The eleventh album in the 20-year history of Therion. A double-album, actually. This time it is one album, and not separated as 2004 albums 'Lemuria' and 'Sirius B' were. The band's been busy, but that's how they have found the style of their own and been noticed. And guess what? The band have once again created something different.

After a long time, Therion have released an album that is very guitar-oriented. That suits me, but I don't know about the ardent fans of "nu"-Therion. 'Gothic Kabbalah' is a joyful festival of individual talents, because there is no huge choir, no huge symphonic orchestra. Therion have utilized VSL, which stands for Vienna Symphonic Library. It offers high quality sound samples. The sounds do not have the feel of "the real thing", but are better than most I've heard using it. And as there are less symphonic parts on this album than on some previous albums, I do not see this as a totally wrecking choice.

The music is still very, very rich, thanks to great cast of musicians and the wide spectrum where from the band have scooped; dark/gothic/heavy/power metal, classical and opera music, Mid-Eastern elements and folk and prog rock. The number of the styles is great, surely, but in the skilled minds of the composers (whole band plus some of the co-members), during these 80+ minutes time flies by unconsciously. Ultra-catchy 'Son of the Staves of Time' is the most straightforward song on offer, while 'Adulruna Rediviva' offers loads of climaxes for any non-death metal era Therion fan, and the rest of the songs fly somewhere between these two extremities. The riffing is rather simplistic yet hefty, as often with the band, and in the lead guitar department, more flashy performances are heard. The drumming is vivid, and drags a lot of prog rock in here. There is only so much I could write about the music, but I think the most important things have already been put forward here. Surely, some listeners will find this broadness of sonic vista as an inferior quality. I should add, though, that this album is pretty much mid-paced, despite that power metal influence.

Mats Levén has escalated toward the highest positions on the list of my favourite clean-singing metal vocalists. His range is wide, as he sings surprisingly deep vocals on 'The Perennial Sophia', and on the other hand rips his adenoids on 'Son of the Staves of Time', so it is no wonder, that his voice can be heard more on this one than on the previous twin releases. Snowy Shaw (ex-Notre Dame, ex-King Diamond) provided his individual voice, more theatrical one. Two female vocalists are superb, too, and I really enjoy the ones that are non-operatic. About time, let me tell! Tenor and soprano vocals are in frequent use, and while there is choirs, they are not huge ones. But that really doesn't matter to me. Mystical lyrics are based on the writings of one Johannes Bureus who was a Swedish Runic scholar, who created his own runic system, mixing Nordic runes and Kabbalah. Well, he also was a tutor for a king and an important man creating the Swedish grammar. Glossy, embroidered double CD package looks magnificent. And thankfully the CDs are sold together this time.

Catchy, yet still deep, exciting and broad journey is what 'Gothic Kabbalah' offers. For the fans of gothic metal, prog metal and heavy metal alike. In short, a fantastic album. Again!

Rating: 8½ (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
02/06/2007 21:16