In 2018,
Therion released the controversial monolith
Beloved Antichrist, an esoteric three-hour metal opera with 29 different character singers, choirs, and two symphony orchestras. It was the culmination of a musical aesthetic they've pursued for decades. Guitarist and bandleader
Christofer Johnsson felt afterwards that the only musical angle left to pursue was a collection "... packed with
Therion 'hit songs'," and he didn't mean a greatest hits. Paring the band's approach down to its essences, he and lead vocalist
Thomas Vikstroem composed three albums worth of material under the project name
Leviathan. This first volume distills the band's developed strengths, combining doom and symphonic metal, globally sourced folk, and classical musics. These songs delve into Celtic, Finnish, Toltec/Aztec, Chinese, and Germanic mythologies with an uncharacteristic accessibility.
Therion's lineup here includes guitarist
Christian Vidal, bassist
Nalle Phalsson, drummer
Johan Koleberg, and soprano
Lori Lewis. They enlisted additional guest vocal spots from
Marko Hietala (ex-
Nightwish),
Mats Leven (ex-
Candlemass), and
Taida Nazraic (
the Loudest Silence). "The Leaf on the Oak of Far" showcases a meaty, chugging riff that drives the intense call-and-response vocals from
Lewis and
Vikstroem, who are buoyed by a choir. Keyboards and strings add texture to interlocked guitar vamps in a serpentine melody. "Tuonela" is introduced by distorted guitars, rumbling bass, snare, and kick drums. Swelling strings introduce the choir, adding urgency and dimension as it roars. The title track references the band's early engagement with doom metal.
Lewis, choir, and strings rise above
Therion's plodding, hooky guitar and bass chug. "Azi Dahaka'' showcases the band's long-held obsession with Persian classical modes. Initially a symphonic metal sprint, the guitars and strings struggle for dominance before an organ, bass, and blastbeats introduce the singers who rein in the edgy, dissonant sprawl. The intro in "The Nocturnal Light" simultaneously recalls the moodiness of 20th century composers
Jean Sibelius and the pastoral grandeur of his contemporary,
Ralph Vaughn Williams. A rolling tympani and kick drum frame the midtempo guitar vamp, lilting woodwinds, and nervous strings. Razor-wire guitar breaks duel with an aggressive drum kit as
Lewis leads the explosive choir through an anthemic refrain. "Psalm of Retribution" is saturated in darkness.
Therion's singers and choir exchange lines with dramatic tension just atop an overdriven, discontent musical arrangement without harmonic resolution. Closer "Ten Courts of Diyu" employs the orchestra as
Therion's primary vehicle in melding Native American and Sami ritual music, and Impressionist classical motifs. A bluesy lead guitar vamp rises over it all accompanied by filthy, downtuned power chords, and doomy tom-toms.
Lewis and
Vikstroem exchange call-and-response lines amid a syncopated "Kashmir"-esque string pulse. The catchy refrain stitches the disparate elements together amid maximal keyboard and guitar interludes. While it remains to be seen how the multi-album
Leviathan project unfolds, this initial volume succeeds in admirably distilling to essences
Therion's expansive approach to metal essences and de rigueur orchestral excesses. ~ Thom Jurek
