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In the boundless metal landscape, there are some bands in continuous change and revolution, bands capable of radiating genius in every album and exploring the most fascinating and hidden boundaries of metal, blending various subgenres into a perfect mix: such bands are more unique than rare: Cradle Of Filth, Amorphis, Bal-Sagoth and the Swedish Therion, the alchemists of metal par excellence, children and followers of that Sign of the Southern Cross traced long ago by Tony Iommi and the Bard Ronnie James Dio. A perfect example of such sublime capabilities is given by their thirteenth studio album, the double "Gothic Kabbalah", a golden album, which shines with a cold, arcane, and terribly fascinating mystical light, fifteen songs like the fifteen runic symbols extensively illustrated in the booklet.
The first disc is masterfully opened by the blazing stellar alchemy of "Der Mitternachtslowe", where bright female voices blend perfectly with dark and theatrical male voices, in an ascending current of rare charm, followed closely by "Gothic Kabbalah", perhaps the most power track on the album, endowed with a catchy and engaging chorus and a flutey line that accompanies the melody and reaffirms the band's progressive vein. A third masterpiece in three is the sinuous and serpentine "The Perennial Sophia", relaxing and unsettling at the same time, with that deep and evocative chorus of distorted paradisiacal visions, over which dominates the fire of eternal wisdom. Thematically linked to the previous track but decidedly more metal in sound, and at the same time theatrical and grandiloquent is instead "The Wisdom And The Cage", which paves the way for two pearls that start as symphonic ballads to then flow into a very particular and captivating Therion-Power Metal, namely the powerful "Son Of The Staves Of Time" and the visionary "Tuna 1613". The first part of the masterpiece closes with "Trul", with a rather slowed-down metal impetus, where the band showcases its technical skills in extended solos, and the cryptic and dark "Close Up The Streams".
The second disc begins with the best auspices: "The Wand Of Abaris" is a musical journey condensed into just 5:51 that transports us in a breath from the scorching Egyptian deserts to the majestic landscapes of the Great North "earthly foretaste of Walhalla...", followed by yet another gem, "Three Treasures", where almost doom-like verses, a melancholic and visionary chorus, and the final guitar solo, powerful and technically perfect, mix. "Path To Arcady", on the other hand, is quite anonymous and interlocutory, opening the doors to the wonderful astral ride "Thor Odin Frey - The Trinity", which sublimates the very concept of cosmic and hallucinatory metal, "Chain Of Minerva" is instead appreciated for its enigmatic bass lines and the somnolent and sulfurous progression, which leads to the suggestive and tense intro of "The Falling Stone", yet another example of this extraordinary band's artistic caliber, which closes its golden concept album with the majestic and fascinating suite "Adulruna Rediviva", which boasts a Symphonic Progressive vein and continuous time changes that are always surprising and never pointless.
In conclusion, Therion have once again produced a milestone, an album that knows how to transport to another dimension, terribly beautiful and devoid of any lapse in style, thus succeeding in the difficult task where Cradle Of Filth (with Damnation And A Day) and Dream Theater (with Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence) had partially faltered. An absolute masterpiece to have at all costs.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Der Mitternachtslöwe (05:38)
In the end of time, in times of revelation
lion from the north appear in the dark nation
Löwe aus der Mitternacht
tear down the curtain of Paroketh
Ecce vicit Ariel
Break the seal and make the Lion rise
When Man has found all the three treasures
stars will fall and the Lion rise
Ariel, break the seventh seal
Abaddon, rise from the great black sea
Read the forecast - Fear the Eagle
See the wonders - Trust the Lion
Read the prophecy, the saviour of midnight
Ascending right now to bring us Borean light
Löwe aus der Mitternacht
tear down the curtain of Paroketh
Ecce vicit Ariel
Break the seal and make the Lion rise
When Man has found all the three treasures
stars will fall and the Lion rise
Ariel, break the seventh seal
Abaddon, rise from the great black sea
02 Gothic Kabbalah (04:33)
Listen when the Sibyl speak
(of) prophecies and ciphers in the sky
Adulruna is her name
I will follow - Come to me!
Fifteen runes (were) revealed to me
A holy message from the Frey to Man
Secret letters in my mind
the door is open in your dreams
From ancient days the Sibyl speaks to me
through the northern wind
the Talisman of Gothic Kabbalah (she) reveals to me
The staves and runes are written in the sky
Read the book of Gog
The Talisman of Gothic Kabbalah (will) unite your soul
Kabbalah Upsalica
Odin, Thor and Frey, you'll find them here
I'm the runic kabalist, the door is open in your dreams
From thrones and temples of the mighty gods
in the halls above
the words and runes of Gothic Kabbalah
(are) once again revealed
The soul will fly, ascending into the sky to the halls above
The words and runes of Gothic Kabbalah
they'll break he chain
From ancient days the Sibyl speaks to me
through the northern wind
the Talisman of Gothic Kabbalah (she) reveals to me
The staves and runes are written in the sky
Read the book of Gog
The Talisman of Gothic Kabbalah (will) unite your soul
03 The Perennial Sophia (04:54)
Enter paradise, the snake will find the way
She is lilith, fallen from the sky
Fall into our world, the snake of paradise
(You're the) maid of wisdom in (the) songs of orpheus
She's the wisdom, she's the truth: the eternal sophia
Perennial, beyond the time, she is the one
You're the river, you're the womb
The perennial
The sophia
Sophia is here
Do we need to fear?
She's the gem of (the) mind
...(Or the) serpent for the blind
She will make me see
Or she will punish me
She appear in a glare
Or disappear
She's the wisdom, she's the truth: the eternal sophia
Perennial, beyond the time, she is the one
You're the river, you're the womb
The perennial
The sophia
Shekinah, shekinah
Eternal sophia
Shekinah, shekinah
Eternal sophia
She's the wisdom, she's the truth: the eternal sophia
Perennial, beyond the time, she is the one
You're the river, you're the womb
The perennial
(The) sophia...
Sophia...
04 Wisdom and the Cage (05:01)
I am trapped in matters cage
I am locked in heavy chains
Sophia, please rescue me
From the carnal darkness
In the shades of reflections
Break the chains and the cage!
Byrghal is the only door to the path of Tinctura,
(to an) alchemy within my soul,
that will guide my spirit
and may lead to perfection
Break the chains and the cage
Sophia, I believe in you, your light...
Shine inside my soul, I feel the sun from above
Sophia, I believe in you, your light is so bright
Shine inside my soul, I feel the sun from above
06 Tuna 1613 (04:23)
Flash of light, from the sky above
I'm the augur of runes
I'm the Lion Man
Flash of light, early in this winter dawn
a vision of hidden truths in Tuna
IVDICIVM, the year I have waited for.
I read it (in) the prophecy
Year of doom...
I can see! I'm filled with this fantasy
The King is my company in Tuna
The judgement day, it has been revealed to me
(in) a moment of ecstasy
I can see!
Flash of light, from the sky above
I'm the augur of runes
I'm the Lion Man
666, the number was shown to me
I'm filled with this prophecy in Tuna
A Momentum excitationis
In the year of IVDICIVM - year of Doom
Flash of light, from the sky above
I'm the augur of runes
I'm the Lion Man
07 Trul (05:11)
If you run in the track of wolves you're entering Trul
A land beyond the Shepherds grove in the depth of night
Do you understand?
Runes expelled from the world of God, (runes) with demons and trolls
(They will) push you down with the trident fork, (the) four stave rage of man
Enter Trul
Wolves are going to hunt the shepherds flock and tear them apart
Bear the sign of the beasts of Trul, (the) four stave rage of man
Enter Trul
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Other reviews
By OzzyRotten
"Therion... excel marvelously in this kind of subject, and the result could only be, precisely, 'Gothic Kabbalah'."
"They are very capable of transmuting lead into gold, because everything they touch becomes a fairy tale, a magnificent symphony priceless."
By Starblazer
"Gothic Kabbalah is not a masterpiece, absolutely not, it’s not a great album nor even a good album."
"The female vocalist... produces raucous meows worthy of the worst Elisa..."
