| Beloved Antichrist | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 9 February 2018 | |||
| Genre | Symphonic metal | |||
| Length | 182:50 | |||
| Label | Nuclear Blast | |||
| Therion chronology | ||||
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Beloved Antichrist is the sixteenth studio album by Swedish symphonic metal band Therion. It is a triple album and was released on 9 February 2018 by Nuclear Blast Records.[1] The album is the soundtrack to a rock musical by the band, who are accompanied by a large orchestra and choir.[2] The staging of the rock musical was delayed indefinitely due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Instead, the band started to work on the next regular album Leviathan.
Beloved Antichrist was the band's first release of new original material since Sitra Ahra in 2010. Group founder Christofer Johnsson had toyed with the idea of writing an opera for 15 years and had finally decided to "do metal/rock music with opera"[1] instead, citing his inability to write "the ‘boring’ stuff" like recitatives.[3] Thus, Beloved Antichrist features exclusively operatic singing combined with an orchestra and electric instruments typical of a rock band.
The music was composed by Johnsson, Thomas Vikström, Linnéa Vikström and Christian Vidal, the lyrics were written by Per Albinsson and the album cover was created by Thomas Ewerhart.[4] The album consists of 46 songs and is inspired by and partly based on "A Short Tale of the Antichrist" by Vladímir Soloviov.[1] Johnsson expanded the story to include 27 characters played by 15 vocalists.[5]
- ^ a b c "Therion: Beloved Antichrist". Nuclear Blast America. 9 February 2018. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
- ^ Jurek, Thom. "Therion: Beloved Antichrist". AllMusic. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
- ^ "THERION - Writing Process & Motivation Behind The Rock Opera (OFFICIAL TRAILER #3)". YouTube.
- ^ "Therion: 'Beloved Antichrist' Artwork, Track Listing Revealed". Blabbermouth.net. 11 December 2017. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
- ^ Lysen, Lorraine (14 February 2018). "Therion: Beloved Antichrist". Ghost Cult Magazine. Retrieved 11 June 2018.