I´m
glad Nuclear Blast finally decided to re-release the first three albums from
Therion (together with a nice collector´s box) since it has been almost
impossible to get hold of these for some time now. Of Darkness... is the very
first Therion album and was recorded in 1990 when Christofer Johnson was a
mere 18 years old. At this time Therion was a death metal band with a growling
Christofer in front and far from the symphonic operatic band they are today.
Even though this is pure death metal Therion shows a rather big amount of
talent and does not sound like any other band out there. The music is fast but
still melodic and very technical. The growling vocals from Christofer are
pretty similar to early Hypocrisy and Masse Bromberg, though more dynamic and
effective. The album was produced by the legendary Tomas Skogsberg and Therion
themselves, engineered by Tomas. It was recorded and mixed in August/September
1990 at Studio Sunlight, Stockholm. The tracks has been digitally remastered
and the sound quality is now really good. There are lots of good reasons to
buy this album: 1) If you´re a Therion fan you must of course own all their
releases no matter what kind of music it is. 2) You´re a fan of melodic and
aggressive death metal and wouldn´t want to miss out on the early Therion
material. 3) You enjoy all pure and well-composed music like me and don´t mind
operatic vocals nor growling if it´s done right. Either way this albums marks
the beginning of the amazing Therion story and as far as I know no band has
ever developed the way this Swedish band
has.
written by Vincent Eldefors
|
Tracklist
|
1. The Return
2. Asphyxiate |
|
|
With Fear
3. Morbid Reality
4. Megalomania
5. A Suburb To |
|
|
Hell
6. Genocidal Raids
7. Time Shall Tell
8. Dark |
|
|
Eternity
Bonus tracks (on Nuclear Blast release):
9. A |
|
|
Suburb To Hell (demo version)
10. Asphyxiate With Fear (demo |
|
|
version)
11. Time Shall Tell (unreleased version)
12. Dark |
|
|
Eternity (unreleased version)
|
Playing time: 50.07
