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Therion > Celebrators of Becoming > Reviews
Therion - Celebrators of Becoming

Yes, we love this band! - 80%

Xyrth, January 9th, 2012

As most Mexican metalheads, I just can’t deny having special feelings and admiration towards Christofer Johnsson and Therion. They were one of the first European metal bands to cross the pond and seriously tour my home country. They didn’t just played at Mexico City like most bands do, but even went to middle sized cities in a time most metal bands just ignored the whole country. I know it mostly has to do with promoters and the band’s administration and budgets, but hell, Therion fuckin’ did it, and it’s not that they had the resources of Iron Maiden or the likes. And I must add that they were really lucky to not being tricked by those vulture-like scam promoters out there. Thus, we, the Mexican metalheads, got really lucky as well and I remember going to Therion’s first gig ever in my home city, Guadalajara, at the legendary Roxy, a venue that also held other noteworthy concerts, somewhat middle-ground between underground and alternative, such as Oceanborn-era Nightwish, pre-Sons of Northern Darkness Immortal and even a pre-famous Radiohead. But all those bands would take ages to return, while Therion has kept on visiting us regularly.

So, years have passed and Therion still professes and shares the same affection we have for them. In fact, this double album entitled Live in Mexico is an “exclusive” release meant for us, though it is also part of their Celebrators of Becoming DVD pack available everywhere else. Yeah, it’s always better to share, though its also pretty cool to be taken into account. Perhaps they though that with our third-world salaries it would be easier for us to get this than the DVD pack? Anyway, even though it is the good intention what counts, this is not the best Therion live album. It has to do with both the performance and the setlist. I don’t know why, but the versions of “Invocation of Naamah”, “Ginnungagap” and “Wine of Aluqah”, to name the most notorious, certainly aren’t as good here as on the previous live record. Also, because Christofer isn’t singing much on this one, and instead we have a misplaced Mats Levén. As I’ve said before, though a great singer, Levén really belongs in a power metal band, not Therion. You can hear the atrocious results while listening to “Typhon”. On the other hand, his Lemmy impersonation on closer “Iron Fist” is remarkably ass-kicking.

As for the setlist, it’s just not as good as the one on Live in Midgård, which was more versatile and balanced, exposing different stages of Therion’s career and evolution. On Live in Mexico the focus is primarily placed on their 2004 stellar releases, Lemuria and Sirius B, though a couple of worth mentioning excellent tracks from their past repertoire appear here, like the “Draconian Trilogy” played in its entirety, the extremely uncommon A'arab Zaraq - Lucid Dreaming representative “In Remembrance”, which is given a great treatment live, and a personal favorite both here and on its album version, “Melez”. Those rarities are, in my humble opinion, the real goodies of this double live album. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with “Uthark Runa”, “Quetzalcoatl” or the other newer tracks, but their versions here are not as good as their studio forms. Moreover, you will notice the crowd really go wild with the classics; “Seven Secrets of the Sphinx”, “Flesh of the Gods” or “Rise of Sodom and Gomorrah”.

Reviewing a live album is somehow tricky, since the emotion one gets from the band’s performance or the tour/date of its recording are also important factors in enjoying and recommending it. I didn’t attended these Therion gigs at Mexico City’s Circo Volador (also affectionately dubbed “Circo Violador” for its infamous good friendly violent fun) at which Live in Mexico was recorded, but I surely saw them during the same tour in my home city, and I honestly can’t say it was their best. My first live experience with this band was around their Secret of the Runes epoch, so my predilection is for Live in Midgård. Both albums have excellent production, but the setlist and the emotional value favor the 2002 release over this one. I haven’t listened to Live Gothic or The Miskolc Experience yet, but judging by their setlists and their existing reviews, I don’t think I’ll change my mind. Also, honestly if you prefer to get the whole Celebrators of Becoming DVD pack, this would be totally unnecessary. I’m not that into concert DVDs so I don’t regret getting this. But then again, I also own Live in Midgård.

All-in-One: Occultists, Mexicans, and Penis Jokes - 90%

Sean16, September 6th, 2009
Written based on this version: 2006, 4DVD + 2CD, Nuclear Blast

[Revised and shortened: June 2022]

Foreword

The four DVDs this boxed set consists in can be considered more or less independent, so I’ve broken my logorrhoea in four different reviews for the sake of clarity. I will also ignore the CDs which are nothing but the audio soundtrack of the Live in Mexico footage found on DVD 1. I’ve tackled down the "Historical" DVD 4 before the "Miscellanies" DVD 3, as the material found on disc 3 will be fully appreciated only if the viewer has already watched the so-called historical section before.

The booklet contains extensive comments from band's mastermind Christofer Johnsson. Just know that, if any doubt had remained about Mr Therion’s monstrous ego, those lines would be enough to clear it, what otherwise doesn’t lessen their importance especially concerning all the line-up changes. But when you read a pearl like being brave is a part of the concept of Therion... it’s Jon Schaffer quality we’re talking about.

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DVD 1 – Live in Mexico City 13th – 14th August 2004

There could hardly have been a better time for Therion to record their first DVD. With perhaps the best line-up the band had had so far – Christofer Johnsson, the Niemann brothers, and Mats Leven as a half-official member – together with the release of what has been probably their strongest album to date, Lemuria/Sirius B, all the conditions were met to have a hell of a tour. Alright the guys are cheating a bit as it isn’t a single show, but a mix of two successive shows in the same venue, what lessens the chance of any fuck-up to happen...

The scenography is sober, with no particular scenery or stage artefact. The solo soprano Karin Fjellander stays in the same position on the left of the stage from the beginning to the end, her only gesture consisting in slowly moving her arms up and down, as a monolithic figure. She may not be Sarah Jezebel Deva, but she’ll nonetheless do little to debunk the legend Therion always recruits the fattest female vocalists available. But she’s here to sing, you know, and her warm voice does wonders. Another monolithic figure, though slimmer, taller and less static, is the dark, hairy, slightly disturbing Johan Niemann and his as huge as overmixed bass. Looking at his completely bald elder brother Kristian with his stupid goatee and eternal smile one can’t prevent himself from thinking the two couldn’t be more dissimilar. As for Christofer Johnsson he keeps on running, shouting and giving rough time to his favourite guitar so that even someone unfamiliar with the band could tell he’s the one pulling the strings (pun non intended).

And above all there’s Mats Leven. The appearance of this wannabe decadent rock star at a Therion show must have puzzled a good part of the fans, more accustomed to the static backing choirs of the previous years – there’s still a four-people choir here by the way, relegated in the corner opposite to the drums with microphones turned lower compared to the two soloists. However, this was a stroke of genius. The man is at ease with every vocal line he has to sing, from simply contributing to the choirs to a Lemmy impersonation for the closing cover of Iron Fist; be it lines previously sung by Dan Swanö, Piotr W., Hansi Kürsch or Ralf Scheepers, he adapts everything to his own fashion without ever sounding out of place. His stage presence is impressive even when he doesn’t sing, but this isn’t really obvious on this DVD given there are overall few general views of the stage. The second disc will fill this gap.

The sound is clear, more guitars-centred than on the albums, with as said before a very present bass; the pre-recorded orchestra is still fully audible though. The shooting is decent, though again probably focusing a bit too much on single musicians: close-up on Leven when he sings, close-up on Fjellander when she sings, close-up on K. Niemann during the solos and so on – the choir, on the other hand, will be filmed only furtively. Also, some editing was probably dispensable, there’s absolutely no need for double exposure or musician duplications when the music alone would be self-sufficient.

About the songs performed of course it’s always hard to content everyone (where’s Crowning of Atlantis?), still the setlist is pretty well-balanced when it comes to post-Theli material. Classics like Rise of Sodom and Gomorrah or To Mega Therion alternate with lesser-known songs, like for instance... In Remembrance from the lackluster compilation A’Arab Zarach Lucid Dreaming. Surprisingly, thanks to the combined talents of Mats Leven and Kristian Niemann – with his extended solo replacing the primitive horns section -, they managed to come out with a pleasant version, far superior to the original though they still didn’t have the good idea of shortening it. Lemuria/Sirius B is well represented, but not better than the other albums keeping in mind it’s a double one. With the storming opener Blood of Kingu, the immortal riff of Uthark Runa or the catchy Son of the Sun they couldn’t have gone wrong anyway.

Coming to the old material... alright, they play one single song, probably to give the singers the opportunity to rest their voice. They somehow randomly picked Melez, a nice rocking tune, but not exactly the strongest point of Therion’s catalog. Again, the Niemann brothers save the song, and Johnsson’s voice is almost less obnoxious than on the original. Comparing this to the duet between Leven and Fjellander on Siren of the Woods a few songs later would be dishonest though. If playing Siren... live first looked like a risky challenge, they took it up well, but how the hell did they manage to learn those lyrics?

There’s no need to nitpick, this DVD shows Therion at the top of their form so even alone would be worth a purchase. And that’s only the beginning.

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DVD 2 – Tour Report 2004-2005

Shot at different venues during the Lemuria/Sirius B tour, this DVD is presented like a tribute to the fans worldwide.

In the 2000s being a Therion fan used to be a comfortable job, as the band seemed to take a particular care of us (after all we buy their sumptuous digibook DVD sets so we may consider we take care of them in turn). To come back to our disc, its interest is double. First it captures the genuine live atmosphere far better than the first one. Of course I’ve largely explained above how good the Live in Mexico was, but let’s admit this polished picture, these professional close-ups on the guitarists’ hands, this careful editing and almost crystal-clear sound just looked too perfect. Therion, this is also this overcrowded venue in Paris, members of supporting acts Tristania and Trail of Tears doing unexpected guest appearances (the “Egyptian dance” on Rise of Sodom and Gomorrah is golden), Mats Leven dancing with the microphone on Wine of Aluqah where he basically hasn’t got anything to sing, the crappy sound of most of the footage which sometimes has nothing to envy to the "Historical Disc" (see below), or this power cut in Turkey forcing the band to improvise some a capella singing and drums solos.

Second, beyond the variety of the material proposed, a good part of it is also presented from an unusual band’s point of view. Not specifically talking of the few behind the scenes moments – more of them are also to be found on the Historical Disc – the longest of those being the “day in La Paz”, rather self-glorifying thus of limited interest, but of these different songs shot not from the audience’s perspective, but the stage’s; or in other words where you’re given to see and hear what the musicians themselves would see (i.e. not much...) and hear. An original way to enjoy the songs.

Some songs are present on this disc the band hadn’t played in Mexico City including Black Sun, Crowning of Atlantis (finally!), and several covers: WASP’s I Wanna Be Somebody with participation of together Tristania and an overexcited audience, Black Funeral with Mats Leven’s King Diamond impersonation which if it doesn’t live up to his Lemmy impersonation is still good fun to listen to, or even the Russian National Anthem in Moscow. The Faith No More’s cover Caffeine isn’t technically by Therion as it’s mainly Trail of Tears playing, but the guest appearance of Johan Niemann and above all Mats Leven (as Johnsson wrote, in somewhat unusual clothing) made it worth including here.

Highlights: four versions of Uthark Runa (counting the Mexico one from disc 1) and they all look different, Rise of Sodom and Gomorrah (Toulouse), I Wanna Be Somebody (Kiev), Wine of Aluqah (Quebec City)

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DVD 4 – Historical Disc

After the Geographical Section on disc 2 comes the Historical Section on disc... 4, with a friendly menu where you can either pick specific shows excerpts on a timeline or choose to watch the whole history at once, with each excerpt preceded by a (quick) screen displaying the time, place and lineup – the latter being particularly useful when dealing with Therion. The viewer can also choose to add subtitles which are little more than a less detailed paraphrase of Christofer Johnsson’s booklet comments, put in situation.

The footage is often very poor, mostly consisting in bootlegs, the pinnacle probably being the Thessaloniki 1997 and Mexico 2000 excerpts. For the rest, like on disc 2 the low quality bears an undeniable charm, as undeniable as the interest of those documents. All the more there’s a lot of pre-Theli tracks featured, showing even if Therion no longer play these songs, and are very unlikely to play them any time in the future, at least they haven’t discarded their past. This is probably the only opportunity to see a live version of the monstruous Dawn of Perishness, oddly introduced as “a heavy metal song” (opposed to a “death metal song”) though it’s a piece escaping any proper genre qualification.

Granted, on a mere artistic point of view four hardly pubescent kids jamming around Paroxysmal Holocaust – the song which should have had lyrics but never had any (dixit Johnsson) is of totally negligible interest – there’s also said to be the late Jon Nödtveidt in the crowd, good luck to find him. But that’s only the beginning. A few songs later you’ll assist to an excerpt of the very first show with the infamous Piotr W. behind the drumkit but... his head is constantly hidden by a cymbal and it could be anyone else. You’ll assist to Lars Rosenberg arrival in the band, and a few years later to his last show ever before him being kicked out for excessive drunkenness. You’ll assist to Martina Hornbacher’s unique way of dancing also known as a crossing between an ominous snake, a prepubescent goth chick and the drunken Lars Rosenberg. And finally as a link with the then-present you’ll assist to the arrival of the Niemann brothers and Sarah Jezebel Deva previously of CoF fame, who together with “the Bald Guy” have all added some supplementary nice Therion pages.

If every bit of tape (yeah, I’ve said tape. that’s historical section, Dear Reader) is worth seeing, two shows particularly are. The 1995 gig in Buenos Aires is roughly, but decently shot, and shows together the newly arrived Lars Rosenberg, Piotr W. performing some vocals (including the operatic lines on Black and Symphony of the Dead) as well as an extensive setlist of mostly Symphony Masses and Lepaca Kliffoth material. It’s funny to notice even at that time, in spite of Therion being still close to their death metal roots, Symphony of the Dead was already amputated of its second, “brutal” part. Far later the 2001 La Paz gig is a totally different atmosphere... poorly shot, with a band hardly moving on stage, this just isn’t Therion, this is a mere ghost of Therion, as if all the musicians were long dead and for their unorthodox beliefs condemned to forever play the same songs – eternally. An eerie sight, reinforced by the somehow unusual setlist (the Accept cover Seawinds!).

To conclude on more tangible matters no one will doubt there wasn’t any better way to conclude this marvellous travel through time than with the bloated Sarah joking about Kristian Niemann’s penis for a few minutes before attempting to show her breasts, as unpredictability has always been one of this band’s main charms, but still the decency would have consisted in putting some kind of warning – this isn’t suitable for kids, or for any sane person for that matter.

Highlights: Buenos Aires 1995, La Paz 2001

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DVD 3 - Various

This disc consists in everything the band wanted to include that didn’t fit on the others: the full Live at Wacken Open Air Festival 2001, all the Therion videoclips thus far, the Golden Embrace movie Christofer Johnsson had written the soundtrack for, and studio reports from the recording sessions of Lemuria/Sirius B.

The Live at Wacken 2001 is probably the highlight of the disc, and also a great complement to the "Historical Disc". The lineup isn’t very different from the Deggial and Secret of the Runes tours, but the choir has been extended to eight people, with Sarah and the Bald Guy ensuring the soloist parts. This latter really does an outstanding performance here, and it’s a pity the band hadn’t adopted a configuration similar to the one on the Lemuria/Sirius B tour with the lead singers in the front of the scene. A venerable, unholy book in hand, a possessed, hallucinated gaze, slow gestures of hidden significance, he’s far more than a mere singer – he is the Officiant himself, spreading the Word of the Red Dragon. The musicians, Johnsson especially, don’t spare their energy either, though the audience’s response sometimes doesn’t seem to match it; besides, it’s a pity the Deggial album already looked like the black sheep with only one song featured though it was their last release to date. Well, typical "greatest hits" festival setlist, that's it.

The fact a band as famous as Therion, furthermore signed on a label like Nuclear Blast for years, has recorded so few videoclips may look at first surprising to the newcomer – all the more most of them date from the early years. It could however be linked, like the absence of band pictures in the booklets, to the (relative...) atmosphere of mystery Johnsson et al. were willing to wrap their works in. The seven videos featured here are pretty standard, five of them relying on the same basic formula: large excerpts showing the band playing, sometimes switching between studio and live shots, alternating with quick shots loosely tied to the “story” the song deals with. Thus you’ll get a bunch of unholy monks on Pandemonic Outbreak for a black-and-white video more reminding of black metal than of the progressive death metal the song consists in, bizarre sadomasochistic rites on A Black Rose, or a woman tattooed with ancient scriptures on In the Desert of Set. The Beauty in Black and Summernight City are the only videos exclusively consisting in a “story” without any appearance of the band, though the "priest" in The Beauty in Black was obviously played by Christofer Johnsson. For this very one the guys just crammed as many goth clichés as they could think of – historical outfits, candles, roses (covered with tears, blood, and ice), cursed ancient jewels and as expected the Beauty in... white. Summernight City on the other hand is pretty original with its humorous rendition of an old movie.

People who’ve checked the "Historical Disc" will identify several of the live excerpts – Huddinge 1993 (A Black Rose), Nuclear Blast Festival 1997 (In the Desert of Set), Krakow 1998 (Birth of Venus Illegitima). There’s nonetheless a detail likely to make most Therion fans cringe. So we know that between 1996-97 and the arrival of the Niemann brothers in 1999 Therion had been a band with, let’s be fair, no lineup at all; meaning in particular the personal on the albums on one hand, on live shows on the other hand, were completely different save for Christofer Johnsson. In other words the soundtracks for In the Desert of Set and Birth of Venus Illegitima were actually recorded by different people than the ones shown “playing” the song in the video... Granted, I couldn’t care less being shown the totally unknown Kim Blomqvist playing the bass part of the equally unknown Jan Kazda. But that Martina Hornbacher sings with the voice of Sarah Jezebel Deva, it’s already far more disturbing; without speaking of the ultimate blasphemy: Tobias Sidegård with Piotr Wawrzeniuk’s voice! Whatever you may think of Piotr’s characteristic voice, the man has been an important part of Therion history and would have deserved a better treatment.

There’s no need to extensively detail the Studio Reports as their importance is more documentary than artistic. Being a metalhead isn’t incompatible with never having set a foot into a studio, so having a quick look from the inside isn't uninteresting. Here you’ll watch the recording of the choirs for Lemuria/Sirius B, the orchestra on Blood of Kingu, a few drums and guitar parts, the hammond organ and church organ for The Wondrous World of Punt and even a detailed explanation of the mellotron. This isn’t something you’ll spin every day, though.

Eventually there’s the Golden Embrace movie. I’ll repeat what I’d written about the soundtrack, featured on the original version of A’Arab Zarach Lucid Dreaming: THIS ISN’T THERION. This has nothing to do on a Therion release. The soundtrack had the poor excuse of having been written by Christofer Johnsson (again, as a SOLO PROJECT), the movie has no excuse at all except the-soundtrack-being-written-by-Christofer-Johnsson-who-also-happens-to-be-Therion’s-mastermind. I don’t see why I should comment on it then, all the more there isn’t much to comment: it’s a pure avant-garde movie... that’s enough to sum it up. You’ve got four characters with no apparent ties who never meet each other; there’s a forest, a lake, the Sun which seems to play an important role and not a single word is uttered in the roughly twenty minutes the film lasts. I wouldn’t deny there’s a meaning behind; I haven’t found it, though.

Highlight: Live at Wacken 2001

Perfection has rarely been so close - 98%

Agonymph, January 16th, 2007

Something one can't deny about Therion-mastermind Christofer Johnsson is his perfectionism. Even when one just looks at the boxed set 'Celebrators Of Becoming', it shows. Okay, one should never judge a book (well...a boxed set in this case) by its cover, but it looks fabulous! And it takes a hell of a lot of time to sit through the four DVD's and the two CD's the box contains, but it's well worth it. 'Celebrators Of Becoming' is a very impressive collection of material put together with a lot of love for the subject of the matter.

Centerpiece of the thing is the Mexico City concert from the 2004 'Lemuria' / 'Sirius B'-tour on the first DVD and to be honest, that was what got me into Therion definitively. Their live album 'Live In Midgård' already showed that Therion rely on their guitars a lot more than heard on their studio albums. This DVD is no different; from the moment 'The Blood Of Kingu' kicks off, the difference is audible: the guitars are louder, Johan Niemann's thick and ugly bass sound (and that's positive!) is much more prominent and of course, there's Mats Levén, who sings his own songs better than on the album and beats the shit out of his predecessors, among which Hansi Kürsch ('Flesh Of The Gods') and Ralf Scheepers ('The Wild Hunt').

I have always doubted how "live" Therion's choirs are and this DVD couldn't take that away. Especially the male choirs often sound larger than they are (two men and Levén often being a welcome addition to them). Besides, all the orchestras and keyboards are on tape, so it's quite easy to add a few extra choirs every now and then. It's not a complaint though, as the result is amazing.

Especially the 'Lemuria' / 'Sirius B'-songs profit from their live-settings. The increased guitar sound and lead vocals add a little energy to the songs and that makes them even more listenable for me. But what happens to some of the older songs is really beyond belief. Parly due to Mats Levén's vocals, 'The Invocation Of Namaah' and 'Cults Of The Shadow' sound better than they have ever done, just listen to the part where Levén sings the title of this boxed set in the latter, powerful and classy.

Other highlighs include 'Siren Of The Woods', the beautiful epic ballad duet between lead soprano Karin Fjellander and Levén, who has adapted the operatic style quite well, the closing Motörhead-cover 'Iron Fist', with an impressive Lemmy-imitation by Levén, and of course the classic 'The Rise Of Sodom And Gomorrah'. And it doesn't matter how much better this rendition sounds, 'To Mega Therion' is still a terrible song.

The second DVD contains a lot of footage from the 2004 world tour. First of all, the menu is beautiful! Navigation gets a whole differend meaning with all those ancient looking maps. The quality of the footage differs from good to bad to horrible, but the majority of it is good bootleg material. Only the footage from Romania has been filmed professionally and that's great, because that gives the viewer the opportunity to enjoy the rare Mercyful Fate-cover 'Black Funeral' to the fullest. Mats Levén does a killer imitation of King Diamond (though his ultimate imitator is still Nils K. Rue from Pagan's Mind) and let's not forget that Petter Karlsson is a much better drummer than Kim Ruzz.

Most of the other previously unreleased material is comprised of covers as well. For instance, there's a great cover of WASP's 'I Wanna Be Somebody' from Kiev and Levén appears in a weird outfit, to say the least, to do the Faith No More-song 'Caffeine' with Tristania. 'Black Sun' and 'The Crowning Of Atlantis' are Therion's own songs that weren't on the main feature. Both in the better audience recording picture and sound quality.

The original idea for the DVD can be found on the third disc. This disc features Therion's show at Wacken Open Air 2001 and all of the band's videos to date. The Wacken show is pretty impressive, containing two classic Therion-songs I was missing on the first disc, 'The Birth Of Venus Illegitima' and 'In The Desert Of Set'. Okay, the band has a much better lead singer as well as a better drummer nowadays, but the show (at daylight!) is very fun to watch and of the quality one can expect from Therion. Also, it's probably the only widescreen feature on this boxed set.

Video clips have never been anything I cared for all that much, but it's a nice addition to a fan's collection. Much more interesting for me personally, is the studio footage from the 'Lemuria' / 'Sirius B'-recordings. Very interesting in deed! Especially the explanation of the mellotron. And also fun to see the perfectionism of Christofer Johnsson and Kristian Niemann caught on tape; while no one hears any mistakes, either of the two wants to redo his parts.

Also included on this disc is the "art film" 'The Golden Embrace', to which Johnsson has written the music. For those of you who don't know, "art film" is synonymous to "abstract, weird new age / avant garde movie". As you can probably tell, I wasn't impressed. I'm sure there is a market for films like these, but I was glad it was over after 18 minutes. The music is great though, but I'm almost positive it's been available before, on Therion's 'A'arab Zaraq Lucid Dreaming'.

On the fourth DVD you can see something similar to what could be seen on the second one. The viewer gets a chance to travel through several places (and times) with the band in a historical overview. The quality of the footage is far below average most of the time, but it's fun to watch the band grow through time. Plus, the tutorial info from Christofer Johnsson is funny and highly self-critical most of the time. Still, out of the six discs this box contains, this particular one will probably spend most time in the box instead of the DVD-player.

To round off the whole thing in style, the show from Mexico is also included on two CD's. Jogging or a paper round is easier with a discman than with a DVD-player. However, the only imperfection of the box is displayed here: 'In Remembrance' is listed as the last track of the first CD, instead of what it is: the first track of the second CD. But I won't let that spoil the fun.

So there you have it: the ultimate Therion DVD-set. Rarely have I seen something as stunning as 'Celebrators Of Becoming'. If you want to do yourself a favor, realize that the prize you'll pay for it will be totally worth it and just get it.

Worth The Money - 100%

lordmaltreas, November 28th, 2006

This is honestly one of the best DVD Boxes I have bought from any band. In the first DVD there is the full live set from Mexico, with both new songs and old favorites performed by Therion in very good quality. Nothing amazing visually, but a very good performance worthy of the disc.

The second DVD is really the most useless of the set, possibly because not enough video was sent in from all of the countries who promised the band they would get it. There is a sort of performance with Trail of Tears, and Tristania sort of stands in the back and headbangs during "iron fist" (a motorhead cover) It's all great, but very low budget film. Other than that, there is a rather pointless "day in la puz" which makes you think that the locals believe Therion is the best musical group they've heard. I've never seen people act like this for a band, it's honsetly as if the pope had come to visit. But there's really not much else grand about this disc except a few extra low budget clips from other shows.

The third DVD is great. It features all of Therion's videos. It is a good way for one to see the "evolution" of Therion from a brutal death metal band to what they have become. There is also the making of the two latest albums, a very worthwhile behind the scenes which shows you how much work they really did on those albums. It is very interesting, and will hold your attention until the end. Also there is "The Golden Embrace" a sort of art-film which is interesting, but a little boring if you don't understand the concept. It is said something new is revealed everytime you see it, and that does seem to happen, though it is a rather long piece.Also included is another concert, "Live In Wacken 2001" Which is shorter than the main concert, but just as good.

The fourth DVD is what the fans have been waiting for. The historical disc is literally some of the very first shows ever done by the band, all the way up to "The Secret Of The Runes Tour". It is really interesting to see the band as young as they are in the beginning, and to watch how great they've become. There are a couple live songs for each album, and some actual full length shows (The tours for Lepaca Kliffoth, and Secret Of The Runes, are just a few of the full sets)

And, if that wasn't enough live Therion for those who've wanted it so badly, there are also 2 Cd's of the live show from Mexico, in the same great quality as on the DVD.

Any Therion fan would do themselves well to buy this.Because this DVD just doesn't cover Therion at their newest, but all the styles and ages of Therion.