Therion
"Vovin"
Label: Nuclear Blast
Year: 1998
Genre: Symphonic Metal
Origin: Sweden
Rating: 5 out of 5
Track List:
1. The Rise of Sodom and Gomorrah
2. Birth of Venus Illegitima
3. Wine of Aluqah
4. Clavicula Nox
5. The Wild Hunt
6. Eye of Shiva
7. Black Sun
Draconian Trilogy:
8. The Opening
9. Morning Star
10. Black Diamonds
11. Raven of Dispersion
Wow... now this is symphonic metal at its finest! Imagine violins.. cellos.. violas.. and then out of nowhere comes the electric guitar and drums! It's so powerful, it's amazing. Most of the songs start out slowly and then grow, except for "The Wild Hunt," which is fast from the very beginning. The lead vocals in that song are excellent too. The album starts out with a very strong song, a bit on the long side, with a long violin intro. The weakest songs on the album are "Clavicula Nox," which is a bit too slow and boring, and "Eye of Shiva," which is a typical Arabian-sounding song. The trilogy near the end is great, the songs all blend together without stopping, and there are some very nice parts of each of those three songs. My favorites on this album are "Wine of Aluqah," "Birth of Venus Illegitima," and "Raven of Dispersion." On this album, Christofer Johnsson has arranged all the vocal and orchestral music and has given full vocal responsibility over to choirs. His arranging ability is something to be reckoned with! It's sad that no one outside of the black/gothic/symphonic metal genre has heard of this guy. Jan Kazda, the bassist, conducted the choir and orchestra on this album, and also helped in the arranging. It's so refreshing to hear that metalheads have the ability to write truly beautiful music as well their usual heavy stuff. I find this album not nearly as heavy as any black metal music, but to me, that's hardly a loss. The clean vocals are something that I really enjoy hearing, since I get tired of listening to people growl all the time in black metal. Believe me, this album is definitely worth getting, if you're an open-minded black metal fan. It takes the melodies of other metal bands to a higher level. Every song on this album holds your attention the entire time. This is one album that I can truly listen to over and over again.
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