Nuclear Blast
2007
Disc 1
1. Der Mitternachtlöwe
2. The Gothic Kabbalah
3. The Perrennial Sophia
4. Wisdom And The Cage
5. Son Of The Staves Of Time
6. Tuna 1613
7. Trul
8. Close Up The Streams
Disc 2
1. Wand Of Abaris
2. Three Treasures
3. The Path To Arcady
4. TOF - The Trinity
5. Chain Of Minerva
6. The Falling Stone
7. Adulruna Rediviva
Gothic Kabbalah brings another 2 disc release on the heels of Therion's last release(s) Sirius B & Lemuria. Certainly the band doesn't skimp on the amount of material included as this 2 disc release spans around an hour and twenty minutes. I'm generally a quality over quantity man, but it is nice to have a long album, if the release can hold up for that much material.
The thing that strikes me immediately about Gothic Kabbalah is that it seems to be leaning in a more traditional direction than I'm used to out of Therion. Really a lot of the powerful operatics I like out of the band's later material are very much missing here. Most of the vocals opt for a much more direct/traditional metal approach or dark/gothic male & non-operatic female vocals. The operatic singing seems to be reserved to the extent of infrequent backups. While there is certainly still an epic/symphonic touch to the music, that too seems a bit more direct and guitar driven to me. I rarely get a very classically oriented feel from the music as it strays either toward the traditional or somber gothic. Few tracks really jump out at me as big stand outs either like the past. Most of the material here just can't compare to the larger than life majesty of past songs like Enter Vril-ya, Son Of The Sun, Midgard, etc and that is a disappointment to me. There are moments of this sort of larger than life, operatic sound but most of the material seems to lack that sort of power. One notable exception is the well done epic, Adulruna redivivia, which is signature symphonic Therion.
Overall, judged on it's own merit, this isn't a bad release, but it isn't a really noteworthy one either. I think the vocalist choice & usage is definitely off and the music isn't really as powerful as some of their past works. It succeeds at being a decent, somber to heavy metal album that may be an ok listen for fans of gothic metal, but it's not really what I want out of a Therion release. Certainly, this is not the place to start with this band if you're new to them.
Highlights: Adulruna redivivia, Gothic Kabbalah, The Wand Of Abaris
Rating - 2.5/5
1. Der Mitternachtlöwe
2. The Gothic Kabbalah
3. The Perrennial Sophia
4. Wisdom And The Cage
5. Son Of The Staves Of Time
6. Tuna 1613
7. Trul
8. Close Up The Streams
Disc 2
1. Wand Of Abaris
2. Three Treasures
3. The Path To Arcady
4. TOF - The Trinity
5. Chain Of Minerva
6. The Falling Stone
7. Adulruna Rediviva
Gothic Kabbalah brings another 2 disc release on the heels of Therion's last release(s) Sirius B & Lemuria. Certainly the band doesn't skimp on the amount of material included as this 2 disc release spans around an hour and twenty minutes. I'm generally a quality over quantity man, but it is nice to have a long album, if the release can hold up for that much material.
The thing that strikes me immediately about Gothic Kabbalah is that it seems to be leaning in a more traditional direction than I'm used to out of Therion. Really a lot of the powerful operatics I like out of the band's later material are very much missing here. Most of the vocals opt for a much more direct/traditional metal approach or dark/gothic male & non-operatic female vocals. The operatic singing seems to be reserved to the extent of infrequent backups. While there is certainly still an epic/symphonic touch to the music, that too seems a bit more direct and guitar driven to me. I rarely get a very classically oriented feel from the music as it strays either toward the traditional or somber gothic. Few tracks really jump out at me as big stand outs either like the past. Most of the material here just can't compare to the larger than life majesty of past songs like Enter Vril-ya, Son Of The Sun, Midgard, etc and that is a disappointment to me. There are moments of this sort of larger than life, operatic sound but most of the material seems to lack that sort of power. One notable exception is the well done epic, Adulruna redivivia, which is signature symphonic Therion.
Overall, judged on it's own merit, this isn't a bad release, but it isn't a really noteworthy one either. I think the vocalist choice & usage is definitely off and the music isn't really as powerful as some of their past works. It succeeds at being a decent, somber to heavy metal album that may be an ok listen for fans of gothic metal, but it's not really what I want out of a Therion release. Certainly, this is not the place to start with this band if you're new to them.
Highlights: Adulruna redivivia, Gothic Kabbalah, The Wand Of Abaris
Rating - 2.5/5
No comments:
Post a Comment