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Therion - Lepaca Kliffoth CD (album) cover

LEPACA KLIFFOTH

Therion

 

Progressive Metal

3.26 | 69 ratings

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Finnforest
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator
3 stars Yeeaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was very impressed with my first Therion album "Deggial" and decided I would check out some of the band's early history. I took a shot in the dark and grabbed Lepaca Klifforth. While it is a clear step (or couple steps) down from Deggial in terms of sophisticated prog-metal it was still pretty enjoyable. The differences are many. Rather than the gorgeous flowing operatic vocals of Deggial here you have the gravel throat of Chris Johnsson doing some pretty extreme singing, though not growling. The pace of the songs is much faster with traditional speed-chugging guitar and galloping rhythms. You can begin to see the first signs of the band transforming itself with the occasional operatic backing vocal or classical sounding keyboard part here and there but they sound rather tentative and the production qualities are significantly lower. The performances of the musicians however are still very solid. "The Beauty in Black" is an excellent track with a classy piano/flute intro leading to some strange sounding chords. When the band comes in they are joined by male and female operatic vocals, not as smooth as later work but hinting at the direction. Then there are whispered vocals over those strange, watery strummed chords. Pretty neat track but on the short side unfortunately. The title track is a standout too with some great occult chanting. So there are some classed up moments but most of this album is still good gut-punch stuff. Frankly this short, raging record is more exciting heavy metal than anything I've heard from Sabbath or Metallica since Mob Rules/Justice respectively. If you like the thought of Therion but on the rougher side, don't hesitate! And with the inside leaf proclaiming the various names of the Anti-Christ (I didn't realize there were so many!), Lepaca Klifforth is sure to be WAY more fun than your Tangent album. Put this CD on your shelf and watch it strangle your Morse albums and drag them to the fires to be consumed by Asmodeus.

Finnforest | 3/5 |

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