From the “Flowers Of Evil” Tour / 25th Band Anniversary

Interview by Rhiannon Marley

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Therion (c) Offical Band Photo722_New Album ‘Les Fleurs Du Mal’ 2012

Therion are busy making final preparations to celebrate their 25th year anniversary of the band and to release the new album “Les Fleurs du Mal” during the tour. The tour is going to include 26 cities.

(Stockholm, September 2012) – Up to this moment, none of the songs have been made public. From Friday September 28th on, Therion is going to introduce it for the first time to their fans during their “Flowers Of Evil” 25th year anniversary concert tour.

The album “Les Fleurs du Mal” is a part of an art project that Christofer Johnsson has been thinking about for some years.

“The time was never right for it, but in celebration of the band’s 25th year anniversary, I thought now will finally be the right time for it,” Christofer Johnsson explains.

There are still many details that are unknown about this mystical art project, and so far only the album title “Les Fleurs du Mal” of Therion’s upcoming release can be officially announced.

The album title refers to Charles Baudelaire’s (French author and poet 1821 – 1867) famous poem collection “Flowers of Evil” (“Les Fleurs du Mal” in French) that caused such an upset of emotions in France that the author was brought to court and got fined for “insulting the public” with six of the poems, that remained forbidden in France until 1949 when the ban was finally lifted. The spirit of the project is a tribute to Baudelaire, and is imbued into both music and artwork. The album was recorded at Adulruna studio, located in a separate building next to Johnsson’s decadent “Villa Adulruna” where the band lived together while recording.

Christofer states that this art project: “Was being too controversial for Therion’s label, Nuclear Blast Records, by the final results, so I asked if it was possible to buy back the master tapes of the record and release it on my own label. And after some negotiations, my wish was granted.”

“But Therion of course is still signed to Nuclear Blast Records for future releases,” Christofer clarifies.

By having full control of the release now, Christofer has decided to do everything his own way, and starts by releasing the album to the loyal fans first that come to the concerts in Europe during Therion’s 25th Anniversary “Flowers of Evil” tour.

The album will of course also be officially released and distributed at a later stage to everyone who is not able to attend any of the shows, and will also be available through licenses to the territories outside of Europe.

Christofer explain that “This is the beginning of a new period that will last for a number of years, where the band will focus on doing certain projects performed by Therion rather than releasing regular albums. In the planning after the art project is a rock opera that is scheduled to take several years to complete.”

Now during Therion’s “Flowers of Evil” and the band’s 25th anniversary tour the audience can expect a classy performance which combines all the elements which have been the key to Therion’s success throughout the years.

Below is the schedule of the upcoming Therion tour dates.

Therion – “Flowers of Evil” – Tour 2012

Date Country City -Venue

28.09.2012, Holland Eindhoven – Effenaar

29.09.2012, Holland Groningen -Oosterpoort

30.09.2012, Belgium Antwerp – TRIX

01.10.2012, France Paris – Bataclan

02.10.2012, France Rennes – Antipode

04.10.2012, Spain Madrid – Heineken

05.10.2012, Spain Barcelona – Razzmatazz 2

06.10.2012, Spain Bilbao – Rock Star

07.10.2012, France Toulouse – Bikini

09.10.2012, France Lyon – Transbordeur

10.10.2012, Switzerland Pratteln – Z7

11.10.2012, Italy Trezzo d Adda – Live Club

12.10.2012, Germany Glauchau – Alte Spinnerei

13.10.2012, Czech Republic Zlin – Masters of Rock Cafe

14.10.2012, Czech Republic Prague – DK Vltavska

15.10.2012, Poland Krakow – Club Studio

16.10.2012, Poland Warsaw – Stodola

17.10.2012, Hungary Budapest – Club 202

19.10.2012, Romania Bucharest – Arenele Romane Tent

20.10.2012, Greece Saloniki – Apothiki Mylos

21.10.2012, Greece Athens – Gagarin 205

23.10.2012, Russia Rostov – ODO

24.10.2012, Russia Krasnodar – Arena Hall

26.10.2012, Russia St.Petersburg – Glavclub

27.10.2012, Russia Moscow – Milk

28.10.2012, Ukraine Kiev – Bingo

For more Information: www.megatherion.com and www.facebook.com/therion

Some background infomation:

The Swedish band Therion is one of the most unique and influential metal acts and are often described as „classical music combined with heavy guitars“. But while other bands simply start layering a few orchestral tracks on top of their traditional metal brew, Therion’s mastermind Christofer Johnsson looks back upon a long history of working on his own organic fusion of those genres and always documents his path towards a unique vision. Therion was formed by Christofer Johnsson in 1987. The place was Upplands Väsby, a suburb to Stockholm in Sweden, known for breeding other famous artists like Europe, Candlemass and Yngwie Malmsteen. Therion’s rise to the top of the gothic and metal scenes started with their breakthrough album “Theli”. On this album they combined classic and metal effectively for the first time. They had big choirs and a lot of classical instruments included on this masterpiece. Over the years, Christofer and his mates focused more and more on this classical thing but without losing their metal roots. The sound of the album is bombastic and operatic with the North German Radio Choir chanting Wagnerian vocal lines to the chunky guitars of the nowadays considered Therion’s trademark “To Mega Therion”. This was also the start of the symphonic metal trend that where to come about, with many metal bands popping up using sopranos as lead singers. The current bestselling album is “Vovin” (sold over 150.000 copies). At present in 2012, the band is celebrating their 25th year anniversary with tours and a special art project, in which the album “Les Fleurs du Mal” is the core part.

SNOWY SHAW is Alive! …is the title of the brand new live album with Snowy Shaw.

After more than 20 years professionally in the music business with countless bands and projects Snowy Shaw has earned a reputation as a multi talented artist and instrumentalist. As well as composer, lyricist, designer and visionarie madman in general.

It was bound to happen sooner or later, and many are the fans and followers who have waited for this one-of-a-kind character to go solo, and finally, here he is !

Starting off by delivering a kick ass show the world has never witnessed before with an unmatched repertoir of classics and hits when Snowy together his band play ”All his favorite songs – By All his former bands”: King Diamond, Notre Dame, Mercyful Fate, illwill, Dream Evil, Therion, Dimmu Borgir, XXX, Memento Mori etc…

The Snowy Shaw line up:
Kristian Niemann – Lead Guitar ( ex Therion )
Mannequin De Sade III – drums ( ex Notre Dame )
And female bassist/vocalissa Hellinor
( now replaced by Vicky Valkyria )

Snowy himself – lead vocals, drums, guitars, bass and keyboards.

This live album was captured on the world premiere showcase gig of his solo show that took place in the hometown of Gothenburg, Sweden on May 27th 2011.

For this special occasion Snowy invited some good old friends for guest appearances :
Andy La Rocque – King Diamond, Illwill, Death
Mike Wead – Mercyful Fate, Memento Mori, King Diamond,
Hal Patino – King Diamond, Maryann Cotton
Mats Levén – Therion, Krux, Yngwie Malmsteen
Kee Marcello – Europe, Easy Action, K2
Thomas Vikström – Therion, Candlemass

Snowy just recently decided due to the astonishing response and many offers from festivals promotors and booking agencies to postpone the much anticipated live DVD release with the intention of having even more material filmed and included from the upcoming shows.

Good news! This means that with a little bit of luck you might have a chance to attend one of the shows and experiencing this spectacular, incredible show of Snowy Shaw first hand., in real life.

Vinyl? Yes, there are current plans of releasing Snowy Shaw is Alive! as an exclusive super deluxe limited edition vinyl double live album in the beginning of 2012.

A very merry heavy X-Mas!
Available on Itunes worldwide just a few days before X-Mas!

Artwork by Snowy Shaw. Illustration by Andrej Bartulovic.

The brand new Snowy Shaw website & webshop will be launched before the end of 2011 : www.snowyshaw.net

The Appetizer preview :

Bloodstock Open Air Festival 2011

Catton Hall, Derbyshire

11th-14th August 2011

Review & Photos by Jo Blackened

Altercarnated Photography

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THERION BOARD GAME '011'

Award-winning Scribabs game developer Paolo Vallerga has unveiled his latest creation: “011,” quite possibly bestowing Sweden’s THERION with the prestige of being the first metal band with a board game to their name since 1978’s “KISS On Tour.”

THERION mastermind Christofer Johnsson provides a little background on when the band was told about the idea:

“Paolo Vallerga approached the band at the show in Milano [Italy] last year with this great idea of making a fantasy board game based upon stage characters mixed with mythology.  We instantly thought it was the coolest thing we’ve heard in ages and loved the idea!  The name of the game is ‘011’ and you will find me, Thomas [Vikström, vocals], Christian [Vidal, guitars], Johan [Koleberg, drums], Snowy [Shaw, session/touring vocalist], Katarina [Lilja, session/touring vocalist], Lori [Lewis, session/touring vocalist], and Nalle [Påhlsson, bass] appearing as even more fantastic characters than we are in reality!  There will be more news on this coming soon!”

According to the Scribabs website, “‘011’ is set in a time ucronic, during an undefined ‘year 011.’ The world can be described as an alternate version of XIX century. The world can be described as an alternate version of the nineteenth century. Science is deeply bound with esotericism, as many religions and creeds coexist with philosophies and convictions, in a cauldron of cultures and ideals that is both challenging and frightening at the same time. Science is deeply bound with Esotericism, as with many religions and philosophies co-exist… in a cauldron of cultures and ideals that is both challenging and frightening at the same time. Events take place in Turin. Events take place in the magical city par excellence of Turin.”

The website goes on to say:

“One of the very particular notes is the extraordinary participation in the game, in the guise of Protagonists, of the members of THERION, the Swedish symphonic metal band founded by Christofer Johnsson.  The musicians have performed with great steam punk enthusiasm to embody the atmosphere of the game.  The month of June will see the creation of a video… in which the band will appear in the alter ego of themselves in the game.  For now we can say nothing more!”

View the Scribabs homepage (in English via Google Translate) for a description of “011” and more pictures here.

THERION’s 2010 album, Sitra Ahra, debuted at #44 on the Billboard Top New Artists (Heatseekers) chart, #58 on the Current Hard Music Albums, and #122 Independent Current Albums chart following its October 26^th release.  The album was produced by Christofer Johnsson and mixed by Lennart Östlund (Led Zeppelin, ABBA) at the legendary Polar Studios in Stockholm, Sweden.  Album artwork was created by Thomas Ewerhard (James LaBrie, Avantasia, Darkane, Edguy).

In their sole North American appearance, THERION will be headlining at 2011’s ProgPower XII Festival on Saturday, September 17th in Atlanta, Georgia.  Tickets to ProgPower XII will be available for purchase in March, 2011 via TicketMaster.

Visit THERION online at www.MEGATHERION.com (Mozilla Firefox browser), www.myspace.com/THERION, www.facebook.com/THERION, and twitter.com/_THERION.

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Therion - Sitra Ahra

Sitra Ahra, the latest album by Sweden’s genre-defying THERION, has debuted at #44 on the Billboard Top New Artists (Heatseekers) chart, #58 on the Current Hard Music Albums, and #122 Independent Current Albums chart following its October 26^th release.

THERION founder, songwriter, and composer Christofer Johnsson takes some time off from the band’s current European tour just a few hours before they take the stage in the Czech Republic to comment on this accomplishment in North America:

“The band is thrilled about our Billboard debuts.  It also shows that very alternative music styles have a future in the overall somewhat crumbling music market in the USA. Full speed ahead!”

Asked about THERION’s sole North American appearance as headliners at 2011’s ProgPower XII Festival on Saturday, September 17th in Atlanta, Georgia, Johnsson shares:

“We never thought we’d play music on U.S. soil again after the last tour [in 2005]. We were offered a fair fee for last year[‘s ProgPower Festival], but as our costs would be nearly double of that, we had to reject it and never expected to hear back from [the organizer] again.  So we were totally surprised by being offered the double for next year.  We are very happy for this opportunity and it is great that our fans in the U.S. will be able to catch us on stage again, as touring there again is totally out of question.”

Tickets to ProgPower XII will be available for purchase in March, 2011 via TicketMaster.

Sitra Ahra was produced by Christofer Johnsson and mixed by Lennart Östlund (Led Zeppelin, ABBA) at the legendary Polar Studios in Stockholm, Sweden.  Album artwork was created by Thomas Ewerhard (James LaBrie, Avantasia, Darkane, Edguy).  Of the material on Sitra Ahra, Johnsson has commented:

“…only a few of the songs [were] written in recent years.  The majority of the[m] are from the same pool of songs from which [2004’s] Sirius B and Lemuria were created from, meaning they were written between 2000-2004 (there was even a song from 1999, but we decided not to use it on the album in the end).  By no means they are to be regarded as ‘leftovers.’  These were songs equal to those ending up on Lemuria and Sirius B; we just divided the songs we had onto three albums [Sirius B, Lemuria, and 2007’s Gothic Kabalah].  This really created a unique approach to the songs, as I have evolved so much musically since those songs were written. I think of it in terms as a vintage wine that becomes better and better with the years.”

Visit THERION online at www.MEGATHERION.com, www.myspace.com/THERION, www.facebook.com/THERION, and twitter.com/_THERION.

SNOWY SHAW RE-JOINS THERION

Christofer Johnsson, the creative mastermind behind Sweden’s genre-defying THERION, has issued the following statement about session/touring vocalist Snowy Shaw:

“We are very happy to announce that Snowy has rejoined THERION. We welcomed him back with open arms, and we will now be making a mix between the new show we had planned and the last one which involved Snowy. We think the merger between the two concepts will be incredible, and we look forward to taking the band’s live performance to the next level.”

In May 2009, Johnsson announced that vocalist Thomas Vikström (ex-CANDLEMASS) had official permanent member status.  Johnsson recently recruited Christian Vidal (ex-The Road Vultures, ex-Cuero) from Argentina as the band’s new guitarist, who had his live debut with THERION on June 4, 2010 in Mexico City.  Comprising THERION’s new rhythm section are Johan Koleberg (Animal, Zan Clan, Lion’s Share) on drums and Nalle “Grizzly” Påhlsson (Treat, Zan Clan, Vindictiv) on bass, who is currently on leave.

The artwork to the new THERION album, Sitra Ahra, is posted on the band’s homepage & MySpace page.  Mixed by Lennart Östlund (Led Zeppelin, ABBA) at the legendary Polar Studios in Stockholm, Sweden, Sitra Ahra will be available in North America on October 26^th.

The track listing is as follows:

01. Sitra Ahra
02. Kings Of Edom
03. Unguentum Sabbati
04. Land Of Canaan
05. Hellequin
06. 2012
07. Cu Chulain
08. Kali Yoga III
09. The Shells Are Open
10. Din
11. After The Inquisition: Children

View THERION tour dates here (Mozilla Firefox browser).

Visit THERION online at www.MEGATHERION.com (Mozilla Firefox browser) and www.myspace.com/THERION.

Christofer Johnsson, the creative force behind Sweden’s genre-defying THERION, has issued the following statement:

“Now that we have posted Nalle(y)’s message to the fans, I’ll give some comments on it myself.

“Naturally, it may sound worrisome that there has been announced two changes in the live line-up in such a short time frame.  But the Nalle situation is not something that has happened recently; we have known this could be the case since last year and we have had a replacement ready for months.  Nalle told us immediately about his new family situation in the beginning of the year and given the fact he periodically had really tough drinking problems, we thought it was the right thing to do, to stay away from long tours and deal with the problems and be home with the kids instead. The band can always get somebody else to play the bass, but his kids only have one dad.  And they need him in good shape.  Some things are simply more important in life than heavy metal and beer. We also applaud his bold decision to start studying at his age, so that he will have options other than music for making a living in the future.  Kudos!

“The reason we waited with announcing this was that we wanted to play these Mexican shows and European festivals with Nalle and avoid the funeral atmosphere of everyone knowing someone is about to leave (or take a break, as in this case).

“What about Nalle in the future?  We have had discussions in the band if we should get another bass player, but we have decided to keep him as a member of the band and wait and see.  It is possible that we will have him playing on the albums and have a live bass player for touring.  One thing is sure, though, I’ve never been more happy with the bass on an album than with Nalle’s work on Sitra Ahra and it would be awesome to continue to work with him.

“So who’s gonna play bass on the tour?  It will be Waldemar Sorychta, an artist mainly known for his skills as a guitarist and songwriter with his own bands Grip Inc., Enemies of the Sun, Eyes Of Eden, and Despair.  He also created a big name as a producer, working with bands like Lacuna Coil, Moonspell, The Gathering, Samael, Tiamat, etc.

“I got in contact with Waldemar when I made the Vovin album back in 1997.  He did some additional guitar on “Draconian Trilogy” and also recorded some stuff that would not make it to the album (it was later released on [1999’s] Crowning of Atlantis instead).  I was impressed with his skills, so when me and drummer Sami [Karppinen] went down to Germany to record the song “The Crowning Of Atlantis” one year later, and I got stuck not getting the right groove in the rhythm guitars of that song (it’s a pretty difficult type of tempo), we gave him a call.  He showed up and I explained what I thought was missing.  He grabbed the guitar and a couple of takes later, it was nailed to tape exactly like I wanted it.

“Fast forward and many years later, I’m looking to find a replacement for [lead guitarist] Kristian Niemann.  Waldemar was on my list of interesting guitarists, but he was already engaged with other bands at the time, and I was also still trying to persuade the amazing Lori Linstruth that THERION was the band where she belonged (an idea that Kristian Niemann heavily supported as well ,actually).  In the end, I ended up working with Waldemar as a session guitarist doing most of the rhythm guitars (new talent Christian Vidal was brought into the band just in time to record the solos).  I recalled Waldemar saying he did a lot of jobs as a bass player as well, so when the need of a live bass player occurred, he was naturally one of the top names on our list.

“He’s gonna do a fantastic job on the tour and being a very nice guy as well, I think we’re all gonna have a really good time on tour together.”

The artwork to the new THERION album, Sitra Ahra, is posted on their homepage & MySpace page.  Mixed by Lennart Östlund (Led Zeppelin, ABBA) at the legendary Polar Studios in Stockholm, Sweden, the new album will be available in North America on October 26^th.

The track listing for Sitra Ahra is as follows:

01. Sitra Ahra
02. Kings Of Edom
03. Unguentum Sabbati
04. Land Of Canaan
05. Hellequin
06. 2012
07. Cu Chulain
08. Kali Yoga III
09. The Shells Are Open
10. Din
11. After The Inquisition: Children

View THERION tour dates here (Mozilla Firefox browser).

Visit THERION online at www.MEGATHERION.com (Mozilla Firefox browser) and www.myspace.com/THERION.

THERION bass player Nalley Påhlsson has issued the following message to fans:

“Hi Everyone out there!  :-)

First of all I want to thank all you fans who watched us in Mexico, Germany and Belgium this summer!  THERION have a wonderful, fantastic and enthusiastic audience and I enjoyed every second of the concerts!

I´m also very glad, pleased and satisfied about my playing on the forthcoming album Sitra Ahra that will be released in [Europe on] September 2010.  I really think this album will be well-received by all of you fans.  It´s absolutely great!!

I´m writing here to announce that I am not gonna be part of the [European] tour that will start in October 2010.  And the reasons are:

1. I´m alone with my two children and it´s not possible for me to be away for over two months.
2. I´m right now studying and I have to complete my education this autumn.
3. I have lately had a drinking-problem, and to be on tour is not the best thing for me right now.

I´m doing well at home, feeling good and everything is under control and that´s the way I´m gonna keep it!

If everything goes as planned, I´m gonna stay a member of THERION playing on the forthcoming albums and hopefully I will also be able to show up and play live in the future.
We´ll see what the future holds. (?)

I Salute You All!!  Thanks!

Nalley  ”

The artwork to the new THERION album, Sitra Ahra, is posted on their homepage.  Mixed by Lennart Östlund (Led Zeppelin, ABBA) at the legendary Polar Studios in Stockholm, Sweden, the new album will be available in North America on October 26^th.

The track listing for Sitra Ahra is as follows:

01. Sitra Ahra
02. Kings Of Edom
03. Unguentum Sabbati
04. Land Of Canaan
05. Hellequin
06. 2012
07. Cu Chulain
08. Kali Yoga III
09. The Shells Are Open
10. Din
11. After The Inquisition: Children

View THERION tour dates here (Mozilla Firefox browser).

Visit THERION online at www.MEGATHERION.com (Mozilla Firefox browser) and www.myspace.com/THERION.

THERION PARTS WAYS WITH VOCALIST SNOWY SHAW

Sweden’s genre-defying THERION have issued the following statement:

“We are sad to confirm that Snowy Shaw has suddenly decided to not do any of the upcoming shows with THERION. This decision took us by surprise, because, up to now, we have had a great collaboration. The reason is simply that he has been working on an album with another big band (as a bass player – that came as a surprise too!), who have now offered him a deal he felt he could not refuse. We don’t think this is a good decision, but accept the situation and wish him good luck.

“We realize many will miss Snowy, who did a great job during the more theatrical direction THERION took during the Gothic Kabbalah era (as well as on the coming album, Sitra Ahra). Like all the other close guest collaborators in the history of the band (Mats Levén, Andy “the bald guy” Engberg, Karin Fjellander, Sara Jezebel Deva, Martina Hornbacher, Dan Swanö…), he contributed with something unique and put his mark on the ongoing THERION development. And just like the choice of Mats Levén was questioned in the beginning, (for being too rock ‘n’ roll for THERION) and later became a beloved part of the band’s identity at the time,  Snowy also made the journey from being regarded as a somewhat odd choice to becoming a popular character in the THERION show.

“This vacancy, however, gives us an opportunity to yet again take a different direction. We are right now in the process of creating the new production that will be used for the Sitra Ahra World Tour, and we have some thrilling options to choose from. As always, THERION will deliver something unique and challenging that will turn the water of the skeptics into the wine of a classic set-up. Stay tuned!”

THERION recently revealed the artwork to their new album, Sitra Ahra, on their homepage.  Mixed by Lennart Östlund (Led Zeppelin, ABBA) at the legendary Polar Studios in Stockholm, Sweden, the new album will be released later this year.

The track listing for Sitra Ahra is as follows:

01. Sitra Ahra
02. Kings Of Edom
03. Unguentum Sabbati
04. Land Of Canaan
05. Hellequin
06. 2012
07. Cu Chulain
08. Kali Yoga III
09. The Shells Are Open
10. Din
11. After The Inquisition: Children

In May 2009, Johnsson announced that vocalist Thomas Vikström (ex-CANDLEMASS) had official permanent member status.  Johnsson recently recruited Christian Vidal (ex-The Road Vultures, ex-Cuero) from Argentina as the band’s new guitarist, who his live debut with THERION on June 4, 2010 in Mexico City.  Comprising THERION’s new rhythm section are Johan Koleberg (Animal, Zan Clan, Lion’s Share) on drums and Nalle “Grizzly” Påhlsson (Treat, Zan Clan, Vindictiv) on bass.

Visit THERION online at www.MEGATHERION.com (Mozilla Firefox browser) and www.myspace.com/THERION.

THERION mastermind Christofer Johnsson has issued the following update:

“Snowy Shaw is currently really ill with a throat [infection] – so bad that he barely can speak, so unfortunately he won’t be able to do the Rock Hartz [Open Air] Festival in Germany on Friday. [Lead vocalist] Thomas Vikström will be able to do his parts and THERION have also made some adjustments to the set list (big surprise for everyone actually, as we will be playing something quite unexpected!).”

THERION recently revealed the artwork to their new album, Sitra Ahra, on their homepage.  Mixed by Lennart Östlund (Led Zeppelin, ABBA) at the legendary Polar Studios in Stockholm, Sweden, the new album will be released later this year.

The track listing for Sitra Ahra is as follows:

01. Sitra Ahra
02. Kings Of Edom
03. Unguentum Sabbati
04. Land Of Canaan
05. Hellequin
06. 2012
07. Cu Chulain
08. Kali Yoga III
09. The Shells Are Open
10. Din
11. After The Inquisition: Children

In May 2009, Johnsson announced that vocalist Thomas Vikström (ex-CANDLEMASS) had official permanent member status.  Johnsson recently recruited Christian Vidal (ex-The Road Vultures, ex-Cuero) from Argentina as the band’s new guitarist, who his live debut with THERION on June 4, 2010 in Mexico City.  Comprising THERION’s new rhythm section are Johan Koleberg (Animal, Zan Clan, Lion’s Share) on drums and Nalle “Grizzly” Påhlsson (Treat, Zan Clan, Vindictiv) on bass.

Visit THERION online at www.MEGATHERION.com (Mozilla Firefox browser) and www.myspace.com/THERION.

Therion - Sitra Ahra

Sweden’s genre-defying THERION have uploaded the artwork by Thomas Ewerhard (Hammerfall, Edguy, Avantasia) for their new album, Sitra Ahra, onto their official website (best viewed with Mozilla Firefox).  Mixed by Lennart Östlund (Led Zeppelin, ABBA) at the legendary Polar Studios in Stockholm, Sweden, Sitra Ahra will be released later this year.  In regards to the new album, THERION mastermind Christofer Johnsson stated back in February, “Expect something spectacular, even by THERION’s standards!”

The track listing for THERION’s upcoming studio release is:

01. Sitra Ahra
02. Kings Of Edom
03. Unguentum Sabbati
04. Land Of Canaan
05. Hellequin
06. 2012
07. Cu Chulain
08. Kali Yoga III
09. The Shells Are Open
10. Din
11. After The Inquisition: Children

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Therion

The Fridge, Brixton, London
16th December 2007

All live pics and review by HannTu

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Wacken Open Air 2007 

Wacken is a blessed mecca of the whole metal world. Again this year it was entirely sold out when ten thousands of metal manics travelled from all around the world to gather and witness plenty of ass kicking bands. The weather forecast for Wacken didn’t look that promising. The chaotic and muddy mess caused by long and heavy rains rampaged the ground during the whole summer. The  festival often provides a survival test to every visitor with its mud and crap. But but gods of metal had seen the light and blessed the whole three day metal inferno with tremendous extreme heat and a sunny weekend. Things could not be better…sun, metal and beer. That combination is nothing but an utter perfect way to enjoy the metallic mayhem at Wacken.

As usual, the true metal commando team from Metal-Rules.Com was there again witnessing a helluva lot of great bands and above all an unexpected huge fire in the main area. Feel, see and enjoy this article.

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