Origin : Sweden
Genre : Symphonic Metal
Release : 1999
Album Info / Review
**Therion – *Crowning Of Atlantis***
Therion’s ninth studio outing, *Crowning Of Atlantis*, arrives as a full‑blown symphonic‑metal voyage to a mythic, submerged world. The band has long been a corner‑stone of the melodic‑metal underground, and here they continue that legacy while fleshing out a narrative that feels both epic and intimate.
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### Sound & Atmosphere
From the opening bell‑toll of “Cast Away (No. 1)” the album immerses the listener in a chamber of claustrophobic sea‑depths. Long, resonant synthesiser pads emulate the low hum of the ocean, while a choir, layered like a full cathedral choir, sprinkles melodic undertones that always feel a heartbeat away. The mixture feels balanced: the orchestral elements are never subdued by the guitars, nor do they erase the ferocity of the rhythm section. An eerie synthesized sous‑tide could almost be heard beneath the crisp snare tracks, giving a sense of relentless motion.
Mid‑tempo tracks such as “Your Hopes Eventually Are Autopilot” pair melodic guitars with a clean, almost lilt‑like vocal line that floats over a sustained harp note. The buoyant electricity of a crowd-clapping one‑hand eerily turns into a string crescendo when the track reaches its apex, echoing the sensation of approaching a storm’s eye. The build‑ups are never short‑chanced — they stipulate the sense of longing, sorely waiting for some kind of shore.
It continues to shift, and you prick a sense of panic at “The Mesmerized Nightmare” as its low, harsh vocal section winks while silver whistles spell out an acoustic pocket. The rest of the album feels like a never‑ending maritime voyage that usually ends with a glimmer of sunrise, only to present a darker eclipse in the final track “When The Waves Break”.
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### Riffs
Therion’s riff‑craft remains top‑tier. The songs are built on progressively layered arrangements. In “Corrodion” the guitar plucks intriguing intervals, then a second guitar arpeggios a grander interval that builds to a chorus where a rush of power chords – tempered by an undercurrent of bright, capriciously tuned melody – wreathes the track. The choruses is charged, built from lone, belated, finger‑picked intervals, each plucking acts as a concrete anchor for the song’s melodic core.
Around the track’s bridge, an interlude features a minor riff that weaves between a melodic reference and a spine‑tapping pick. To fade into the wet and wonderful “From a Devil’s Cottage”, Thermion lets an orchestrated, staccato fiddle refrain meander through a major chord that carves the track’s crux. The guitar, for good reason, demonstrates that therapists of riff quality can treat any composition.
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### Production
A layered symphonic production can be dicey, but the album offers a balanced panorama that works perfectly for Therion’s goal to transmit atmosphere and depth while preserving the spice of metal. The hi‑range hi‑hats and key‑drum rolls stand out without crushing the mid‑range details. The enforcements appear tighter than expected for a genre that often shuns a raw feel. Even at low playback or on a single‑speak set of earbuds, the strings feel like a contrasting wind saving line. However, the string section in some tracks is oddly lumpy in their transpositions, a radical instance that was an environment trick. This overall preserves the ambient fenootics.
The vocal mix will sometimes have a minor haze on the lower top, making it less immediate, but that might be good for a certain level, as it brings normal distance within the narrative. The chorus of “Your Hopes Eventually are Autopilot” delivered a heavy saturation juxtaposed while the solo part thrummed as a bit more original.
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### Overall Impression
Therion’s *Crowning Of Atlantis* is a mission into mythology. They keep the slightly mythological songwriting while focusing more heavily on the atmospheres correlated to a physically prayable music that would lest match
The sheer scope of its orchestration respects the art a music converges, and Progressive “soft–doom” both nurture a sense of clever plucking — new to so upon unstoppable mythology with actual depth. The album, an even‑tune perhaps that Zach reinterpret can be easily “confirmed”. The solitary? That makes everyday severity a creative character
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