THERION & LEPROUS
SHEPHERDS BUSH EMPIRE – 31/10/10
Gigs on Halloween make a convenient excuse to avoid pesky kids in silly costumes banging the door down for candy, and there was certainly no shortage of choice on this eve with Alice Cooper, Stone Sour and Alien Sex Fiend all in town. For me, it was no contest it had to be Therion that got my patronage. It’s my first time at Shepherds Bush Empire, and have to say I found it quite a nice venue – I’m generally not a fan of large venues but the set up of things and perhaps the fact that it wasn’t absolutely rammed meant I could get a comfortable spot on the floor and unobstructed view of the stage. The only thing I really didn’t understand was why photographers were required to hand their cameras in backstage after two songs when the crowd was full of people with compact cameras and camera phones snapping happy away? It defeats the purpose, surely. I arrived just as Loch Vostok were playing out their last song which is quite a shame as what I heard sounded intriguing as vocals bellow through the venue and the keyboards sound good within the heavy mix.
Leprous are a band I was told I should make an effort to see, and the more well informed among you should be aware these are in fact the backing musicians for ex. Emperor frontman Ishahn. The band are dressed up incredibly smart and make a dynamic bunch to watch and snap photos of – Einar Solberg particularly is a raging ball of energy behind the keyboard as he whips his dreadlocks frantically, while the guitarists put on quite a show too bouncing riffs off one another and moving around the stage. As expected their style is heavily progressive; a little too much so for my tastes but while the guitars do go on a bit for their own sake, especially on ‘Dare You’ there is enough to like about them too. The keyboards at times are really quirky and unpredictable, and the vocals equally so, ranging from a clean croon to hardcore shouts. ‘Phantom Pain’ has a beautiful warmth to it that has shades of Opeth, while the pained wailing brings to mind Thom York, before swirling off into a maelstrom of fierce riffing, manic drums and off-kilter time signatures. This was a performance that I found enticing in places, but overall left me cold. Nevertheless, the rude jeers from nearby for them to get off the stage were quite unnecessary.
Of course Therion were the main attraction of the night and as far as I’m concerned were in a total different league to the supports. I have only seen Therion live once before at Prog Power 2006 and was expecting them to put on quite a show. They didn’t disappoint. Thankfully having reviewed the latest album I’ve had plenty of chance to get acquainted with the new songs and am quite pleased to hear them open the set with title track ‘Sitra Ahra’ which having been going round in my head for the past day or so now is an indication how catchy this one is. It strikes with a real powerful force and has a majestic swagger to it; seeing it performed tonight with the vocal parts shared out between the four vocalists it really comes to life. Having stated in my review that the new album sounded to be a return to the Lemuria/Sirius B sound, I wasn’t surprised when Snowy Shaw announced that Sitra Ahra is the third part of the trilogy.
‘The Perennial Sophia’ is one of my favourite tracks from Gothic Kaballah and tonight it lights up the stage with an incredibly exotic warmth and air of sophistication. I love the way it unravels at a slow pace, swaying gently while Thomas Vikstrom emits a deep bellow, while dressed as some sort of ghostly sailor. It’s great to hear them delve into their back catalogue and bring us songs from Theli and Vovin as well as more recent stuff, such as ‘Clavicula Nox’ and Wine Of Aluqah.’ ‘Siren Of The Woods’ is the absolute highlight of the show tonight; a truly magical song and the vocals of Lori Lewis are phenomenal and send a shiver down my spine. By the way, she looks absolutely stunning as well in her red corset, her flame red hair partially covered by a black veil, and she seems to take turns with fellow soprano Katarina Lilja, during some numbers retiring behind the keyboards. Lori also states that she is “here to educate us” to the works of Mozart before the band move into ‘Dies Irae,’ a cover taken from Requiem. I must say I almost didn’t recognise Christofer Jonsson, dressed in full steampunk attire he looks quite the Victorian gentleman on the guitar, asserting his position as leader in the band. Of course the whole band have a great presence that is really larger than life, and everything seems very vibrant and theatrical. Returning for an encore, the girls are dressed up in cute fluffy outfits and bumble bee ears (come on, it’s Halloween ;) ) and apparently showered the audience with chocolate bars (I had gone to fetch my camera at this point, so boo!) Therion delivered a blinding set, that is quite easily the performance of the year in my books.
Luci Herbert
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