Therion
Beloved
Antichrist
Nuclear
Blast
There is a statue of engineer
George Louis Stephenson outside Chesterfield railway station with an
inscription that reads “Conquest over space and time”. It could be equally applied to founder member
of Therion, Christofer Johnsson, for this three and a half hours, three disc,
three act opera, driven not by steam but by rock.
It’s a loose adaptation of
Russian philosopher and theologian Vladimir Solovyov’s Tale of the Antichrist,
a venerated book about the coming of the Deceiver. It is better understood by also listening to
the composer himself for his own explanation on YouTube.
He has finally fulfilled his
lifelong ambition of writing an opera despite hitting the creative buffers for
years by sustaining interest and pace with rock music. Modern rock combines and alternates with the
best hand-picked operatic voices, from bass-baritone to soprano, from solos to
choirs and from simplicity to fanfare.
By also overcoming
debilitating spinal disc herniations, by coincidentally flying to Moscow, Solovyov’s
birthplace and resting place, Christopher Johnsson has completed his own
special journey and this aural epic that entertains as well as any music or
film, of a similar length.
NE
