Thergothon
Stream From The Heavens

THE REVIEW

This almost unknown musical creature named Thergothon was born in the cold Finland in the year of grace 1990. The band consisted of Niko Sirkiä (vocals and keyboards), Jori Sjöroos (drums) and Mikko Ruotsalainen (guitar). They began their career with the purest cheer by playing Death Metal but soon shifted their musical proposal towards other shores, precisely towards Doom Metal, still retaining some Death elements in their compositions. In 1991, the trio recruited a second guitarist, Sami Kaveri, and recorded a 4-track demo entitled “Fhtagn-nagh Yog-Sothoth”. In the fall of 1992, the Italian label Oscure Plasma produced their first (and only) work: “Streams From The Heavens.”

We are faced with the first cry of a new subgenre, the Funeral Doom Metal. According to the writer, “Streams From The Heavens” is the paradigm of the genre and absolutely the most representative record. The band plays in the slowest way possible, and at times the album becomes truly unbearable. The guitars have such a low tuning that, in particular, the second one sounds like a bass. Various influences from ambient and experimental music pop up here and there. The result is an album that, at the time, was defined as "the most depressive ever composed".

From the very first song "Everlasting," the coordinates of the album become clear. The sound of the first guitar is very dirty, while the second sounds like a bass. The rhythms are extremely slow, maintaining about 50 BPM, an obsessive slowness made of ultra-distorted riffs and disturbing melodies. The keyboards have a minimal sound and, dulcis in fundo, the combination of two voices—the very low growl of the first and the ethereal clean of the second—creates a rather unsettling effect. In my opinion, not even the better-known Skepticism have been able to create such a sonic monolith. The songs, without ever exceeding 10 minutes, manage to be so dark as to be unlistenable for those not accustomed to the genre. Evidence of this are tracks like "Yet The Watchers Guard," where the vocal interplay is masterful, "The Unknown Kadath In The Cold Waste," the shortest song of the album where the keyboards take the lead, and "Elemental," which over its 9 minutes perfectly encapsulates all the elements of the album (the central break with the two voices singing in unison is marvelous). The fifth track "Who Rides The Astral Wings" is so superior, so distressing and gloomy that it sounds like the musical and spiritual testament of Thergothon, 7 minutes of genuine agony and despair. Finally, the melancholic "Crying Blood And Crimson Snow" closes the album.

A few months after the album’s release, the group disbanded, leaving the scene. The members vanished into thin air. During the golden period of Funeral Doom, the group would be cited as a primary inspiration source for hundreds of bands. Nonetheless, this remains a unique and unrepeatable work that still seems to come from millennia past but remains tremendously current to this day.

"Centuries has passed since the last Old Ones spoke and the world has grown darker still…”