Therion

Biography

Therion (1987-present): a Death Metal band from Stockholm, Sweden.

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wedish act Therion originally formed under the name Blitzkrieg in Upplands Väsby, Sweden in 1987. Christofer Johnsson (bass), after three months, teamed up with guitarist Peter Hansson (guitars), whom he had met in several musical groups, and Oskar Forss (drums), who was Johnsson's former schoolmate. The band's main influences stemmed from Metallica and Slayer, but its sound more resembled Venom and Motorhead. After only two concerts, by March 1988, the act split up after disagreements with Forss.

In 1988, the band reformed under the moniker Megatherion, based on the album title To Mega Therion by the Swiss heavy metal band Celtic Frost. Johnsson then switched from bass to guitar while Hansson managed guitar only. Johan Hansson (who would later form the Swedish death metal band Crematory) then became bassist, and Mika Tovalainen joined on drums. After the band shortened its name to Therion, Erik Gustafsson of Dismember replaced Hansson as the bassist, while Forss returned to replace Tovalainen. Matti Kärki, later to be the front man of Dismember, also joined the band to take over the vocals.

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In 1989, Therion released two demos in the form of Paroxysmal Holocaust and Beyond the Darkest Veils of Inner Wickedness. Kärki had left the band shortly after the first demo, so Johnsson took over the vocals again. In 1990, the band worked with House of Kicks, a local record store, to print and release their Time Shall Tell demo on 12 inch vinyl; that latest release enabled the band the sign a one-album record deal with 'Deaf Records' resulting in the release of their debut in the form of Of Darkness... (1991) featuring mostly songs Johnsson had composed in the 1980s. The lyrics were very political, in the vein of Napalm Death, Nuclear Assault and other late-1980s hardcore punkrock bands. The album was described by the band as 'progressive death metal', since it contained elements that did not quite fit the standards of death metal at the time.

Therion then signed with 'Active Records' for its second album, Beyond Sanctorum. Prior to the recording sessions, Gustafsson left the band to return to the US, so Therion continued as a trio with Johnsson also assuming bass. The album shows a more experimental edge to the death metal music with keyboard and clean vocals were used sparingly.

After the sophomore recording, Therion changed members again. Forss left, and Hansson soon after quit for health issues. For the central European gigs, Johnsson brought in drummer Piotr Wawrzeniuk from his other act Carbonized, bassist Andreas Wahl, and guitarist Magnus Barthelsson was recruited, the latter being an old friend from school.

Their latest label 'Active Records', in an effort to scale down operations due to economic issues, stopped releasing new records and transferred the band to 'Megarock Records' for Symphony Masses: Ho Drakon Ho Megas (1993). Its style combined death metal and doom metal, with elements of middle eastern music, industrial music, traditional 1980s heavy metal, classical music and religious chanting. The album sold about 10,000 copies, more than the band's first two albums, but far from a financial success. The follow-up touring gigs failed to turn a profit also so Barthelsson and Wahl soon quit, with Fredrik Isaksson brought in as the new bassist. After a hiatus where Johnsson subbed as a vocalist for Messiah, they received an offer to join the 'Nuclear Blast' label; 'Megarock Records', lacking the resources to properly promote the band, decided to release Therion without any strings attached.

Lepaca Kliffoth, with its single The Beauty in Black released in advance of the album in 1995. The single sold 12,000 copies in Europe before the company stopped printing. The album experimented with more elements including a classic soprano and bass-baritone, more keyboards, more Persian influences, and more melodies. Johnsson's singing style changed in a way that severed their ties to death metal. The album sold around 15,000 copies over the following weeks. But Isaksson had some personal problems, and was eventually released from the band. To replace him, Therion brought in bassist Lars Rosenberg from death metal act Entombed. The band then toured with Annihilator in Germany, and also a small headlining tour in Argentina and Chile.

1996 saw Therion's experimental album, Theli heavily featuring the vocals of two choirs, as well as from Johnsson, Wawrzeniuk and guest vocalist Dan Swanö. The album featured keyboards and classic samples, which became known as the "Barmbek Symphony Orchestra" after the subway station next to the studio.

Personal issues plagued the band's members again. Jonas Mellberg, who had joined as a guitarist from Unanimated, had severe alcohol problems, and walked out during the mixing and mastering sessions. Wawrzeniuk was busy with his studies, so Johnsson brought in more members for their tours, including Tommy Eriksson of Shadowseeds. Rosenberg's drinking problems got worse and he was eventually dismissed from the band.

In 1997, Therion released A'arab Zaraq - Lucid Dreaming, containing unreleased songs from Theli, some covers, and Johnsson's soundtrack that he produced for the short art movie, The Golden Embrace.

Johnsson was noted to say that their next album, Vovin (1998), was practically a solo album as it used studio musicians instead of the ones from the Theli tour, besides Eriksson, who provided occasional guitar support. Vovin was recorded at Woodhouse Studios; it involved a real string orchestra for the first time, and a "hand picked opera choir" which included Austrian singer Martina Hornbacher, and British vocalist Sarah Jezebel Deva. The album was released in 1998, and in two months, sales had reached 150,000 in Europe alone, doubling sales from Theli.

Therion then toured with Moonspell showcasing Hornbacher and Deva on vocals. They also brought in Sami Karppinen (drums), Kristian Niemann (guitar), and his brother Johan Niemann (bass). The following album. Crowning of Atlantis (1999), was originally an EP that was padded to full-length with covers and live tracks.

The band's next release, Deggial (2000), involved the participation of a full orchestra. Johnsson noted it was 90% another solo album again, but with a more permanent band lineup.

Johnsson had written seven songs but shelved them in order to make a Nordic concept album. For this effort, he built a recording studio for the band called "Modern Art". The band's resulting tenth album, Secret of the Runes (2001), had themes from the nine worlds (realms) of Norse mythology (re: Yggdrasil). It included the cover songs of Scorpions' Crying Days and ABBA's Summer Night City, of which, Wawrzeniuk provided vocals. The album received positive reviews. Afterwards, Karppinen left to focus as a sound engineer for Modern Art, but brought in replacement drummer Richard Evensand.

In 2001, the compilation album Bells of Doom arrived for the band's official fan club including recordings from the Blitzkrieg band days back in 1987, demos from 1989 that did not appear on any album, and an unofficial promotional demo from 1994 that enabled the band to land the record deal with 'Nuclear Blast'. The album was later sold through the band's own webstore. In 2002, Therion released its first live concert album Live in Midgård, containing recordings from their Secret of the Runes support tour. Mostly drawing from its Budapest concert, the album was released to commemorate the band's 15th anniversary.

After the Secret of the Runes tour, the band had amassed 55 unreleased songs which included the ones Johnsson had shelved as well as contributions from the Niemann brothers. In 2004, the band released 21 tracks over two albums, Lemuria and Sirius B. The albums were released simultaneously and were available as separate albums or a twin-pack. 171 musicians participated, including the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra and a 32-member choir. Contributing to lead vocals were Mats Levén and a returning Piotr Wawrzeniuk.

In July 2005, the band released Atlantis Lucid Dreaming, a compilation of the 1997 tracks that were not part of The Golden Embrace soundtrack (not including its Iron Maiden cover of Children of the Damned), and seven tracks from the 1999 album Crowning of Atlantis. It also included a bonus live version of "Black Sun".

The band toured to support the dual album releases, Lemuria and Sirius B, over two years and 106 shows, with its final performance at the ProgPower Festival in Cheltenham, UK on 21 March 2006; the last gig marking Johnsson's final vocal stage performance.

Therion released their first DVD set, Celebrators of Becoming, in May 2006. The set contains four DVDs which include concert footage from its 2004 visit to Mexico City, documentaries of its 2004-2006 World Tour, Johnsson's art movie The Golden Embrace, the band's music video singles, bootlegs and commentaries, and two audio CDs from its Mexico City concert.

Featuring nine songs written by then drummer, Petter Karlsson, Gothic Kabbalah (2007) would arrive next and along with it the act's first tour of Japan.

In these times Therion held live shows that included local symphonic orchestras and choirs, and an example of such was The "Therion Goes Classic" show on 9 December 2006, in Bucharest, Romania. Another show followed at the Miskolc Opera Festival in Miskolc, Hungary on 16 June 2007, with future band member Lori Lewis as its featured vocalist.

With the release of The Miskolc Experience (2009), Therion had a major line-up change with Johnsson recruiting Thomas Vikström (vocals), Johan Koleberg (drums) and Nalle Påhlsson (bass). But the next album, Sitra Ahra (2010), featured new guitarist Christian Vidal, along with Snowy Shaw on vocals.

By 2011, Lilja had left the band for a second time; Vikström's daughter, Linnéa, provided supporting vocals for the band starting at the Bloodstock Open Air festival later that year. In September 2011, after four years of collaboration and session work, vocalist Lori Lewis joined as a member. The board game, 011 was released featuring the band members based on the Sitra Ahra album.

Les fleurs du mal (2012) was considered by Johnsson to be an "art project", including not only the music, but also special inlay graphics and video clips, later (in 2015) partly released on a limited edition DVD called Garden Of Evil. The album consisted of covers of French chansons and pop songs that were performed in the band's style. On the release day the 25th Anniversary Tour was also started through Europe, also featuring the album's contributing keyboardist Stefan Jernståhl. Some leftover songs were released on the EP Les Épaves (2015).

On 21 February 2014 two new releases were put on market: a deluxe edition of Theli - including three bonus tracks from A'arab Zaraq - Lucid Dreaming and a DVD with Theli's live performance - and a DVD set Adulruna Rediviva And Beyond with the 2007 Anniversary concert in Budapest and the 2011 Atlanta show.

Johnsson then developed a rock metal opera, and during the year would tour it.

In 2015 Johnsson worked on another side project, called Luciferian Light Orchestra featuring songs in the '70s occult rock style. An eponymous album was also released in that year.

November 2016 saw Johan Koleberg leave the band "due to different goals in playing music". For the 2017 live gigs the former Amon Amarth member Fredrik Andersson filled in, but on 21 November 2017 Sami Karppinen officially re-joined.

Johnsson revealed he had been suffering from intense pain in the neck and shoulders, and he was diagnosed with two spinal disc herniations (allegedly resulting from years of headbanging), and he was at risk of losing the ability to perform live. As a result, the rock opera project was delayed and the band downplayed their sets of songs in concerts to allow Johnsson to perform. By April, Johnsson announced he had been able to avoid surgery as his condition had improved through physiotherapy, and the band would resume performing at festivals by August, although he would have to play sitting; by 2018 he was able to stand to perform again.

Beloved Antichrist (2018), inspired by and partly based on Vladimir Solovyov's Tale of the Antichrist, was next to be released and contained over 3 hours of music, and 29 vocal characters.

On 10 August 2019 Nalle Påhlsson decided to withdraw from touring, and remain only a member for songwriting and studio recordings. For the year's only remaining show Justin Biggs from Sorcerer would stand in.

Leviathan (2021) and Leviathan II followed, partly with Snowy Shaw on drums. The third and final installment album, Leviathan III, would follow in 2023.

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