LEPACA KLIFFOTH

The first half of the 90's saw the rise of doom-death. A style of slow-paced doom metal with gruff vocals that combined the power chords of Black Sabbath, the slow dirge and nihilism of the industrial new wave band Swans and the zombie type of vocals that you used to scare your little sister with.

Now, all of that would have been of little relevance to this site if it hadn't been for the fact that most of the UK pioneers of this style gradually morphed into more accessible formats. My Dying Bride stayed most true to the original format but they matured into epic metal compositions that many Opeth fans will probably like. Paradise Lost did an interesting excursion into Sisters and Depeche Mode territories and you all know what wonderful music Anathema went on to create right?

But also Sweden (of course) had its exponents. Tiamat doesn't feature on this site but before they turned into a stale gothic metal act they created some interesting Sisters of Mercy on Pink Floyd dope albums. And Therion, well they believed the true potential of Jesus Christ Superstar hadn't been explored yet and brought back opera to rock.

The reason I try to impress you with all this background is because I have very little to say about this particular album itself. It is decent, but it is the sound of a death metal band that realized they weren't heavy nor skilled enough to hold their ground in this normally very technical scene. So they compensated their disadvantage by experimenting, by finding creative solutions and by trying out new things on the unsuspecting audiences. An approach that often leads to great things.

And so it did for Therion. This transitional album is mostly straightforward 'doom death & roll' with occasional experiments with choirs and violins. Their next album would reveal all the potential of this fertile marriage. Lepaca Kliffoth will probably only appeal to you if you want to seek out where Therion came from and if you can stomach the gruff vocals. I've found myself quite liking it, but never enough to motivate me to explore the Therion history any further back then this one.