THERION - Secret Of the Runes (CD)

Secret of the Runes is another perfect masterpiece made by Therion. An unique album full of musical genius, classical brilliance and fascinating Nordic tones! Only one year after the release of “Deggial”, they soon came back with an incredible new album: “Secret of the Runes”. This time, Therion challenged to make a concept album which concept is based on Norse mythology. In this album, each song gets one of the names and concepts of nine worlds. “Secret of the Runes” sounds very different from any other albums of Therion, and it’s also one of the best albums Therion has ever made. On “Secret of the Runes”, Therion’ s music style becomes more various than their previous albums. Aside from the operatic choruses and symphony orchestra, they add many Scandinavian sounds such as black and Viking metal. More surprisingly, the music fits with concept perfectly. “Secret of the Runes” is not only a perfect combination of music and concept, but also a unique album in Therion’ s career. This album is an extremeness of feeling. It contains epic, majesty, beauty, peace and passion. You can listen to this album in any kind of mood. This album also shows magnificent atmosphere of Scandinavian epic metal, which Therion has never composed before. Moreover, the musicianship in this album is better than all of their previous albums. The solos in “ Midgård”, “ Asgård”, and” Vanaheim” are amazing, the acoustic guitars in “ Ljusalfheim” and “ Vanaheim” are astonishing. The ability of operatic vocals use in this album is, in my opinion, their best work so far. It’ s totally mind-blowing. In “Secret of the Runes”, the inspiring creativity of songwriting skill also appears once again. Therion is back to their standard, and they are even above their high level.