2026 Anniversary Series 095: Therion – Theli

Scribed by Sandre the Giant Released: 9th August 1996 I experienced Therion in two different stages of their career, very close together. I found them through the superb Swedish Death Metal book by Daniel Ekstrom, and that awesome debut ‘Of Darkness’, and my next taste was a more modern record (I think it was 2004’s ‘Lemuria’?) which was obviously so different. In fact, I was very guilty of mixing up Therion and Tiamet a LOT when I first was getting into them, as they were both bands who started as death metal then changed significantly. I’ve learned that lesson by now though! They’ve become more of a curio in the collection over the years, but ‘Theli’ is a remarkably interesting crossroads of a low key important band. It was the first one that really embraced mastermind Christofer Johnsson’s tastes for symphonic, orchestral grandeur which then would become a staple of Therion’s future. It remains one of the band’s most important records, and many would consider it their best. Thirty…