Written by:	Ivor
Published:	December 12, 2010
Event:	Therion: Sitra Ahra Tour 2010
Location:	Rock Cafe, Tallinn, Estonia
Galleries:	Therion - Rock Cafe, Tallinn, Estonia, 02.12.2010 by Ivor (27)

When a band rotates most of the line-up at some point, you are bound to wonder whether it was a good move and if the band will survive this change. Moreover, it makes you wonder how it will affect the live performances. In Therion's case, changing members is nothing extraordinary. Been there, done that, so to say. However, I still approached their gig with a fairly guarded feeling. I mean, Therion shined with that previous line-up, which can easily be confirmed if you take a look at Live Gothic DVD. Needless to say, I was happy to be wrong being reserved about it.



The warm-up act for the evening was Ukrainian death doom band Apostate. I'm not particularly fond of such death doom bands mostly because of the vocals. Given decent music to begin with, the vocal performance kind of ruins it for me. It is a rare and welcome occasion when it's the other way around. Unfortunately, this was not one of those rare occasions. The music was generally fine, and instrumentally I'd have enjoyed it even though there was still something fresh missing. A friend of mine described it as being more or less early Paradise Lost. Another one said that they could really use female vocals. I'm having a feeling he has no clue how right he might be in this regard. In the end Apostate amounted to being just kind of forgettable warm-up act, nothing more.





When Therion came on stage with "Sitra Ahra" I was pleased to find that their live vocal line-up has been kept for most part. On this tour you'll hear Snowy Shaw, Katarina Lilja, Lori Lewis, and joining them now Thomas Vikström. Somehow this reassured me that this particular gig will be a success. I mean, since seeing Therion for the first time at Hellfest in 2007 I've come to associate Snowy Shaw, Katarina and Lori with Therion's vocal cast. Of course, back then Mats Levén was still present but Thomas Vikström does a good job in his stead. Between them they have more or less everything covered. True, they fall short of a proper choir but they do come damn close when needed.



The instrumental cast also seems to be feeling quite comfortable for the moment. Christian Vidal does well on guitars, and Waldemar Sorychta on bass. However, Christoffer Johnsson still manages to steal the focus dressing himself up and wearing a black suit, black round sunglasses and a top hat. Classy, theatrical, and admittedly fitting. For, as you might already know, a Therion performance is a fair deal theatrical on the whole, as far as singers and some operatic songs are concerned.



Pulling off a Therion song live with all its intricacies is surely no easy feat. That is actually one thing to be reserved about when you go see them live. Although I'm reasonably happy with the result, I do have an issue with the sound balance. This time the drums were way too prominent and were at some points drowning either vocals or guitar leads. It wasn't really bad but it did get annoying from time to time.



As you might expect, most of the songs played range from the newest Sitra Ahra album all the way back to Theli, covering 15 years of creative output. It sure is a huge amount of music and no wonder it formed into an almost two hour set. Which is by no means a bad thing, the longer the set, the more you get to hear. And while you get some of the awesome favourite songs, some are bound to be left unperformed. It's as if the band are saying "Thank you, come see us again!" Which I for one, definitely will, given the opportunity.



Set list:
1. Sitra Ahra (Sitra Ahra)
2. Wine Of Aluqah (Vovin)
3. Typhon (Lemuria)
4. The Perennial Sophia (Gothic Kabbalah)
5. Hellequin (Sitra Ahra)
6. Nifelheim (Secret Of The Runes)
7. The Siren Of The Woods (Theli)
8. Voyage Of Gurdjieff (The Fourth Way) (Sirius B)
9. Ljusalfheim (Secret Of The Runes)
10. Dies Irae (Mozart)
11. Ginnungagap (Secret Of The Runes)
12. Kali Yuga Part 3: Autumn Of The Aeons (Sitra Ahra)
13. Call Of Dragon (Sirius B)
14. Clavicula Nox (Vovin)
15. Enter Vril-Ya (Deggial)
16. Blood Of Kingu (Sirius B)
17. Lemuria (Lemuria)
18. Abraxas (Lemuria)
19. Unguentum Sabbati (Sitra Ahra)
Encore:
20. The Rise Of Sodom And Gomorrah (Vovin)
21. To Mega Therion (Theli)



During a Therion performance time flies. There are times when a two hour gig can seem like a drag, even if almost everything falls into place. With Therion, two hours pass almost in a blink of an eye. Blink... and it's already time for the encore and final applause. Can't really blame the band for that, now can you? Live Therion is even better than on the albums because you can actually see how it's done. And the crowd loves it. I'm already wishing I could go see them again.



Apostate: Homepage http://apostate.com.ua, MySpace
Therion: Homepage http://www.megatherion.com, MySpace