Band:	Therion
Album:	Vovin
Style:	Symphonic metal
Release date:	May 04, 1998
Guest review by:	Night Theater

01. The Rise Of Sodom And Gomorrah
02. Birth Of Venus Illegitima
03. Wine Of Aluqah
04. Clavicula Nox
05. The Wild Hunt [feat. Ralf Scheepers]
06. Eye Of Shiva
07. Black Sun
08. Draconian Trilogy
    1 - The Opening
    2 - Morning Star
    3 - Black Diamonds
09. Raven Of Dispersion

String instruments such as violins have been around in heavy music since the days of Led Zeppelin. Tracing back the earliest 'symphonic metal' band is a challenge, due to the vagueness of what defines it, but Therion, no doubt, took the genre to new levels, virtually abandoning their death metal roots. Many metal bands before the release of Theli and Vovin - and even hitherto - tend to use orchestras to enhance their music, but, in the case of Therion, symphonic metal truly is a unique genre. Therion's second (or debatably third) actual symphonic metal achievement, Vovin, softens on the metal side and embraces a rather avant-garde approach, exploring and twisting through a world of odd melodies and esoteric themes.

Led by the genius Christofer Johnsson, Vovin doesn't feature any other permanent members, and yet everything is meticulously crafted. Opening with "The Rise of Sodom and Ghomorah", the track sucks the listener in with its foreboding strings, and maintains its rich, complex composition throughout. There isn't a trace of death metal on the album, and most of the vocals are done by a choir. Beginning with haunting keys, "Wine Of Aluqah" explodes into a near power metal like speed. Due to the avant-garde nature of the songs, some of the tracks are unpredictably structured, such as the nearly nine minute "Clavicula Nox", but this isn't necessarily a bad thing. "Black Sun" starts with a mysterious melody and keys, and blooms into a very catchy piece, instrumentally and vocally.

At times, the album does seem to drift just a little, and some of the guitar work - although great in most cases - seems a little under-produced in contrast to the other string arrangements, but these problems are overshadowed by the overall sheer complex, beautiful work on Vovin. Despite being the major innovators of symphonic metal, to this day, their work, particularly Vovin, is still incredibly unique. This is by no means a commercially friendly album, so it may take quite some time to get use to and even love, but there is a lot here to discover. Vovin stands as one of the most important symphonic metal albums.