Acts: Sathra (support), Therion
Date: Friday, 15 March 2024
Location: Prague / MeetFactory / Czech Republic
These days, Therion are practically veterans of dark yet pompous, operatic, symphonic metal, with the occasional gothic flourish thrown in. Given that our holiday had once again fired us straight into the kingdom of beer and the finest house specialties — that would be the Czech Republic — old habits die hard. It’s hard to sit still somewhere at eight in the evening, even with a row of pint glasses in front of you, when Therion are playing a kilometre or two away. That goes for the full range of genres Rockline covers. But in this case, it’s Therion pulling us in, again. The very same Therion we’d caught on 9 March 2024 in the Veneto (San Dona Di Piave, Revolver Club), except this time the visit was purely as fans on holiday — no press credentials, no obligations, no lugging expensive camera gear around everywhere. But that’s not really the point.
We arrived at MeetFactory — a stone’s throw from Prague’s main train station — just as the Finnish Satra, the tour’s support act, were wrapping up their set. A minor observation, but an interesting one. Ticket prices? On the night, €27.00 (in Italy, six days earlier, a ‘mere’ €40.00). MeetFactory holds up to 1,000 people. That evening, around 800 showed up — a more than respectable turnout. When Therion took the stage, the crowd greeted them with a thunderous roar. Great attendance, great atmosphere.
The band delivered great sound once again and a slickly drilled, theatrically charged performance, all of it underpinned by the relentless perfectionism that has always defined the group’s frontman and indefatigable commander, Christofer Johnsson.
The keyboards and orchestrations are pre-recorded. The septet — Johnsson joined by Christian Videl (guitar, vocals), Thomas Vikström (vocals), Lori Lewis (vocals), Rosalía Sairem (vocals), Sami Karppinen (drums), and Chris David (bass) — once again impressed with their tight, seasoned interplay. The three vocalists — two women and Vikström — are genuinely the main draw, delivering extraordinary operatic choral harmonies with explosive, contrasting vocal lines, practically stealing the spotlight from each other. While Vidal and Karpinnen are already veteran Johnsson loyalists, new bassist Chris David also impressed with his ease and stage agility. With the exception of Karpinnen and Johnsson, every other member of the band contributes vocals — Vidal and Chris David included. Therion are stronger on stage once again thanks to the return of the exceptional American mezzo-soprano Lori Lewis, who literally stunned with some of her vocal lines and, across the whole show, actually dominated the stage among the band members.
An hour and three quarters of a polished show, wild stage theatrics, backed by the deafening support of a deeply invested crowd that had packed into the front rows. Great energy, great fun. A very different experience compared to the club show in the Veneto six days earlier. The band rode an enormous wave generated by a fired-up and genuinely sizable crowd. The venue was truly well-filled.
There’s nothing to grumble about with the band’s performance. It delivered on every expectation. Excellent across the board. A well-balanced setlist of new and old helped — one in which Therion didn’t ignore the classics that have grown into fan favourites and concert staples — and particularly impressive was the inclusion of the “Theli” classic The Siren of the Woods, which the band brought back into the setlist after a long absence. The spacious stage and the venue’s logistics allowed the band this time to theatrically withdraw backstage after the Gothic Kabbalah classic Son of the Staves of Time and pull off the classic encore ‘trick’ (something that’s simply impossible in the small Revolver Club).
A return to the stage with the two expected iron-repertoire staples The Rise of Sodom and Gomorrah and To Mega Therion, before which Johnsson delivered a brief address calling on the crowd to unleash one last, all-out salvo of ear-splitting noise. He got a truly fanatical response! Therion remain a breed apart in metal. The ‘Leviathan’ trilogy is, if anything, fresh proof of Johnsson and his crew’s artistic resilience and inexhaustible creative focus. Given three brand-new albums written and released in quick succession — and the sheer persuasiveness of their live shows — we’ll be seeing Therion on the road again soon enough.
text: Aleš Podbrežnik
photos: Edita Klemen
Satra (setlist):
1. From the Night
2. Sand of Time
3. Travellers
4. Stars
5. Secret Place
6. Shadow Engine
7. Scarecrow
8. Golden City
Therion (setlist):
1. The Blood of Kingu
2. Ruler of Tamag
3. Birth of Venus Illegitima
4. Tuonela
5. Twilight of the Gods
6. Mon amour, mon ami (orig. Marie Laforêt)
7. La Maritza (orig. Sylvie Vartan)
8. Leviathan
9. Asgård
10. Morning Star/Black Diamonds
11. Ginnungagap
12. Litany of the Fallen
13. The Siren of the Woods
14. Aeon of Maat
15. Lemuria
16. Sitra Ahra
17. Quetzalcoatl
18. Eye of Algol
19. Son of the Staves of Time
—encore—
20. The Rise of Sodom and Gomorrah
21. To Mega Therion
