REVIEW: THERION - SECRET OF THE RUNES

 

THERION - SECRET OF THE RUNES (Nuclear Blast, 2001):

Track List: 1- Ginnungagap (Prologue), 2- Asgård, 3- Midgård, 4- Schwarzalbenheim (Svartalfheim), 5- Jotunheim, 6- Ljusalfheim, 7- Vanaheim, 8- Nifelheim, 9- Muspelheim, 10- Helheim, 11- Secret of the Runes (Epilogue)

Kings of symphonic dark gothic metal are back ! This time the al,bum is centered on nordic Mythology and specially on the world tree called Yggdrasil which consists in nine different worlds which have each one different charachteristics and which are described here through all the tracks. Christofer Johnsson seems to be very comfortable with this style of music he created with the release of "Theli" in 1996 (eventhough they had explored this path in some tracks of "Lepaca Kliffoth"). Here you have all the elements that have made Therion a worldwide success: excellent orchestral arrangements, female operistic vocals, harmonized classical choruses, deep male vocals. This time he does not have the help of one main female vocalist like was Martina (ex-Dreams of Sanity) and he is using a lot of clean and acoustic guitars and flutes and harpsichords mixing climatic moments with heavier ones driven by drums and heavy guitars like on "Midgård". This is another step in the Therion saga. Favorite tracks: "Asgård", "Schwarzalbenheim (Svartalfheim)" and "Nifelheim". Contact: www.nuclearblast.de