THERION - Secret Of The Runes
November 11, 2001, 22 years ago
(Nuclear Blast)
With symphonic fanfare and a brief, opening nod to contemporary avant garde composer Phillip Glass, the metal world's favorite orchestral outfit returns. Mastermind Christofer Johnsson has undertaken a wildly ambitious endeavor, a concept album concerning the various worlds within Norse mythology. In that manner, Secret Of The Runes is almost a traditional opera. Although it doesn't tell a specific story, or follow the same characters from start to finish, the lyrical connection, from one tune to the next, marks each passage as a piece of a greater whole. Although most gravitated to the Swedes once the transformation to an orchestral entity was complete, for more than a decade now, Johnsson and Therion have been releasing revolutionary, mind-expanding albums. 'Asgard' is sung entirely in Johnsson's native tongue, by the omnipresent male/female choir, accompanied by tinges of acoustic guitar, flutes, sacbuts and other medieval-sounding instrumentation. By contrast, 'Midgard' revs up the electric guitar and backing metal band. In such, it's reminiscent of Nightwish. The acoustic/sympho flow of 'Ljusalfheim' is the first to sport any English words (which are at a minimum throughout), while 'Helheim' features a pronounced male aria. The disc opens with a voiceless epilogue and ends with the title track, a more traditionally constructed epilogue meant to sew the nine mythological words together.
