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Rating: This album, when it was released, was considered by many as the continuation of Therion's golden era.
The group's previous works were mostly experiments (very successful ones, we might add) of that symphonic incarnation with distinct gothic traits, which would later well represent the future Therion (read: today's Therion, although with many differences and nuances).
If "Theli" had indeed laid the foundations of the band's classic and inimitable style, "Vovin" pushed it to the extreme, leaving behind the Death Metal tendencies of their early career to focus more on symphonism, the epic nature of the tracks, and the extraordinary intelligence of the topics addressed in the lyrics. These were the work of the intellectual and occultist Thomas Karlsson, drawing from a mystical hermetic tradition, heir to the Rosicrucianism and the Golden Dawn, without disdaining ancient mystery cults, starting from the Egyptians and Mesopotamian cultures, up to Jewish mysticism and Odinism. Finally, "Deggial," if you will, is nothing but the summary, the synthesis, using inappropriate words, of that enormous class that has led the band to be acclaimed worldwide.
In this enormous and astonishing circus that without much restraint blends ancient myths, robust yet refined Heavy Metal, gothicism, and exquisite melodic taste, the Therion will find their way into that baroque and pompous attitude that later will bring them much fortune, but that in the eyes of detractors will always be the weapon to accuse the band of the most varied things: being verbose, boring, repetitive, self-indulgent with their own ego. All these things might indeed be true. To some extent, they are, but they undoubtedly pair with the ethereal charm that their songs have always radiated, and with this album, beyond every concept already mentioned, everything is reaffirmed, indeed underscored in an irrefutable manner.
Ten songs, plus a remake of an opera piece ("O Fortuna", originally part of the famous Carmina Burana by the German composer Carl Orff), which establish an extremely volatile and eclectic style, enhanced by the enormous symphonic and operatic baggage that the band incorporates as a backbone in almost every track. Thus, alongside pure, unreachable dreamlike gems, where it feels like sailing in a magical constellation, such as in "The Invisible" or "Enter Vril-Ya", there is a mix of influences that Therion honors without much veils, as in "Eternal Return" (the reference to Iron Maiden is very clear, so much so that after the beautiful gothic prologue unfolds, it almost feels like listening to one of their hits), or as in "Flesh of the Gods", a slightly more generic, yet always marked reference to a certain NWOBHM style (by the way, the song features Hansi Kürsch on vocals, known to many as the voice of Blind Guardian).
However, to be honest, we must admit that the best tracks feature the more intimate and perhaps more recognizable side of Therion themselves. Thus, "Deggial" starts with a Progressive base and evolves from its core to the end into a thrilling and incandescent charge of well-crafted Heavy music, which, in its geometry, cannot fail to fascinate the listener. But even "Via Nocturna part I, II" does not miss the target of laying bare the extraordinary versatility of the band, which here gives free rein to lyrical and symphonic musings, initially featuring a poignant and epic passage of violins, organs, and strings (all original and not sampled, as the band, in this album, used a real small orchestra, a prelude to what they will do on "Lemuria" and "Sirius B"), and then heightens the tragic and romantic sense of the song, through a vibrated, almost hypnotic cadence that the deep guitars provide abundantly and unabashedly.
A dream, more powerful than any artificial paradise, larger than any imagination, more imposing and astonishing precisely because it is partially or only halfway understandable. Everyone, by attentively listening to this album (and only attentively, let's clarify: Therion is not a band for car stereo), can derive their subjective impression. Certainly different from person to person, and perhaps in this, more than in the magical and esoteric references of the compositions, lies the great charm of music, which does not represent a fixed point, but rather a mixture of impressions and emotions that conform, from time to time, to the desires and will of everyone.
If this isn't genius, then please tell me what it is, because I really wouldn't know how to explain it otherwise.
Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos
01 Seven Secrets of the Sphinx (03:38)
The Sphinx and star
The key and gate
Seven secrets of the Sphinx
Eleven riddles of the star
Drink the wine of Babylon
And dance the dance of Yezidi
The Sphinx and star
The cup and stone
Seven secrets of the Sphinx
Give all the keys to alchemy
And the making of the stone
That will turn the metal gold
Seven secrets of the Sphinx
Enter the desert of Apep
Trough the tower of Yezid
That will turn mud to diamonds
03 Enter Vril-Ya (06:40)
Enter the underworld
Enter Vril-Ya Enter Vril-Ya
A step down the stairway
Enter Vril-Ya Enter Vril-Ya
Inside earth there was a land of mystery
Lighted up by the black sun of underground
In this world they got the key to time and space
And the forces too strong for mankind to know
O land Vril-Ya
An Vril-Ya
Secret chieves of Agharti
Will reveal the lore of Vril
And Aldebaran (and) Aldebaran
Ansa Agarthi
Yani-Ya Koom-Zi Vril-Ya An Sumer An Drakon A-U-Ran
Yani-Ya Glek-Ya Sol Nax An Sorat An Drakon A-U-Ran
When we unlock the hidden lore of Vril
We fold space and travel across the time
With this force man will become like a God
And rule earth trough the light of the black sun
Enter the underworld
Enter Vril-Ya Enter Vril-Ya
A step down the stairway
Enter Vril-Ya Enter Vril-Ya
Yani-Ya Koom-Zi Vril-Ya An Sumer An Drakon A-U-Ran
Yani-Ya Glek-Ya Sol Nax An Sorat An Drakon A-U-Ran
Enter Vril-Ya Man of Sumer
Enter Vril-Ya Man of Sorat
Enter Vril-Ya Man of Drakon
Enter Vril-Ya Man of Vril-ya
Enter Vril-Ya Man of Sorat
Enter Vril-Ya enter it now
05 The Invincible (05:11)
The blaze of northern light
Reflect the dawn of Gods
Of ancient Pantheons
Who rest no more in peace
Faith of the Old, the strong one from above:
The Invincible
All the Gods of the sky and the earth
Proclaim this day, this day
See the signs in the day and the nigh
Foretell the one, the one
Open up the Runa and belief of the strong and the brave
Open up! Let the Gods of your heart and your soul show the way
The eye of the night one
Have seen the dawn of Gods
In the well of Mimer
(And) through the flight of Ravens
06 Deggial (05:06)
One eye, one brow, so it stand
Letters of Cefer is his mark - the name of Deggial
Bear the sign of Deggial
A son of the desert with a lore of disbelief
He say God is dead today and that man will be born out of his place
Sorath the sun in the dark
Cefer he's before God
Blasphemy of Deggial
Deggial tell the truth that man is but a Beast
And for the reason that man is more than God
Deggial unbeliever of the sons of God disbeliever of the book
Deggial, unbeliever of the sons of God, disbeliever, You are Deggial
Unbeliever of the sons of God, disbeliever of the book
07 Emerald Crown (05:31)
During the war that took place in Heaven
The brightest of Star lost his precious crown
It fell down to earth and was buried deep
From that very time man has searched for it
Son of dawn lost the crown in the end
Holly knights riding out on a quest
Searching it in the sky and the earth
It's the cup of the Graal they will find
It's the crown of the star from the sky
Holy knights bring it back to the king
Emerald crown
Visit the interior of the eath
And by purifying you find the stone
Find the crown of Lucifer
Watch the glare of emerald
Bring it back to paradise
And drink the wine of the Graal
Roses of the Venus star
And dewy drops of emerald
Is the way to illuminate
The secret path of archmardi
09 Flesh of the Gods (04:08)
The black earth luxurance
Is the food of the mind
In the alchemical lab of the nature
Is the true tunnel of Set
The Gods of the earth of mind from the stars
Eat the flesh of Gods and become one of them
There is a secret network of below
Here in the tunnel the flesh of Gods grow
The serpent coil, out of earth
And offer fruit of knowledge
Eat it and become like God
And enter the astral skies
Revive the old sacrament from the days of paganism
That open the third eye and enter astral skies
Falling down stardust into planet pores
Embryo of Godhead is in these spores
Enter dreamtime, the continuum of space
The gate of time
Is what you can reach
Flesh of the Gods will fertilize the mind
The fruits of Gods is what you will eat
Enter dreamtime, the continuum of space
The gate of time
Is what you can reach
Flesh of the Gods will fertilize the mind
The fruits of Gods is what you will eat
11 O Fortuna (03:28)
O Fortuna,
velut luna
statu variabilis,
semper crescis
aut decrescis;
vita detestabilis
nunc obdurat
et tunc curat
ludo mentis aciem,
egestatem,
potestatem
dissolvit ut glaciem.
Sors immanis
et inanis,
rota tu volubilis,
status malus,
vana salus
semper dissolubilis,
obumbrata
et velata
michi quoque niteris;
nuc per ludum
dorsum nudum
fero tui sceleris.
Sors salutis
et vitutis
michi nunc contraria,
est affectus
et defectus
semper in angaria.
Hac in hora
sine mora
corde pulsum tangite;
quod per sortem
sternit fortem,
mecum omnes plangite!
13 Seawinds (04:25)
In Cold And Dark December
As I Walk Into The Rain
Sit Beside The Room
All Night Long
In A Grey december Morning
I Decide To Leave My Home
Took A Train To Nowhere
Far Away, Far Away
Many Thousand Miles Away
Where The Moon Took To The Stars
Dreamed About The Days
Days Gone By, Days Gone By
In The Night, The Seawinds Are Calling
And The City, Is Far Far Away
Soon, The Sea Turns To Darkness
It Is Night, And Seawinds Are Calling
Seawinds Call, Seawinds Call
Ten Tousand Miles Away
Where The Moon Took To The Stars
I Dreamed About The Days
Days Gone By
I've Been Told So Many Stories
And Dreams My Friends Have Made
So It's No Illusions
Sail Away, Sail Away
In The Night, The Seawinds Are Calling
And The City, Is Far Far Away
Soon, The Sea Turns To Darkness
It Is Night, And Seawinds Are Calling
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