album whose every song title is a kingdom of Aesir, dwarves, elves, giants, and so on from Norse mythology — Secret Of The Runes — became the band's most complex, monumental, one might even say definitive album. Few songs from it are performed live; the full album reads more like a classical oratorio with magnificent vocal parts (professional opera singers were involved). That same year of 2001, a limited-edition compilation of various early demo recordings was released.
In 2002 came a two-disc live album. I also completely forgot to mention another aspect of the band's music — cover versions of other bands' songs: in 1997 an entire album was released consisting largely of covers of various bands, including SCORPIONS, IRON MAIDEN, and JUDAS PRIEST.
Everyone had been waiting for a new studio album — and it kept not appearing — until suddenly in 2004 the band released two albums at once. Different in essence, concept, and sound, yet released on the same day in a digipack. We once again hear heavy guitar riffs and — for the first time since the mid-90s — Johansson's own growling. The band embarked on a tour featuring vocalist Karin Fjellander and former vocalist of the German power metal band AT VANCE, Mats Levén; as for the choir, its composition (two men and two women) had remained unchanged since 2001.
In summary: on stage the band numbers ten people: a four-person choir, two principal vocalists, Johansson himself, the Niemann brothers — forming a duo not only familial but also guitar-and-bass — and drummer Peter Karlsson. Plus, naturally, the sound and lighting engineers, about whom I'll need to say more separately.
The band visited moscow for the first time in late 2004, and almost exactly one year later — give or take a few days — the great band's second russian concert took place.
On January 15th, 2005, people began filling the hall from six o'clock, while coats were being checked from just before eight in an overflow cloakroom — a complete sellout! Every seat on the balconies taken.
Just before nine: the lights in the hall go out; an eruption of welcoming voices. Then a few more minutes, at the end of which a bluish light — destined to become the most brilliant white — and the magnificent violin intro to "The Rise Of Sodom And Gomorrah" heralds the beginning of the concert by the band called THERION. The first male and female vocal parts arrive — the light is so bright that practically nothing is visible; only the silhouette of the ample female vocalist can be made out. Looking more closely, we see the two Niemann brothers and Johansson, who walks the stage with his guitar; the choir becomes visible only at the end of the song — to the audience's right, even on a raised platform: two men in tailcoats and two women in magnificent gowns. The long song flows into another — "Cults Of The Shadow" — its mysterious verse lyric sung along by almost everyone in the hall.
The lighting changes; another intro sounds; "The Blood Of Kingu" plays — one of the songs from the recent albums where Mats Levén's vocal asserts itself in full; then the emphasis shifts to the choir, the guitar solo, and all the vocalists conclude this magnificent composition together in triumph. Immediately after come Eastern motifs — again one of the recent tracks, this time from Lemuria rather than Sirius B, and again all the vocalists are working at full capacity. Johansson and Christian play their parts excellently; by the end the hall is practically jumping. But the true frenzy began with the following "Invocation Of Naamah" — in the front rows it was pure chaos: no room to breathe, and yet people somehow found the energy to move in frantic convulsions.
Apparently to give everyone a rest, "Schwarzalbenheim" follows next — another light show using every colour of the spectrum and every possible shade that exists, all of it on stage.
A brief pause, then the pompous and triumphant "Seven Secrets Of The Sphinx" from Deggial, built on a male choir foundation. Apparently this was a deliberate contrast before the performance of "Asgard," which is built precisely on female solo vocal and female choir.
Another brief pause — and everything we hear for the next 10–15 minutes is played on very heavily tuned guitars. First "Raven Of Dispersion," which by its end becomes extraordinarily lyrical; then "Typhon," another song from the recent two-part release — female vocal, male vocal, female again, male again, and then, to wild cries, Johansson leaps to the microphone and delivers the song's chorus in his high-pitched growl — and so it continues throughout the chain. "Ginnungagap" — the next song, the third and last from Secret Of The Runes that evening.
What comes next. In the blue semi-darkness, the intro to "Black Sun" plays. The song ends and for the next few minutes the choir and vocalists disappear offstage… What does this mean — could Johansson be about to play something old? Yes, exactly that. He goes to the microphone himself, having first announced "Baal Reginon" — it's worth noting that his live growling sounds considerably higher-pitched than on the albums. Slow death metal — that is what we hear, and this isn't the only such song; the following "Riders Of Theli" is melodic and beautiful, yet Johansson is still the one at the microphone. Then the female vocalist appears and sings "The Khlysti Evangelist"; Mats Levén takes the stage only when his part begins. The next song, "The Invisible," is performed by absolutely everyone together. The song ends — no, it doesn't end — it pours into, of all things, the russian national anthem. After a second of shock and dead silence in the hall, the mightiest cries ring out; Christian Niemann plays the verse and chorus of the anthem; a few seconds for the crowd to settle — and practically without introduction begins one of the band's fastest songs: "Wine Of Aluqah."
After which Johansson delivers a short speech to the hall, thanks everyone who came to the concert; the band makes an unhurried exit from the stage. Part of the crowd, of course, heads out to catch their breath — but the main body chants the band's name, in effect naming the song that must be played literally within a minute: the famous intro (Preludium), incredibly sorrowful, sombre, ominous, and yet — more than anything else — it is this minute or so that reflects the band's music as a whole, its mood and spirit. And then, naturally, the band's most famous song plays. If on the other songs people sang along during the chorus — and not always — here everyone sang from start to finish: "To Mega Therion," and that says it all. On the lines "The World Will Burn / By Sorath's Flame / And Through The Solar / Sign — Proclaim," the microphone was directed at the crowd, and the crowd successfully fulfilled its duty. The song ends and the band leaves again.
But can a THERION concert be without covers? Of course not. The band is back on stage. Mats announces that everyone is about to hear an entirely new cover, since performing the same covers as last year would be pointless — then a WASP reference is made — and in the next moment the hall simply explodes. Nobody had expected to hear the band perform "I Wanna Be Somebody." Then it's said that the next song, naturally, has been performed before, but it's good and can be played again — the concert concludes with a performance of the famous "Iron Fist" by the legendary English rockers MOTÖRHEAD.
What can I say about the concert overall — I'll say it was a brilliant close to the concert season. In 2005 moscow was hit by a barrage of concerts; such a flow of foreign bands had never been seen before. ACCEPT came; DIO came; the legendary JUDAS PRIEST visited for the first time, as did LAKE OF TEARS, LACRIMOSA, CANDLEMASS on their farewell tour — and, also for the first time, SENTENCED visited moscow. The year was then closed out by the performance of these magnificent — and I will not hesitate to use the word — great Swedes, and it was closed out brilliantly, grandiosely, and triumphantly. Ideal sound; the finest lighting I saw throughout all of 2005 (at more than 20 concerts by foreign bands); excellent playing; excellent communication with the audience; complete dedication from the crowd in return.
What remains to add — we await new achievements from THERION and hope that when the new album comes out, they won't forget about our part of the world!
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Report by Alan
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Setlist: The Rise of Sodom and Gomorrah Cults of the Shadow Blood of Kingu Uthark Runa Invocation of Naamah Schwarzalbenheim Seven Secrets Of The Sphinx Asgard Raven of Dispersion Typhon Ginnungagap Black Sun (with intro) Baal Reginon Riders of Theli The Khlysti Evangelist The Invisible russian National Anthem Wine of Aluqah —encore 1— Preludium To Mega Therion —encore 2— I Wanna Be Somebody (WASP cover) Iron Fist (MOTÖRHEAD cover)