Songs, lyrical themes, and influences
Of Darkness... consists of songs Christofer Johnsson had written in the years of 1987–1989, many of which were available on the band's demo recordings. [2] Musically, "Of Darkness..." could be described as a typical death metal release, though elements of thrash metal are apparent as well.
Unlike later albums, lyrically, many tracks on the album focus on political and social issues. [1]
2000 re-release album contains original remastered songs, and four bonus tracks songs. Two of them are the 1990 versions from the "Time Shall Tell" EP. The other two are the unreleased versions from the "Of Darkness..." recording sessions.
Therion is a Swedish symphonic metal band founded by Christofer Johnsson in 1987. Its name was inspired by the Celtic Frost album To Mega Therion. "To Mega Therion" is Greek for "The Great Beast" and was a title used by occultist Aleister Crowley. Originally a death metal band, Therion adjusted its musical style by adding orchestral elements, including choirs, classical musicians, and even a full orchestra at their concert performances. As a result, they are considered pioneers of the symphonic metal genre.
Disembowelment, often styled as diSEMBOWELMENT, was an Australian death-doom band that formed in November 1989 featuring Renato Gallina on guitar and vocals, and Paul Mazziotta on drums. In early 1991 Jason Kells joined on lead guitar and at the end of that year the group's line-up was completed by Matthew Skarajew on bass guitar. In 1992 they issued an extended play, Dusk, on Relapse Records and followed with a studio album, Transcendence into the Peripheral, in 1993. They disbanded shortly thereafter – never having performed live. AllMusic's Eduardo Rivadavia described them as "[s]till revered in underground circles as doom-grind pioneers ... [their works] remain genre classics".
Lepaca Kliffoth is the fourth studio album by Swedish symphonic metal band Therion. The title refers to the Qliphoth. Stylistically, it retains the aggressive riffing and sheds the harsh growls of the band's previous death metal output, while also incorporating more elements of traditional heavy metal and more pronounced gothic and symphonic elements, often leading to this album being viewed as a transitional album in Therion's discography.
Carbonized was a Swedish avant-garde metal band formed in Saltsjöbaden in 1988. The band was formed by Lars Rosenberg in 1988, with Dismember vocalist Matti Kärki. Joined by drummer Piotr Wawrzeniuk, the trio was completed by Therion's Christofer Johnsson, who originally agreed to only perform session guitarwork but eventually became a full-time member.
Beyond Sanctorum is the second studio album by Swedish symphonic metal band Therion, released in January 1992. It was re-released on 27 November 2000 under the Nuclear Blast label as a part of The Early Chapters of Revelation boxset. It contains remastered songs, as well as four bonus tracks.
Symphony Masses: Ho Drakon Ho Megas is the third studio album by Swedish symphonic metal band Therion, released in April 1993. The album was remastered and re-released by Nuclear Blast in 2000 as part of The Early Chapters of Revelation box-set.
A'arab Zaraq – Lucid Dreaming is the sixth studio album by Swedish symphonic metal band Therion released in the year that the band celebrated their tenth anniversary. The record contains a few unused songs from Theli, a few cover songs the band had made, plus a full soundtrack Christofer Johnsson had made independently for the film called The Golden Embrace.
Vovin is the seventh studio album by Swedish symphonic metal band Therion. It is their bestselling album, selling over 150,000 copies in Europe alone. Even though it was released under the name Therion, Christofer Johnsson regards this as his solo album, as it was recorded entirely with studio musicians who were not members of the band.
Crowning of Atlantis is the eighth studio album by Swedish symphonic metal band Therion. In the beginning it was an EP fleshed out with several covers and live tracks from Vovin Tour '98 that the record label and management insisted be placed on it to make it a full-length album.
Secret of the Runes is the tenth studio album by Swedish symphonic metal band Therion. It's a concept album based on Norse mythology, where each song describes one of the nine worlds. Cover artwork was made by Thomas Ewerhard, it features nine Scandinavian runes, each corresponding to a certain mythological world.
Abruptum is a Swedish black metal and dark ambient solo side-project band. It is run by Evil of Marduk, but the band was formed in 1989 by IT. All, Ext and Evil joined the band later. IT was one of the leaders of the True Satanist Horde, part of the Swedish Black metal scene. Euronymous, co-founder of Mayhem and founder of Deathlike Silence Productions, described Abruptum as "the audial essence of pure black evil".
Dark Recollections is the only studio album and release by Swedish death metal band Carnage, released in 1990 by Earache Records. It was originally released as a split CD with Cadaver's debut album Hallucinating Anxiety by Earache Records sublabel Necrosis. Some of the songs were later re-recorded by Dismember. Dark Recollections is the only album released by Carnage; the band had broken up by the time the album hit the streets. It was later reissued by Earache Records with eight additional tracks, taken from the demos for The Day Man Lost and Infestation of Evil.
Eucharist is a Swedish melodic death metal band, which released two albums in the 1990s, and a third in 2022.
Liers in Wait were a Gothenburg, Sweden-based death metal band active between 1990 and 1995.
Gothic Kabbalah is the thirteenth studio album by Swedish symphonic metal band Therion. It was released in Europe on 12 January 2007. The album was mixed by Stefan Glaumann, who also contributed to bands such as Rammstein, Evergrey, Europe and Def Leppard. The main line-up has been slightly changed since previous studio albums : Petter Karlsson returned to play drums, having already played with the band during Lemuria / Sirius B tour during the period of 2004–2006. Since Christofer Johnsson announced in 2006 he is retiring from singing, vocals on Gothic Kabbalah were performed by Mats Levén, as well as Snowy Shaw and three female singers: Katarina Lilja, Anna Nyhlin and Hannah Holgersson.
Demonoid is a Swedish extreme metal band founded in 2003 that derives its influences from traditional death metal, thrash metal and black metal.
Les Fleurs du Mal is the fifteenth studio album by Swedish symphonic metal band Therion. It is a cover album that was released on 28 September 2012 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the band. Named after the 1857 volume of poetry Les Fleurs du mal, the album is fully sung in French language. It consist of metal cover versions of French pop songs from 1960s and 1970s, mostly from the ye-ye genre.
Evocation is a Swedish death metal band from Borås.
Leviathan is the seventeenth studio album by Swedish symphonic metal band Therion. It was released on 22 January 2021 by Nuclear Blast Records. It is the first part in the planned Leviathan trilogy, its sequels Leviathan II and Leviathan III are scheduled for 2022 and 2023 respectively.
