Formed: 1987
From:
Stockholm,
Sweden
Last Known Status: Active
Latest Therion News
Below is our complete Therion news coverage, including columns and articles pertaining to the band. Some articles listed may be indirectly related, such as side projects of the band members, etc.
Note: We began associating news directly with bands in late 2003. Therefore, earlier band news may not be listed on this page.
Displaying records 1 - 20 of 215 1 2 3 ... 10 11 Last
Therion Announces New Album "Leviathan III"
Swedish symphonic metal legends Therion have unveiled the first single, "Twilight Of The Gods," off of their upcoming album, "Leviathan III," out December 15, 2023 via Napalm Records! With the new album, Therion returns to deliver another masterpiece - fulfilling the "Leviathan" trilogy. With more than 35 years under their belts, the band around mastermind Christofer Johnsson is considered one of the most style-defining acts of symphonic metal. Down to the present day, Johnsson claims Swiss Celtic Frost and their way to combine opera vocals and orchestral instruments in the late 80s as one of his main influences back in the days, leading to Therion's "Symphony Masses" (1993) and "Lepaca Kliffoth" (1995) to set the stages for the genre in the early 90s, followed by symphonic metal milestone Theli in 1996.
"Twilight Of The Gods" delivers the finest of epic and symphonic metal, finding a harmonious and balanced blend between guitars, choirs and orchestra. Join Therion on their versatile and style-melding musical journey, and watch the brand-new official music video for "Twilight Of The Gods" below!
The album sets off with the powerful "Ninkigal," catapulting the listener directly into the dramatic universe of Therion with skillfully crafted compositions and operatic female vocals by Lori Lewis, alternating with grim growling and pleasing melodies. It’s followed by "Ruler Of Tamag," enchanting with a gentle acoustic guitar intro and lingering female vocals that open up to a fairytale-like scenario of old times. This then bursts into a heavy track with gloomy parts, building up to a fascinating score-like symphony. Therion once more draw charm from the courage to mix styles ranging from Gothic parts to melodic death metal and neo-classical elements to power metal in a complex and versatile way, thus challenging their listeners. The songs are quickly engaging and skillfully employ catchy melodies, as witnessed on uplifting tracks like "An Unsung Lament" and "Baccanale." Advancing melodies are combined with rock elements, captivating lyrics and choir parts, while lively "Maleficium" is structured around a duet between Thomas Vikström and Lori Lewis. Stomping "Ayahuasca" is a true musical journey featuring a male choir and psychedelic elements, while speedy "Nummo" offers splendid hard guitar explosions and the finest classic vocals and choirs.
Overall, the compositions lean towards the magnificent and theatrical, offering a high variety of musical styles while deftly blurring the boundaries of metal and classical music. With their newest opus, "Leviathan III," mastermind Christofer Johnsson proves his incredible talent once more, and that Therion have perfected their very own combination of versatile styles - resulting in the creation of a symphonic league of their own. More...
Therion Premiere New Single & Music Video
Symphonic metal band Therion's new album "Leviathan II" will be released on October 28th, 2022. Today the band premiere their new single and music video "Pazuzu" streaming via YouTube and Spotify for you below.
Explains guitarist Christofer Johnsson: More...
Therion Unveils New Music Video
With over 100+ million streams and a tremendously successful album released just a year ago, symphonic metal titans Therion have not been idle and continue their epic "Leviathan" trilogy with striking new single "Litany Of The Fallen."
Cristofer Johnsson comments:
"'Litany of the Fallen' is a song that could have been on any of the three parts of the Leviathan trilogy. It’s a song that binds them all together." More...
Therion To Embark On European Tour This November
Swedish symphonic metal pioneers Therion are proud to announce that they will embark on an extensive European tour, named Leviathan II, in November / December 2022. Besides some classics fans can expect songs from the band's highly acclaimed latest album Leviathan, and probably also brand new material from its immediate successor, which will be released later this year. Stay tuned for more details on the upcoming new Therion studio album.
The ticket pre-sale for the tour starts on Tuesday, March 1st, at 12.00pm CET. Dates are as follows: More...
Therion Posts New Music Video Online
Swedish symphonic metal pioneers Therion released their seventeenth studio album Leviathan earlier this year, and it proved to be another big success. It entered world-wide album sales charts peaking at #8 (Rock & Metal) in the UK, at #11 in Germany and #14 (physical) in Sweden, only to name a few. Today, Therion are releasing yet another dark and haunting music video for a song from Leviathan called Nocturnal Light, which you can watch below.
Therion's Christofer Johnsson comments:
"This is a very epic song with Middle Eastern influences written by Thomas Vikström. The lyrics deal with the Sumerian goddess Inanna. It was one of his first contributions to the Leviathan writing sessions." More...
Therion To Release New Album In January
Sweden’s symphonic metal pioneers Therion are proud to unleash the first single and title track from their upcoming 17th studio album "Leviathan," which is set to be released on 22 January 2021 on Nuclear Blast.
Balancing ominous atmosphere and powerful, seducing chants, Leviathan succeeds in virtually conjuring the mythical sea creature the song has borrowed its name from.
Therion has always been a band that have challenged themselves to explore new paths, while remaining true to their musical core values. For their 17th studio album "Leviathan," mastermind Christofer Johnsson and his collaborator Thomas Vikström have created something that has been previously unthinkable to the guitarist and the singer. "We have done the only thing that was left of all the different angles to explore", explains Christofer. "We have decided to give the people what they kept asking for. 'Leviathan' is the first album that we have deliberately packed with Therion hit songs." More...
Brutal Assault Festival Announces 85% Tickets Sold
Brutal Assault Festival announces 85% of the tickets of its upcoming 2019 edition already being sold. Tells the festival promotion agency:
"The attractive lineup of our festival draws audience from all around the world and we've already sold 85 % of all available tickets - thank You for your interest! Our lineup also misses just a couple of last bands and the artists from our KAL stage to be completely revealed... and that is happening soon! We can only recommend to everyone not to hesitate with the purchase of the festival pass, because there are gonna be no more tickets when the currently available capacity is gone!The festival passes are 102€ (full festival passes only), but you'll also find discounted festival passes for the disabled and for kids in our e-shop HERE."
You can now also generate your own Brutal Assault poster with bands ordered according to your liking and share your taste with the world! If you share your #mybrutal2019 poster on Facebook or Instagram, you can win a free festival pass!
Brutal Assault: 90 € Early Bird Festival Passes
The Brutal Assault 2019-team has the below announcement concerning their early bird festival passes for you:
"By the end of the month we'll stop selling the 90€ early bird festival passes. These are currently available from our e-shop in two forms, physical collector’s ticket where you have to pay for shipping and electronic ticket that you'll print at home and don't have to pay for shipping. It's also possible to change your e-ticket for design hard paper ticket on spot for a small fee.
Don't miss your opportunity to get the cheapest tickets that there are!"
Brutal Assault 2019, will once again take place at the Fortress Josefov - Jaromer, Czech Republic from , 7th – 10th August.
BRUTAL ASSAULT 2019 festival pass [PRINT@HOME ticket]
BRUTAL ASSAULT 2019 festival pass [collector's design hard paper ticket] More...
Therion Reveals New Album Artwork
On February 2nd, symphonic metal pioneers Therion will finally release Christofer Johnsson's monumental brainchild "Beloved Antichrist," a sweeping rock opera loosely inspired by Vladímir Soloviov’s "A Short Tale Of The Antichrist." The entire piece reaches an impressive length of 3 hours and the dramatic opus comes to life through 27 different character roles, performed by long-time band members like Thomas Vikström, Lori Lewis and Chiara Malvestiti, amongst many others. The band will unveil the first excerpt from ‘Beloved Antichrist’ in single form before Christmas – and today, they present the cover artwork designed by Thomas Ewerhart, as well as the tracklisting:
Act I
1. Turn From Heaven
2. Where Will You Go?
3. Through Dust, Through Rain
4. Signs Are Here
5. Never Again
6. Bring Her Home
7. The Solid Black Beyond
8. The Crowning Of Splendour
9. Morning Has Broken
10. Garden Of Peace
11. Our Destiny
12. Anthem
13. The Palace Ball
14. Jewels From Afar
15. Hail Caesar!
16. What Is Wrong?
17. Nothing But My Name
Act II
1. The Arrival Of Apollonius
2. Pledging Loyalty
3. Night Reborn
4. Dagger Of God
5. Temple Of New Jerusalem
6. The Lions Roar
7. Bringing The Gospel
8. Laudate Dominum
9. Remaining Silent
10. Behold Antichrist
11. Cursed By The Fallen
12. Resurrection
13. To Where I Weep
14. Astral Sophia
15. Thy Will Be Done!
Act III
1. Shoot Them Down!
2. Beneath The Starry Skies
3. Forgive Me
4. The Wasteland Of My Heart
5. Burning The Palace
6. Prelude To War
7. Day Of Wrath
8. Rise To War
9. Time Has Come/Final Battle
10. My Voyage Carries On
11. Striking Darkness
12. Seeds Of Time
13. To Shine Forever
14. Theme Of Antichrist More...
Therion Announces New Album, European Tour Dates
When 15 year old prodigy Christofer Johnsson founded Therion as a death metal band in 1987, little did he know that exactly 30 years later he would put the final touches to a project that will go down in history as symphonic metal’s most ambitious release. While "metal operas" are no longer an unusual creation, this term will forever receive a new meaning on January 26, 2018, when the curtain opens for Johnsson’s lifelong creation: "Beloved Antichrist." The new spectacular brainchild consists of 3 full-length CDs. It’s more than just a concept album, but a complete rock opera with multiple chapters unveiling a sweeping story, partly based on and inspired by Vladímir Soloviov "A Short Tale Of The Antichrist."
With an incredible total of 29 different roles and characters, who all required a unique voice, Therion hired not only a big choir, but also 29 vocalists to bring the epic story to life. With long-time collaborators like Thomas Vikström, Lori Lewis and Chiara Malvestiti, fans will hear the classical Therion vibe but also be able to drown in a magical maelstrom of many new as well as familiar voices. Divided into several chapters, the opera reaches a full length of 3 and a half hours and Therion is currently working on the possibility of bringing the entire production to the stage.
While this monumental undertaking still simmers away in the Swedish production halls, the band has announced a pan-European tour where they will perform some of their new masterpieces live in a classical concert setting. Support comes from Russia’s Imperial Age, Germany's Null Positiv and New York symphonic metal act Midnight Eternal. Don't miss this new milestone in the history of symphonic metal and witness this dramatic staging of the apocalypse and all those brave, sinister and fascinating characters heading towards the end of it all.
More info on "Beloved Antichrist" will be revealed soon. The European tour dates are as follows: More...
Headline News
70K TOM May Be Christofer Johnsson's Final Show
Christofer Johnsson of Therion will be performing at the impending 70K Tons Of Metal cruise, but the musician will then be taking time off performing and recording due to a serious health issue. He comments:
"Possibly my final live performance ever on 70,000 Tons Of Metal. Over 2 weeks ago I started to get HUGE pains in my arm, shoulder and back. It hurt worse if I lay down and got worse by each day. In the end I could not even sleep in bed anymore and had to sit up sleeping in the sofa every night.
"Medicare in Sweden don't work anymore. Equipment is great and the doctors are competent and do their best, but due to the massive population increase, the capacity and medical infrastructure has lacked behind each year and just seem to get worse and worse. After I got in contact with the emergency, it took me eight (8) days before I got to see a physiotherapist and he could not make a proper diagnosis without a MRI scan of the neck. It would have taken up to a month before I would get a MRI done and then it can take another month before I get the results.
"At this point I slept worse and less each night and when I tried to play guitar, I would only play half a song before the pain made me stop + my motorics got so bad that I was even physically unable to play most songs.
"In order to not have to cancel 70.000 Tons of Metal and in order to faster get a diagnosis and get it cured, I (upon recommendation) decided to fly to Moscow and have it done there. They are at the same technical and competence level like in Sweden, but have capacity to treat patients immediately. So I got an appointment straight away, flew there and got a fantastic care with not only MRI, but also got to see a neurologist, physiotherapists and specialists.
"So I got a diagnosis the same day and it seems I have two spinal disc herniations in my neck, one really bad and one small that could get worse. In plain English this means that two of my discs in the neck are worn out (from headbanging and sitting too much in front of computer in the office and the studio) and have cracked so that fluid runs out from it. The fluid put pressure on the nerves in the spinal chord and create pain in shoulder/arm/back and distort mobility in the right arm. More...
Headline News
70000 Tons Of Metal: Line Up Complete
In exactly 9 days 3000 metal fans will be on board the 2017 edition of 70000 Tons Of Metal Cruise.
4 Days, 60 Bands, 1 Cruise Ship and only 3000 Tickets – Round 7 of The Original, The World’s Biggest Heavy Metal Cruise will sail February 2-6 from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida to Labadee, Haiti on board the "Independence Of The Seas".
Haven’t booked your ticket yet? Click here to book now! Don’t wait, only a select number of Single Tickets and Private Cabins are left. You don’t want to miss this trip of a lifetime!
Check out the entire 2017 line-up below: More...
Public Sales Begin For 70,000 Tons Of Metal 2017
UMC - promoters for the Original and World's Largest Cruise Festival, 70,000 Tons of Metal - have now opened up the 2017 installment to public sales. Check out how to plan your metal vacation using the link below.
In addition, the lineup is taking shape as an additional 20 acts were added to the bill, bringing the total announced at 36 of 60 bands, as follows:
Arch Enemy, Demolition Hammer, Devildriver, Draconinan, Dying Fetus, Gojira, Marduk, Moonsorrow, Omnium Gatherum, Orden Ogan, Revocation, Saltatio Mortis, Serenity, Stamina, Stuck Mojo, Testament, Uli Jon Roth, Unleashed, Vreid and Xandria.
70,000 Tons of Metal 2016 will set sail on February 2nd-6th from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida and for the first time will port in Haiti at Labadee.
The festival will once again be hosted by The Independence of the Seas (via Royal Caribbean). The ship will accommodate four stages: The Alhambra Theater is a five-story concert hall in which they spare no expense to remove part of the (very comfortable) seating so you have a real Mosh Pit on the High Seas; The more intimate Egyptian themed Pyramid Lounge offers the local club atmosphere; The third indoor stage is in Studio B, the ice skating rink featuring a maritime version of the Arena experience and last but not least their jewel: The Pool Deck stage - The World’s Biggest Open Air Stage Structure to ever sail the Open Seas, surrounded by multiple bars and pools, plenty of room to sunbathe on several decks and even hot tubs incorporated into the Pool Deck stage to soak in while you watch the shows!
The All-Star Jam band, which returned this past January will also be back, led by Annihilator's Jeff Waters and members from the various acts aboard performing cover tunes live.
Ticket prices include all on board entertainment, most non-alcoholic and non-carbonated beverages, all meals in the dining rooms, most on board restaurants and even 24 hour room service. For more information or to book your high seas metal adventure, head on over to 70000tons.com.
Arch Enemy, Demolition Hammer, Devildriver, Draconinan, Dying Fetus, Gojira, Marduk, Moonsorrow, Omnium Gatherum, Orden Ogan, Revocation, Saltatio Mortis, Serenity, Stamina, Stuck Mojo, Testament, Uli Jon Roth, Unleashed, Vreid and Xandria join the previously named 16 acts, with 24 still to be announced: More...
Wacken Open Air Live Stream Available
This weekend, you can stream portions of the 2016 edition of Wacken Open Air live via Arte.tv. Some of the top bands offered for streaming: Iron Maiden, Blind Guardian, Saxon, Testament, Eluveitie and Ministry (among others).
The live stream can be accessed at this location.
The schedule for streaming can be found below (note: all times are CET):
Thursday, August 4th:
16h50-17h35 Henry Rollins
17h40-18h05 Hämatom
18h10-19h25 Saxon
19h30-20h30 Panzerballett
20h35-21h25 Phil Campbell’s All Starr Band
21h30-23h30 Iron Maiden
23h35-00h15 Therapy?
00h15-00h45 (tba)
00h45-01h00 Born to Lose, Lived To Win (A Farewell to Lemmy Kilmister)
Friday, August 5:
16h20 17h20 Entombed A.D.
17h25-18h25 Axel Rudi Pell
18h30-19h45 Eluveitie
19h50-21h05 Bullet For My Valentine
21h10-22h25 Tarja
22h30-00h00 Blind Guardian
00h15-01h30 Ministry
01h45-03h00 Testament
Saturday, August 6th:
15h40-16h55 Borknagar
17h00-18h10 Metal Church
18h15-19h30 Therion
19h35-20h50 Steel Panther
20h55-22h10 Clutch
22h15-23h30 Triptykon
23h35-00h35 (tba)
00h40-01h55 Parkway Drive
01h55-03h10 Arch Enemy More...
UMC Begins Announcement Barrage For 70K 2017
UMC - promoters for the Original and World's Largest Cruise Festival, 70,000 Tons of Metal - have unleashed the first barrage of bands that will appear on the 2017 edition of the annual cruise.
The first 16 of 60 bands announced are: Amaranthe, Amorphis, Annihilator, Anthrax, Cruachan, Death Angel, Equilibrium, Grave Digger, Haggard, Kalmah, Kamelot, Nile, Orphaned Land, Powerglove, Suffocation and Therion.
70,000 Tons of Metal 2016 will set sail on February 2nd-6th from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida and for the first time will port in Haiti at Labadee.
The festival will once again be hosted by The Independence of the Seas (via Royal Caribbean). The ship will accommodate four stages: The Alhambra Theater is a five-story concert hall in which they spare no expense to remove part of the (very comfortable) seating so you have a real Mosh Pit on the High Seas; The more intimate Egyptian themed Pyramid Lounge offers the local club atmosphere; The third indoor stage is in Studio B, the ice skating rink featuring a maritime version of the Arena experience and last but not least their jewel: The Pool Deck stage - The World’s Biggest Open Air Stage Structure to ever sail the Open Seas, surrounded by multiple bars and pools, plenty of room to sunbathe on several decks and even hot tubs incorporated into the Pool Deck stage to soak in while you watch the shows!
The All-Star Jam band, which returned this past January will also be back, led by Annihilator's Jeff Waters and members from the various acts aboard performing cover tunes live.
Ticket prices include all on board entertainment, most non-alcoholic and non-carbonated beverages, all meals in the dining rooms, most on board restaurants and even 24 hour room service. For more information or to book your high seas metal adventure, head on over to 70000tons.com. More...
The Birdcage To Mesh Video Games And Music Videos
The Birdcage is a new way to experience music - a music album that is presented as a video game. Imagine a music video you can fully control and immerse yourself in, while the events and the environment are in a perfect sync with the music.
The album will be performed by artists from Guns N' Roses, former Evanescence members, Epica, Within Temptation, Therion, and many others.
You can contribute to the creation of the game through Patreon here and a gameplay demo is also available below. More...
Therion Announces Headlining Tour
Swedish symphonic metal troop Therion is set to kick off a European headline tour in January 2016. On this run the band will be playing a very special, best-of set list.
Support will come from occult rockers Luciferian Light Orchestra, Mongolian nomadic metallers Ego Fall, and last but not least from Russian symphonic metal force Imperial Age. Therion band leader Christofer Johnsson commented about the upcoming tour:
“We asked the fans on FB about what they wanted to hear. Hundreds of people voted and in the end we got a result - people wanted to hear classic, particularity from 'Secret Of The Runes,' 'Vovin,' and 'Theli,' so we are putting an extra focus on those. They also wanted to hear odd and rare songs that we have never played live before, so there will be a bunch of those as well as some songs we haven’t performed more than just once or twice, or not in a long, long time.“ More...
OpEd
Heavy Metal Video Games: The Return Of Music Games
With the king of music games about to make a triumphant return in less than two weeks, it seemed like a good time to take another look at the limited offerings available where video games collide with heavy metal.
For those who missed our previous three articles discussing various games with heavy metal soundtracks, be sure to go back and check 'em out (and let us know if you end up playing or re-playing any of these gems!):
Part 1: the amazing Brutal Legend, Saints Row III, Killing Floor 2, Pain Killer, and Guilty Gear X2 Reload
Part 2: Splatterhouse, Twisted Metal 2, The Witcher's bonus music disc, and Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost And The Damned.
Part 3 (the retro edition!): Rock And Roll Racing, Beavis And Butthead, F-Zero X, Earthbound, and Heavy Metal Geomatrix
Rock Band
There was this utterly glorious time where console gaming was flush with a stable lineup of music games and every weekend involved a bottle of something hard and your best friends making drunken fools of themselves in your living room till 2 AM. Typically your neighbors would not be amused, but fuck them because they don't like metal anyway.
Unfortunately that time died when Activision decided to flood the market with an absurd number of Guitar Hero entries and the era of the music game came to a sudden, crashing halt.
Obviously the Rock Band titles had plenty of rock tunes, but a handful of legitimate metal was also involved in the various incarnations and weekly DLC updates, adding in the likes of Emperor, Machine Head, and a whole lot more. Where things really took off was in the Rock Band Network, which let bands make their own tracks, seeing tons of underground groups add in their own music.
It was a truly sad day when Harmonix announced there would be no more DLC coming to Rock Band back in 2013, but an unexpected light at the end of the tunnel appeared just a few months ago. Back in March, Harmonix made a whole lot of fans happy by officially announcing Rock Band 4, which seemed like nothing more than a pipe dream up till that point.
Due out October 6, Rock Band 4's launch lineup of metal will include Dream Theater, Ozzy Osbourne, Scorpions, Baby Metal, System Of A Down, and more, with loads of metallic downloadable songs no doubt prepped and ready to drop each week.
Needless to say I'm greatly looking forward to it, except that unfortunately Guitar Hero is also returning. Maybe Activision can keep it in its pants this time around and not kill music gaming again by releasing six or so games a year.
Therion Providing Music For New 2D Game
The curiously quiet Therion (remember how the band was supposed to release an album last year?) is now providing music for a forthcoming 2D beat-em-up game called "Never Gone."
The band comments: "Therion is collaborating with a Chinese game manufacturer for smart phones and will supply both music and lend their characters for their upcoming game 'Never Gone.' Now who could this be...?"
Pre-alpha teaser trailers for "Never Gone" can also be seen over through Steam here. More...
Report
The 70,000 Ton Hangover
Can 21st-century metalheads ever be truly happy if they’re not bitching about something on the web?
The pointless arguments over bands’ music, which mostly boil down to matters of taste, are exhausting enough. And there’s a simple solution to dissatisfaction with a particular tour package: stay home and masturbate.
But complaining about festival lineups? Really?
I have some news for you, sport: the only Perfect Metal Festival Lineup, which exists only in an individual’s imagination, attracts an audience of one. Your Perfect Lineup is different from mine.
There needs to be a common denominator, a compromise. I don’t know about you, but when I’m not basking in my serene, elite metal knowledge via trve and righteous, smarmy and self-congratulatory screeds on Facebook, I actually enjoy watching a live show in the company of others. And in reaching the compromise to make that social event possible, everyone’s Perfect Lineup inevitably becomes less than perfect. Such is the transition from fantasy to reality.
In the process, like small children finally realizing that vegetables aren’t going to kill them, we learn that the reality is almost always better than the fantasy (discounting the fact that the latter doesn’t exist). MTV’s Butt-Head once mused on this very issue: “If nothing sucked, and everything was, like, cool all the time… how would you KNOW it was cool?”
At a several-day festival with dozens of bands on multiple stages, we NEED at least a handful of acts we know we can ignore. Otherwise, think of the immense pressure to be constantly on our feet, rushing back and forth, watching every equally important band with rapt attention. Even if possible, it would be simply overwhelming. We’d pass out from exhaustion and forget to enjoy ourselves. Plus, the truly special acts wouldn’t seem as special.
Last summer at Tuska Open Air in Helsinki, rather than bitch about the injustice of Bring Me The Horizon directly preceding Anthrax, I was grateful for the chance to relax and have a beer before catching a show by one of the Big Four. More...