THERION frontman / founder Christofer Johnsson recently spoke with Blistering.com about the band's new album, Sitra Ahra. An excerpt is available below.

Q: Anything different in the writing process for Sitra Ahra? It seems like with every album something new comes up for you.

Johnsson: "I just write. I have no idea where things are headed. This was record was different because I had enough material for three albums, but I woke up one day and decided to save some songs. On occasion we’ve recorded leftovers from previous albums, which for most bands, is a bonus. This is unique. Take Maiden – they never would have released the material written around Powerslave or Somewhere In Time 10 years later. The band had evolved too much by then. For Therion, it’s simply a matter of learning about new instruments. For every album, you’ll get the typical whines which is classic. Like for Deggial, I read the forums and it’s the new favorite album. Secret Of The Ruins sold less than Vovin and everyone considered it to be a flop, yet now it’s considered to be the best. I’ve read so many embarrassing pages, so much shit, and positive reviews from people that proves they just don’t get it. Some fuck wrote about how we’ve reunited and Gothic Kabbalah was our final album. People think they know me, but they don’t know simple music from complex music. Everyone is on their high horses these days."

Q: Any particular why the Niemann brothers weren’t involved with the new album? They were arguably your most trusted and reliable bandmates in a long time, don’t you think?

Johnsson: "I think the Niemanns got too comfortable. You need to have knives at your throat to do this stuff sometimes; that’s where the cool ideas are born. Kristian would play guitar after his day job and that’s now how it should work. I know it would bring in more cash, and I could have said, 'Look, if you do things differently, we’ll have optimal ideas for the next record.' But he quit the band for a small reason, and I know it’s not easy. It’s just a matter of how much you’re willing to risk.

Click here for the complete interview.

Sitra Ahra was produced by Christofer Johnsson and mixed by Lennart Östlund (LED ZEPPELIN, ABBA) at the legendary Polar Studios in Stockholm, Sweden. Album artwork was created by Thomas Ewerhard.

Of the material on Sitra Ahra, Johnsson has commented: “…only a few of the songs [were] written in recent years. The majority of the[m] are from the same pool of songs from which [2004’s] Sirius B and Lemuria were created from, meaning they were written between 2000-2004 (there was even a song from 1999, but we decided not to use it on the album in the end). By no means they are to be regarded as ‘leftovers.’ These were songs equal to those ending up on Lemuria and Sirius B; we just divided the songs we had onto three albums [Sirius B, Lemuria, and 2007’s Gothic Kabalah]. This really created a unique approach to the songs, as I have evolved so much musically since those songs were written. I think of it in terms as a vintage wine that becomes better and better with the years.”