Progarchives, the progressive rock ultimate discography
Therion - Gothic Kabbalah CD (album) cover

GOTHIC KABBALAH

Therion

 

Progressive Metal

3.57 | 110 ratings

From Progarchives.com, the ultimate progressive rock music website

Easy Livin
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator / Retired Admin
3 stars The amazing(?) story of a Swedish librarian

Quite why this is a double CD is not obvious, the total running time being around 85 minutes. It is certainly very nicely presented in a lavish slipcase, so presumably the splitting of the songs over 2 CDs is mainly a marketing ploy.

"Gothic Kabbalah" was released in 2007, and represents Therions' most recent album at time of writing. A new album does seem to be in the pipeline, with Christofer Johnsson once again radically changing the make up of the band but we are jumping ahead there, and here the line up remains unusually stable for Therion. Johnnson and the Neimann brothers are once again present, joined by the returning Petter Karlsson on drums, vocals etc. Wisely, Johnsson chooses not to sing at all on the album (he is reputed to have "retired" from singing), principal vocal duties being shared among 5 vocalists including the also returning Mats Levén. A fine collection of guest musicians are gathered together once again, but interestingly this time the numbers are pared back considerably. There are no massed choirs or orchestras, the focus being on operatic soloists and rock singers or musicians. From a personal point of view, it is great to see Ken Hensley plays Hammond organ on the album.

Perhaps surprisingly, this is only the second genuine concept album (After "Secret of the Runes") released by Therion. The concept here is based on the life of an obscure Swedish scholar of runes and librarian to the king called Johannes Bureus (I kid you not!).

Given the absence of the orchestra, the natural assumption would be that this is a more rock orientated album than its immediate predecessors, and this proves to be the case. The superb classically trained vocals we are used to still appear throughout the album, but they are balanced to a much greater extent by a variety of rock voices. On the title track for example, Katarina Lilja's vocals are much less Nightwish, much more Mostly Autumn. As such, this album actually has more in common with albums by Ayreon and the likes than it does with previous Therion albums.

Tracks such as "Son of the Staves of Time", written by Mats Levén feature a fine vocal arrangement, but the underlying song is disappointingly basic and lacking imagination. "Tuna 1613", written by Petter Karlsson and Snowy Shaw emphasises this aspect even more, being straightforward rock song with some standard speed metal lead guitar.

On disc 2, "Wand of Abaris" makes for a fine ballad, I would swear that is Ken Hensley playing slide guitar on it too (but I am no doubt wrong!). Here, the vocals are actually the weak point, Snowy Shaw drifting too close to growling for comfort. The closing track, "Adulruna Rediviva" runs to some 13˝ minutes, and as such is one of Therion's longest tracks ever. The song does to some extent delve back into the operatic pomp we love so much, the complex arrangement giving the track a more symphonic feel.

For me, the appeal of the best Therion albums has always been the pomposity and over the top presumptuous nature of the projects. Without those elements, while we by no means revert to the anonymous death metal band from whence they came, we are left with a good but no longer extraordinary product. It seems that the Neimann brothers, who were much more involved with the song-writing this time around, did not share the ambitious visions of band founder Johnsson (hence their subsequent departure).

The lavish packaging of this album serves to disguise the often prosaic nature of the contents. Hopefully Johnsson will rediscover his sense of adventure and future product will amaze and astonish us in the same way as Therion's recordings of the late 1990's did. Do not misunderstand me, this is an enjoyable album, I simply feel that it fails to live up to the high expectations previous albums have encouraged.

Easy Livin | 3/5 |

MEMBERS LOGIN ZONE

As a registered member (register here if not), you can post rating/reviews (& edit later), comments reviews and submit new albums.

You are not logged, please complete authentication before continuing (use forum credentials).

Forum user
Forum password

Share this THERION review

Social review comments () BETA







Review related links

Copyright Prog Archives, All rights reserved. | Legal Notice | Privacy Policy | Advertise | RSS + syndications

Other sites in the MAC network: JazzMusicArchives.com — jazz music reviews and archives | MetalMusicArchives.com — metal music reviews and archives

Donate monthly and keep PA fast-loading and ad-free forever.