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Therion: Beloved Antichrist
Therion - Beloved Antichrist CD Album Review

Therion: Beloved Antichrist

Symphonic/Melodic/Heavy Metal
4.5/5.0

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Nuclear Blast Records
Words: Craig Hartranft
Added: 29.01.2018

Apparently Therion founder Christofer Johnsson has been busy, with plenty of time on his hands. Also, it seems that for some 15 years he's had a rock opera swirling and fomenting in the back of his musical mind. Well, Johnsson has finally brought forth his vision with Therion's Beloved Antichrist, a massive three CD three hour long heavy metal rock opera.

Therion Band Photo

Therion

I apologize in advance if this review sounds more like a press release. Why? One, like I just mentioned, this is a massive work that requires much of your time for a listen. Honestly, I did not have three hours to invest in Beloved Antichrist. Mostly, I skipped through the digital promo to get the gist of the recording. Fundamentelly, Beloved Antichrist is characteristically Johnsson and typical Therion: epic melodic heavy metal with bombastic symphonic and lavish vocal arrangements. It's everything you expect from Therion, so feel free to drop your Euros (or dollars) and buy this album.

To dig a little deeper, the work is loosely, very loosely I might add based on Vladímir Soloviov's novella A Short Tale Of The Antichrist. However, Johnsson has taken the liberty to change some of the plot and characters, mostly embellishing and adding new themes and characters. The opera has 30 different characters and roles. It's divided into three parts, with each CD being one part. But within these parts, the songs are not merely songs, but chapters and scenes. This is also another reason I did not listen to the entire album: you really need the lyric booklet to know what is going on. I did not have it.

Because of the operatic nature, Johnsson describes Beloved Antichrist as musical theater, an opera that should be performed on stage much like seminal rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar, complete with costume, scenery, scene changes, and hopefully an intermission. His hope is to actually develop the opera into this format once proper funding is established.

I've probably said enough at this point. For greater detail, I redirect you to the Nuclear Blast Therion page for more details about this epic acheivement. Suffice to say, epic is indeed the word to describe Therion's Beloved Antichrist. Epic. Monumental. Massive. Pure Therion. Easily recommended.



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The Bottom Line

Suffice to say, epic is indeed the word to describe Therion's Beloved Antichrist. Epic. Monumental. Massive. Pure Therion. Easily recommended.

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