Beyond Sanctorum

Infobox Album | Name = Beyond Sanctorum
Type = Studio
Artist = Therion


Released = January 1992
Recorded = 1991
The Montezuma Studio, Stockholm, Sweden
Genre = Death metal
Melodic death metal
Length = 49:56
1:09:43 (reedition)
Label = Active Records
CDATV 23
Nuclear Blast (reedition)
NB 578-2
Producer = Rex Gisslén, Christofer Johnsson, Peter Hansson
Reviews =
*Allmusic Rating|3|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:70q3g4aptv4z link]
*The Metal Crypt (4.75/5) [http://metalcrypt.com/pages/review.php?revid=2031 link] | Last album = "Of Darkness..."
(1991)
This album = "Beyond Sanctorum"
(1992)
Next album = ""
(1993)
Misc = Extra album cover 2
Upper caption = Alternate cover
Type = Studio album


Lower caption = "The Early Chapters of Revelation" reedition cover

"Beyond Sanctorum" is the second studio album released on January 1992 by Swedish band Therion. The album was re-released on November 27, 2000 under Nuclear Blast label as a part of "The Early Chapters of Revelation" box-set. It contains remastered songs, as well as four bonus tracks.

Recording and production

The band signed a contract with Active Records after the deal with previous label Deaf Records was signed only for one album and relations between band and label [Deaf] weren't positive. Therion began to record a second full-length album in The Montezuma Studio in 1991. Before the recordings started bass guitar player Erik Gustafsson decided to leave the band in order to return home to the U.S., but Therion continued as a trio with Peter Hansson, Oskar Forss and Christofer Johnsson filling in on bass guitar.cite web
url = http://www.megatherion.com/Biography.xhtml
title = Biography
work = Official website
accessdate = 2008-02-06]

ongs, lyrical themes and influences

In "Beyond Sanctorum" Therion began progressively including classical and other elements to their sound. The record shows a more experimental edge to the death metal music, with keyboard instruments, clean male & female vocalists used sparingly, and also some Persian folk music tunes.cite web
url = http://main.megatherion.com/Albums/Beyond_Sanctorum.xhtml
title = Beyond Sanctorum
work = Official website
accessdate = 2008-02-06] However, the riffing sections can be compared to most Stockholm death metal (see Scandinavian death metal) bands with power chord riffing in classical harmonic sense, its melodiousness, and lead riffing focusing on melodies.cite web
author="Cynical"
url = http://www.metal-archives.com/review.php?id=403
title = The fourth best death metal album of all time
date = 2004-10-09
work = Encyclopaedia Metallum
accessdate = 2008-02-06] Overall structuring of narration and music dynamics is quite similar to European death metal conventions. The sound is comparable to the band's earlier productions, having typical sound for Sunlight studios.cite web
url = http://www.anus.com/metal/therion.html
title = Therion
work = American Nihilist Underground Society
accessdate = 2008-02-06]

The lyrical content had changed into an occult themes. Therion began being inspired by H. P. Lovecraft writings. The song title "Cthulhu" refers to Lovecraft's fictional giant Cthulhu that appears in Cthulhu Mythos. [Hill 2006, [http://books.google.com/books?id=ZyFoBl6M6LEC&pg=PA74&ei=FD-qR_qWPJ-0iQGS4d2rCg&sig=AzGQ8BHzXjE7z2ZglDpKGe2rVNI#PPA74,M1 p. 74] .]

2000 re-release album contains original remastered songs, and four bonus demo songs.

Tour

After recording album, Therion started to play their first live shows in central Europe, mainly in the Netherlands and Belgium although simultaneously band ran into a few personnel problems. Forss decided to leave the band, Hansson quit the band after health problems. The shows were played using a new line-up. Piotr Wawrzeniuk, from the band Carbonized in which Johnsson also played, took up drumming duties. The guitar was taken up by Magnus Barthelsson, an old school friend of Johnsson's, while Andreas Wahl took up the bass.

Reception

"Beyond Sanctorum" received many good opinions being acclaimed as genius melodic death metal [cite web
author="Abaddon"
url = http://metal.pl/recenzja.php?id=289
title = Beyond Sanctorum
work = Metal.pl
language = Polish
accessdate = 2008-02-06] and classic of death metal. It has received 3 of 5 rating by Allmusic, [cite web
url = http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:70q3g4aptv4z
title = Beyond Sanctorum
work = Allmusic
accessdate = 2008-02-06] and 3.66 of 5 by Rate Your Music community being #201 in its 1992 ranking. [cite web
url = http://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/therion/beyond_sanctorum/
title = Beyond Sanctorum
work = Rate Your Music
accessdate = 2008-02-12]

Track listing

# "Future Consciousness" – 5:00
# "Pandemonic Outbreak" – 4:21
# "Cthulhu" – 6:12
# "Symphony of the Dead" – 6:49
# "Beyond Sanctorum" – 2:36
# "Enter the Depths of Eternal Darkness" – 4:46
# "Illusions of Life" – 3:20
# "The Way" – 11:06
# "Paths" – 2:03
# "Tyrants of the Damned" – 3:43

Re-release

2000 re-release version contains following bonus demo version tracks:

# "Cthulhu" (demo version) – 6:10
# "Future Consciousness" (demo version) – 5:07
# "Symphony of the Dead" (demo version) – 6:13
# "Beyond Sanctorum" (demo version) – 2:29

Personnel

;Therion
*Christofer Johnsson – vocals, guitar, bass guitar
*Peter Hansson – guitar, keyboards, bass
*Oskar Forss – drums

; Guest musicians:
*Magnus Eklöv – lead guitar on "Symphony of the Dead" & "Beyond Sanctorum"
*Anna Granqvist – vocals on "Symphony of the Dead" & "Paths"
*Fredriq Lundberg – vocals on "Symphony of the Dead" & "Paths"

; Production
*Rex Gisslén – engineer, co-producer
*Kristian Wåhlin – cover art

Notes

References

* cite book
last = Hill
first = Gary
title = The Strange Sound of Cthulhu: Music Inspired by the Writings of H. P. Lovecraft
year = 2006
publisher = Lulu.com
isbn = 184728776X

External links

* [http://main.megatherion.com/Albums/Beyond_Sanctorum.xhtml "Beyond Sanctorum"] at the official website
*
*

; Audio samples
* [http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000056P4U "Beyond Sanctorum"] at Amazon.com