THERION, Interview

Therion is a pioneer of symphonic metal, With a history of almost 40 years behind them, The band around mastermind Christofer Johnsson, today takes their time to give us this interview!

SUNRAY: Hi guys, thank you for giving us this interview. with over 35 years of being pioneers of symphonic metal, who have been your biggest influences?

Therion: I can’t say one specific artist who has been THE biggest. I got different types of inspiration for other parts of my music. For the guitar work, there’s a lot of 80’s heavy metal like Accept, Judas Priest, and Iron Maiden. But also some Voivid and 70’s rock. 

For the symphonic parts, I used to be very inspired by Uli Jon Roth, Klaatu, Eloy, and Richard Wagner. Still, today I don’t draw any inspiration from anyone particular for that. 

SUNRAY: You have recently released the last album of the trilogy “Leviathan”, the first was released on January 2021 (seventeenth studio album), “Leviathan II” in 2022, And “Leaviatan III” in 2023, How did you come up with the idea to conceive the Leviathan Trilogy?

Therion: After over 3 decades of making what we wanted to do, we thought we would make something where we tried to give the fans what they wanted. So we wrote 3 albums in 3 different styles to the liking of different categories of fans. 

SUNRAY: If you would have to choose the favorite of the three Which one would you stay?

Therion: I think Leviathan II is my favorite.

SUNRAY: In the ‘Pazuzu’ single you have a guest singer Erik Mårtensson from Eclipse, how was that collaboration?

Therion: Erik was mixing these records and I thought his voice would be perfect for the song. He also sang in Aeon of Maat. 

SUNRAY: Leviathan III came out via Napalm Records. How do you feel about working with this record label?

Therion: It felt a bit nostalgic to leave Nuclear Blast after 25 years of working together, but Napalm has done a great job.

SUNRAY: Next September, they will be touring Latin America, and Argentina we have our editor, who will cover the concert on September 13th, So, I won’t spoil too much, but, What can you tell us about the next concerts?

Therion: We will play around 2 hours, do 23 songs, and have tried to add on a good amount of songs we haven’t played in a very long time and some that we never played live before. 

We will not be touring again until 2028 or 2029, so we want to make it extra special. We also have Lori Lewis with us on this tour, who retired from touring 10 years ago, but who has come back to help us out with this tour, as Chiara was having a baby. 

SUNRAY: Talking about the tour, What is the song that can never be missing from a show?

Therion: There are a few songs that we more or less have to play. To Mega Therion, Sodom, Lemuria…

SUNRAY: And finally, what’s next for Therion?

Therion: After the tour, I will be doing 4 albums with different projects and after that, we will be making the next Therion albums. We will only tour on every second album from now on, so the next album no tour. 

Therion Will be performing in Argentina Next September 13th at the Groove (Av, Santa Fe 4389, C.A.B.A)

Get your tickets here

https://www.tuentrada.com/eventos/detalle/therion-groove/416779391798

Produced Icarus Music

Interview by Maria Fernanda Capici

Special thanks Christofer Johnsson