ATLANTIS LUCID DREAMING

Between 1997 and 2000, Therion released three magnificent studio albums, namely "Theli", "Vovin" and "Deggial". Such was the pressure from their record company to keep the flow of material coming that two other original albums were also released during this period. Both "Crowning of Atlantis" and "A'arab Zaraq Lucid Dreaming" were in fact compilations made up of leftover tracks, covers and live versions. They were presented as original albums, and appear in the band's discography as such, but they should not be taken too seriously in terms of Therion's development.

In 2005, a compilation of tracks from these albums was released under the title "Atlantis lucid dreaming". The reasoning behind such a release are not immediately clear, but the results are certainly quite palatable.

The first six tracks here are also the opening tracks on "A'arab Zaraq Lucid Dreaming" with the exception of the Iron Maiden cover "Children of the Damned". They include three cover versions, three songs recorded for "Theli" but not used on that album, and an instrumental version of the early track "Symphony of the Dead". The remainder of "A'arab Zaraq Lucid Dreaming" was given over to Christofer Johnsson's soundtrack for the obscure film "Golden Embrace". That soundtrack and the Therion reworkings of tracks from it are simply omitted altogether here.

In similar fashion, the first seven tracks from "Crowning of Atlantis" are lifted and dropped onto this album, along with the closing song, a live version of "Black sun". In addition to three more cover versions, we therefore have tracks left over from "Vovin" and one originally intended for "Deggial". Some of these songs would have appeared on an interim EP had it not been for the record company's insistence on padding "Crowing of Atlantis" out to full album length.

Given the fragmented nature of the two source compilations, this set also lacks continuity. The original songs are generally excellent, most being worthy of inclusion on the main studio albums. The cover versions on the other hand are light relief, and not representative of the work of Therion.

If you have "Crowning of Atlantis" and "A'arab Zaraq Lucid Dreaming" there's nothing new to be found here. If you have neither, this is a decent collection.