Therion (band)

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Therion at a signature event, 2005
Background information
Origin	Upplands Väsby, Sweden
Genre(s)	Symphonic metal Death metal/doom metal (early material)
Years active	1989–present
Label(s)	House of Kicks Deaf Records Active Records Megarock Records Nuclear Blast
Website	http://megatherion.com
Members
Christofer Johnsson Kristian Niemann Johan Niemann Petter Karlsson

Therion is a Swedish symphonic metal band. It takes its name from the Greek word therion (θηρίον), which means beast, in reference to the "beast" of the Christian Book of Revelation. However, the band's name itself originates from the Celtic Frost album To Mega Therion. Therion was founded by Christofer Johnsson in 1987. Beginning as a death metal band, they later turned to combining orchestral elements with their metal music, employing heavy use of choirs and classical musicians, not only as additions to but also as integral parts of the composition.

Therion's music takes its themes from different mythologies and is based on concepts ranging from occultism, magic and ancient traditions and writings. The majority of their lyrics are written by Thomas Karlsson, head and founder of the magical order Dragon Rouge, of which Johnsson is a member. The band has seen many changes in line-up and style throughout its history.

Contents 1 Band history 1.1 Blitzkrieg and Megatherion (1987—1989) 1.2 Debut releases and the first contract (1989—1993) 1.3 Musical metamorphosis (1993—1996) 1.4 Metal and symphony era beginning (1996—2001) 1.5 Secret of the Runes (2001—2004) 1.6 Lemuria & Sirius B (2004—2006) 1.7 Gothic Kabbalah (2006—current) 2 Symbols 3 Band members 3.1 Current members 3.2 Current collaborators 3.3 Former members 3.4 Lyrics 4 Discography 4.1 Studio albums 4.2 Singles 4.3 Compilations and box-sets 4.4 Demos 5 See also 6 Notes and references 7 External links

[edit] Band history

[edit] Blitzkrieg and Megatherion (1987—1989)

Therion was originally formed under the name Blitzkrieg in Upplands Väsby, Sweden. The founder, Christofer Johnsson, was originally the bassist and vocalist, despite having only played bass for a few months prior to the band's formation. Joining him in this new band were Peter Hansson on guitar and Oskar Forss on drums. Johnsson and Hansson had met in several musical groups, while Forss was an old school friend of Johnsson's. Blitzkrieg's main influences were Metallica and Slayer, but their sound was similar to Venom and Motörhead as well. The band however never recorded any proper demos, and only did two concerts together before deciding to split up in 1988. Only a few recordings survive to this day.^[1]

Johnsson however did not give up the idea and switched to guitar and began to be influenced by the Swiss band Celtic Frost. He reformed the band under the new name Megatherion, with the original line-up returning; however, the name was soon shortened to Therion. Johnsson decided to concentrate fully on vocals and guitar, so Erik Gustafsson from the death metal band Dismember joined as a bassist.^[2]

[edit] Debut releases and the first contract (1989—1993)

The band recorded the two demos, Paroxysmal Holocaust and Beyond the Darkest Veils of Inner Wickedness, in 1989 with their new death metal sound. The demos were recorded on cassette only. The first demo was released in 600 copies^[3] and the second one, to 500 copies^[4].

This garnered the band enough attention to get their first EP release, Time Shall Tell. It was still technically a demo of the band, as it was only published by a local store in a printing of 1,000^[5]. The record got the band their first record deal with Deaf Records. Through this company, they released their first full-length album, Of Darkness....

Of Darkness... consisted of songs Johnsson had written in the 1980s; despite having newer songs, the band opted to save them for their next full release. Of Darkness... can be seen as a progressive death metal album in that it contained mainly influences that were not standard to death metal at the time. The lyrics were very political, in the vein of Napalm Death and other 80's hardcore punk bands. The deal with Deaf Records was only for one album, and the band had never had a good relationship with the label in the first place, so after the release, they moved to Active Records^[2].

The band began to record a second full-length album, entitled Beyond Sanctorum, in 1992. Erik Gustafsson decided to leave the band in order to return home to the USA, but Therion continued as a trio with Hansson and Johnsson filling in on bass guitar. The record became very popular and got the band their first live show offers in central Europe. The record Beyond Sanctorum shows a more experimental edge to the music, with keyboards and clean vocalists used sparingly, Therion became known as an experimental death metal band from this record.

After this recording, the band ran into a few problems. Forss decided to leave the band as his wife was expecting their second child and the band lifestyle and financial situation did not suit his responsibilities to his family. Hansson also quit the band after health problems. The shows in the Netherlands were played using a new line up. Piotr Wawrzeniuk took up drumming duties, he knew Johnsson from the band Carbonized, in which Johnsson also played. The guitar was taken up by Magnus Barthelsson, an old school friend of Johnsson's while Andreas Wahl took up the bass^[2].

[edit] Musical metamorphosis (1993—1996)

Therion logos

Logo	Years
	1988—1991
	1992—1995
	1996—1997
	1998—present

With the new lineup, the band recorded the experimental less death metal stylish, but more doom metallic Symphony Masses: Ho Drakon Ho Megas in 1993. As a Therion's first and last doom metal record it was very experimental, incorporating elements of jazz, industrial music, traditional 1980s heavy metal and religious chanting. This new record scared many death metal fans off the band, but the band developed a small following who appreciated the change and innovation the band had created^[2]. Active Records at the time decided to scale down their operations and the band was switched to the new owners, Megarock Records. This company supported a tour with Therion (supporting the bands Grave and Massacra) throughout Germany^[2].

The band, despite being popular with its hardcore fans, was still largely unknown. Sales were poor and the band members were having a hard time making ends meet. Despite the work they put in, there was no financial success for the band. Because of this, Barthelsson and Wahl were forced to quit the band. Fredrik Isaksson was brought into the band as the new bassist. After a few months break, the band got an offer from the famous metal label Nuclear Blast in Germany. Despite the record deal, Megarock Records decided to let Therion go without any strings attached. The band signed a deal with Nuclear Blast in 1994 and remain with them to this day^[2].

The first record published with the new label was Lepaca Kliffoth, though a single entitled "The Beauty in Black" was released just before as a promotion for the new record. The record was very experimental, featuring classical sopranos and bass singers. Johnsson took up a new style of singing, almost hardcore in nature. With this record, Therion shook off the last remains of their death metal sound. The band toured in Germany with the band Annihilator and also played their first South American shows. Fredrik Isaksson left the band after some personal problems with Wawrzeniuk, although he also had several personal problems outside the band. Lars Rosenberg, from the well known death metal band Entombed, took his place.

Sales were not good. Johnsson had several songs already written that he simply did not have the budget to realise. Johnsson had grown tired of heavy guitar based music and wanted to experiment even more so. But naturally bands that did not sell well did not get the big budgets. However, Johnsson was determined. He called the chief of Nuclear Blast, Markus Staiger, and said ”No more albums based on my vocals. And I need two choirs, a better recording studio, two producers and more time in the studio - if not I'd rather give up the band and stay happy with what I've achieved so far”. Johnsson was frustrated at the lack of live shows the band was given, because without live shows, the fans would not see the band, and sales would not increase. Luckily for Therion, Staiger was a dedicated fan and music lover. He agreed to help get the band what they needed to complete their next record. Jonas Mellberg was added to the lineup, and Therion went on to record their most experimental album yet^[2].

[edit] Metal and symphony era beginning (1996—2001)

The result was entitled Theli. Recorded at the Impuls Studio in Hamburg, it was a new direction for the band. Johnsson considered this his masterpiece, and also his final recording, believing it to be far too experimental for the metal fans to accept. Wawrzeniuk was a little more optimistic, but nevertheless began to study a history degree at university. The album heavily featured the vocals of two choirs, along with some vocals from Johnsson and Wawrzeniuk. Dan Swanö also contributed to the vocals on this album. The band used keyboards heavily, so many in fact that it was humorously called ”Barmbek Symphony Orchestra” after the subway station next to the studio, Barmbek being a somewhat dilapidated area.

After recording was over, the mixing and mastering period became stressful. Mellberg was suffering from severe alcohol problems and literally walked out of the studio, never to return to the band. Rosenberg was also having problems with alcohol, but the band survived these problems long enough to release Theli.

The release was just as troubled as the recording. A single entitled "The Siren of the Woods" was released beforehand to promote the new record, but an error was made in the initial pressing of the album. Due to a mixup, The first few Theli releases did not actually contain any Therion material, but instead had music by a German choir singing Christmas carols. The mistake was spotted quickly and the copies recalled, and they are now very collectible among Therion fans^[2].

The record's success surprised everyone. The sales were more than double of Lepaca Kliffoth and the band was offered to go on tour with the popular band Amorphis. Despite the good fortune the band now had, Johnsson was worried about touring, the songs were so elaborate, it would be very difficult to play them live. Choirs were expensive to hire for recording sessions let alone tours. Johnsson had little money to pay for the tour. Nuclear Blast had paid out 56,000 marks (around €28,000 at that time) to fund the recording of Theli, so Johnsson was conscious not to ask them for even more to fund a full tour^[2]. Through several contacts, Johnsson managed to group together a few amateur performers to sing on the tour, it was not perfect, but it had to do.

Johnsson also had a problem with the band members; Wawrzeniuk was busy with his studies and could not go on tour so Johnsson got a friend of his, Tommy Eriksson (best known for the musical project Shadowseeds), to fill in on drums. Tobias Sidegard was hired to play guitar, while Kimberly Goss was hired as a keyboard player and vocalist. The tour was a big success, despite Johnsson commenting that ”The band sounded like shit!”^[2]. With money being very tight at the time, Johnsson made sure everyone got their rents paid for the month, with a little extra on top^[2].

The tour however, had many problems. Rosenberg's drinking problems got worse, resulting in him collapsing on stage and seriously hindering his musical abilities. The choir had problems adapting to the lifestyle of touring and the lead soprano began taking drugs. Johnsson did not take kindly to this behaviour and promptly fired Rosenberg from the band and the choir singers were never used again. A second tour was planned, with Wawrzeniuk as a tenor and two professional sopranos. The tour took place in 1997 and was very successful. It was that year that the band celebrated their tenth anniversary with the A'arab Zaraq - Lucid Dreaming release. The record contained a few unused songs from Theli, a few cover songs the band had made, plus a full soundtrack Johnsson had made independently for the film called "The Golden Embrace".

The tour increased album sales, with Therion becoming well known and popular within the metal community. Nuclear Blast now promised bigger budgets for the band in recognition of their recent success. But the problem was that the "band" was essentially Johnsson and the tour musicians. He realised that they would never be up to the standards he had in mind for his next recording.

The next album, Vovin, was recorded using professional studio musicians and his friend Tommy Eriksson helping out with some additional guitars. Despite being released under the name "Therion", it was essentially a solo album from Johnsson. It featured for the first time a real string orchestra and a hand picked choir of considerable number. The Austrian singer Martina Hornbacher (now Martina Astner), and Sarah Jezebel Deva were chosen as the lead sopranos. They would also tour with the band after the release. The recording was considerably more professional and clean, far more accessible to a mass audience. A promo single entitled "Eye of Shiva" was sent out to radio stations before the release and is now a collector's item for Therion fans. Vovin went on to sell twice the amount that Theli did. With total sales of over 125,000, it remains Therion's bestselling release.

The band capitalised on this success and went on tour with the band Moonspell. The tour was extensive reaching from Scotland to Hungary to Portugal and Finland. The hired drummer, Sami Karppinen was offered a permanent place in the band. With this new line up, the mini album Crowning of Atlantis was recorded. It was a short album fleshed out with several covers and live tracks that the record label and management insisted be placed on it to make it a full length album.

Karppinen was a well known metal drummer in Sweden, and had good contacts in the business. Through him, Kristian Niemann joined the band on guitar, along with his brother Johan Niemann on bass. Finally the band seemed to have a steady line-up. Johnsson had already made material for the next release Deggial, so again it was technically a solo album, but played by a full band with proper members. Deggial was far more symphonic, employing far more complex orchestral scores, this time using a full orchestra as opposed to a simple string one. The songs were harder to listen to than on Vovin; because of this, it received mixed reviews. The record went on to sell more than Theli but never reached the high sales of Vovin. Therion then began a big tour to promote their new record. This was the band's first headline tour as before they had always been support acts to other bands.

On tour they were joined by Voivod and supported by Flowing Tears. Many different singers began to be used for the tour, the most famous being Anders Engberg. Many of the fans did not know his name, and he became known as ”the cool bald guy that nobody knows the name of”^[2].

[edit] Secret of the Runes (2001—2004)

After Deggial, Johnsson began to compose again. He had many new ideas that he wanted to explore. But after writing seven songs, he got a sudden urge to take to a new direction. Johnsson felt strongly about making an album based on the Nordic and Pagan religions of old. So the songs he had already composed were put aside for the time being, and, using folk influences, he began to write his Nordic concept album. Johnsson had already written two of the songs earlier and they were not intended for the project, but for a project with the Skyclad singer that never happened. And shortly after that Johnnson had this idea to make a Nordic concept album. The remaining songs were based on the nine worlds of the ancient Norse Mythology, this album would be named Secret of the Runes and was released in 2001.

Johnsson decided to take most of the budget for this album and build Therion's own recording studio. Named "Modern Art," it was built so Therion no longer had to worry about the timing and rent of other studios. Karppinen was the brains behind the construction, planning and actually building the majority of the studio. The Secret of the Runes album was recorded here, with Karppinen as sound engineer as well as session drummer. Johnsson also personally instructed each musician involved with the recording, as opposed to using a conductor.

Therion were finally a band again with this record, with Kristian Niemann helping out on some composition and the arrangements being organised and discussed as a band. Through their contacts as a group, they were able to get the best musicians to perform on this record. Again the reviews were mixed, being the most complex and majestic music Therion had ever written. It was not metal, yet it was not classical, but a hybrid. This appealed to many people, but also equally scared off others. For a bonus, the band recorded cover songs of "Crying Days", originally performed by Scorpions and "Summernight City" originally performed by ABBA. Piotr Wawrzeniuk returned as a guest vocalist for the bonus tracks of this album.

Therion followed this release with a tour with Evergrey and My Insanity as support acts. After this tour, Karppinen decided to leave the band to work full time in the Modern Art studio which has since been sold. This was indeed a blow to the band, but Karppinen was responsible enough to find a good replacement drummer for the band - Richard Evensand.

In 2001, the fan club CD Bells of Doom was released exclusively to paying fan club (now called Therion Society) members. Johnsson began the Society to bring together dedicated Therion fans from all over the world. The fan club membership has several benefits, including direct communication with the band, an active forum (in which the band also takes an active role), an exclusive store in which the band sign and dedicate everything, an audio and video section featuring music from the members' side projects and other bands, and much more^[6]. The fan club CD Bells of Doom contained many rare tracks, including some original recordings from 1987 when the band was originally called "Blitzkrieg". It also contained a few songs from the cassette demos, and many other rarities not found on other Therion records.

2002 came around, and so did Therion's 15th anniversary. To celebrate the band released a two-disc live album entitled Live in Midgård.

[edit] Lemuria & Sirius B (2004—2006)

After the tour, the band decided to take stock and sort out what they had in terms of music. The seven songs that Johnsson had made had grown to a considerable number, and along with the Niemann brothers' contributions the band discovered they had 55 new songs. Some were not entirely complete, but after sorting through all the material, they decided they had enough for three new albums. The band decided to record and release two of the albums simultaneously, 171 musicians were used in the recording of the new albums, a 32-member choir was recorded in Prague along with many lead vocalists. The results were the albums Sirius B and Lemuria, released together in a special twin pack in 2004. Since that time the records have been released separately. The albums are far more guitar-driven than previous Therion records; they are far more melodic, featuring skilled guitar work along with complex classical arrangements. Wawrzeniuk returned on this album to provide vocals, along with the singer Mats Levén. The relationship with Richard Evensand, the drummer, became a problem for the band during the recording. He did one live show with Therion in the summer of 2002 and then in the middle of the recordings of Lemuria and Sirius B they mutually agreed that he would not proceed with the band. The reason was that he got an offer to play with Soilwork and while he wanted to do both, Johnsson could not accept having a drummer who had a conflict of interests, so he told him he must choose or guarantee that Therion will always be his first priority. Evensand promised to give Therion priority, but some months later it turned out he could not keep this promise as Soilwork had a tour that could be colliding with a Therion tour. The Therion tour actually never took place, but it showed that the situation with two famous bands would not work and he had to choose. He then took the choice to continue with Soilwork, who (besides being one of Richard's favourite bands) had tours to be offered almost straight away, while Therion would still remain in the studio for several months (more than 10 months after Richard left it turned out to be) and after that have at least another 6 months of promoting the albums before there would be any tour or festivals. Petter Karlsson was made the new drummer in 2004 and did the complete Lemuria/Sirius B world tour with Therion.

On July 18, 2005, an album entitled Atlantis Lucid Dreaming was released. As the name suggests, it is a mixture of tracks from 1997's A'arab Zaraq - Lucid Dreaming and 1999's Crowning of Atlantis. The tracklist is all the non-soundtrack songs from Lucid Dreaming (except for the Iron Maiden cover version), followed by the first seven Atlantis tracks and the live version of "Black Sun". The cover of the album contains of smaller versions of the two constituent albums on a patterned background, together with the album's name.

It was announced shortly thereafter that the Atlantis Lucid Dreaming album would be enahnced. Instead of having a single disc with a selection of tracks, it would be released as a full two-disc set containing both A'arab Zaraq - Lucid Dreaming and Crowning of Atlantis on separate discs in their original formats. These albums remain as they were originally released with no extra tracks or bonuses.

The Sirius B and Lemuria Tour would last for 106 live shows stretching over two years. The final concert took part at the ProgPower Fesitival in Cheltenham, UK on the March 25, 2006. The tour would take Therion to many places including the USA, Russia, South America and most European countries.

Therion officially announced their first DVD entitled Celebrators of Becoming on March 8, 2006 on their website. The set contains four DVD discs, each with over 2 hours of material as well as two audio CDs featuring a live show recorded in Mexico City. The DVD set was released on May 5, 2006. On March 21, 2006 Christofer Johnsson announced he will be retiring from singing on Therion tracks and the European ProgPower Festival 2006 in the UK will be his last vocal performance. This however does not mean he is retiring from the band and will continue to compose and play guitar for Therion^[7].

[edit] Gothic Kabbalah (2006—current)

A new world tour for early 2007 was announced on April 2006^[8]. Therion will be supported by Grave Digger and Sabaton.

On September 29, 2006 Christofer Johnsson announced that recordings of the new album Gothic Kabbalah had been finished and the album was subsequently released on January 12, 2007^[9][10].

[edit] Symbols

Therion frequently uses visual symbols in its album covers. Most of them are according to magick, occult and Dragon Rouge themes.

Hendecagram, the star of Qliphoth, an eleven pointed star also called Star of Seth, is the most often used symbol by the band. The star symbolises the night side of the Qabalah. Hendecagram has influential aspect in Christofer's magick and his lyrics. It has been admitted as a band symbol.^[11] There is also a connection between the eleven points of the star and the Dragon Rouge's Draconian initiation based on 1 + 9 + 1 levels that together constitute 11 steps. The symbol appears on all the album covers (not only front covers, also in back and/or inlay) since Symphony Masses: Ho Drakon Ho Megas (1993).

Other symbols used uniquely include:

• Pentagram, closely Pythagorean pentagram (one point down), is shown on the Symphony Masses: Ho Drakon Ho Megas cover on the dragon's head.
• Runes shown in the Secret of the Runes front cover (and also in booklet) are Nordic runes with Elder Fuþark alphabet.
• Celtic cross appears on the Secret of the Runes booklet on the page where are lyrics to the "Helheim" song.
• Clavicula Nox, a magickal symbol, one of the key symbols in Dragon Rouge is shown on the Crowning of Atlantis, Vovin (inlay) and "Eye of Shiva" covers.
• Mjölnir, the Hammer of Thor appears on the Secret of the Runes inlay cover.
• Three astronomical symbols are shown in the The Early Chapters of Revelation box-set covers. There are following: Venus (♀), first quarter Moon (☽) and the Sun (☉).

[edit] Band members

Main article: List of Therion members

[edit] Current members

• Christofer Johnsson - guitar, keyboards, previously vocals (since 1987)
• Kristian Niemann - guitar (since 1999)
• Johan Niemann - bass (since 1999)
• Petter Karlsson - drums, vocals (since 2004)

[edit] Current collaborators

• Mats Levén - lead vocals (since 2004)
• Snowy Shaw - lead vocals (since 2006)
• Katarina Lilja - lead vocals (since 2006)
• Hannah Holgersson - studio lead/soprano vocals (2006)
• Lori Lewis - live lead/soprano vocals (since 2007)

[edit] Former members

• Peter Hansson - guitar (1987-1993)
• Oskar Forss - drums (1987-1993)
• Erik Gustafsson - bass (1987-1992)
• Piotr Wawrzeniuk - drums, vocals (1992-1996), guest vocals on Secret of the Runes (2001), Sirius B and Lemuria (2004)
• Sarah Jezebel Deva - vocals (1997-2002) on Vovin (1997), Crowning of Atlantis (1999) and Live in Midgård (2002)
• Magnus Barthelsson - guitar (1993-1994)
• Andreas Wahl - bass (1993-1994)
• Fredrik Isaksson - bass (1994)
• Tommie Eriksson - guitar (1995 and 1997-1998)
• Lars Rosenberg - bass (1994-1996)
• Jonas Mellberg - guitar (1995-1996)
• Sami Karppinen - drums (1998-2001)
• Richard Evensand - drums (2001-2004)

[edit] Lyrics

• Thomas Karlsson - while not an official member of the band, Thomas has written most of the lyrics on albums since 1996

[edit] Discography

Main article: Therion discography

[edit] Studio albums Of Darkness... (1991) Beyond Sanctorum (1992) Symphony Masses: Ho Drakon Ho Megas (1993) Lepaca Kliffoth (1995) Theli (1996) A'arab Zaraq - Lucid Dreaming (1997) Vovin (1998) Crowning of Atlantis (1999) Deggial (2000) Secret of the Runes (2001) Live in Midgård (2002), live album Sirius B (2004) Lemuria (2004) Gothic Kabbalah (2007)

[edit] Singles "The Beauty in Black" (1995) "The Siren of the Woods" (1996) "Eye of Shiva" (1998), radio promotional [edit] Compilations and box-sets The Early Chapters of Revelation (2000), box-set containing three first studio albums re-released by Nuclear Blast Bells of Doom (2001), Therion fan club release Atlantis Lucid Dreaming (2005) Celebrators of Becoming (2006), four DVDs and two CDs box-set [edit] Demos Paroxysmal Holocaust (1989), cassette Beyond the Darkest Veils of Inner Wickedness (1989), cassette Time Shall Tell (1990), released as EP

[edit] See also

• Musical projects of Therion members: Carbonized, Serpent, Demonoid, Shadowseeds
• Dragon Rouge

[edit] Notes and references

[edit] External links

Official websites

• Therion's official website
• Therion Society - official Therion's fan club
• Therion Store - official store
• Therion at MySpace

Unofficial websites

• (Polish) Ho Teddy Ho Bear - Polish website with large amount of resources

Therion at online databases

• Therion at All Music Guide
• Therion at Discogs
• Therion at Encyclopaedia Metallum
• Therion at Last.fm
• Therion at MusicBrainz
• Therion at the Open Directory Project (suggest site)

Therion
Christofer Johnsson | Kristian Niemann | Johan Niemann | Petter Karlsson
List of Therion members
Discography
Albums: Of Darkness... | Beyond Sanctorum | Symphony Masses: Ho Drakon Ho Megas | Lepaca Kliffoth | Theli | A'arab Zaraq - Lucid Dreaming | Vovin | Crowning of Atlantis | Deggial | Secret of the Runes | Live in Midgård | Sirius B | Lemuria | Gothic Kabbalah
Compilations and box-sets: Bells of Doom | The Early Chapters of Revelation | Atlantis Lucid Dreaming | Celebrators of Becoming
Singles: "The Beauty in Black" | "The Siren of the Woods" | "Eye of Shiva"
Demos: Paroxysmal Holocaust | Beyond the Darkest Veils of Inner Wickedness | Time Shall Tell
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