Therion – Mean Fiddler 2007

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A rare UK headlining date for Sweden’s Therion brought German metal veterans Grave Digger along for a co-headlining European trek, with support from Sabaton. With both Therion and Grave Digger wishing to play long sets, the night started early; Sabaton playing at around 6:30pm. On the German dates of the tour Grave Digger are playing a full headlining set of 105 minutes (that’s an hour and three quarters) before Therion’s set of the same length. Fans have been warned that the show may finish after the local public transportation does. They wouldn’t get away with that here. They’re not Guns N’ Roses.

They did get away with extending the Sunday night curfew at the Mean Fiddler to 11pm instead of the usual 10:30pm, though. Grave Digger’s shortened 75 minute set included several of their classic songs from their career, plus a couple from their brand new album Liberty Or Death. The Grave Digger portion of the audience was substantial, probably because it was 2000 the last time the band played in London, and every track got a good reception, including the ones from the new album, which has only been out for a couple of weeks. The problem with Grave Digger, apart from the wiry and highly unlikely looking frame of singer Chris Boltendahl, is that every song, even when not about similar medieval subject matter, is played at the same pace with remarkably similar riffs and structure. Apart from long-time fan favourite Heavy Metal Breakdown, the biggest cheer of the set was reserved for The Last Supper, the only song played with a different pace to the rest. Coincidence? I doubt it.

Despite having 35 minutes between Grave Digger’s set and the allotted start time of Therion’s set, they still came on late. This wasn’t the fault of the band, who could be seen waiting at the side of the stage with five minutes to spare, but was the fault of the two stage hands who were still fiddling with little things and tuning guitars (surely something that should have been done earlier?) Therion’s stage set-up was impressive for the venue. A huge pictorial backdrop, noting the 20th anniversary of the band with the dates 1987 and 2007 in the bottom left and right corners respectively, hung behind two additional platforms either side of the drum riser, which each held two microphones for the four singers. One side stood former Yngwie Malmsteen vocalist Mats Leven (also on third guitar from time to time) and touring soprano Lori Lewis, and on the other, former Dream Evil drummer Snowy Shaw and the cheekily beautiful Katarina Lilja (Sobre Nocturne), who shared much of the female vocals on new album Gothic Kabbalah with Swedish soprano Hannah Holgersson.

Shaw in particular was thoroughly impressive as a singer. His range is excellent and he coped easily with the operatic style required for Therion music. Leven is a well-known metal singer, with an established background and the requisite range, but even his low-end operatic lines came as a surprise. It was also interesting to note the contrast in attitude towards the performance from the two male voices. While Leven was still in full metal front-man mode for much of the show, Shaw was trying to involve everyone and make it a more theatrical performance. He could regularly be seen looking across at whichever other singer he was performing with at any moment to try and catch their eye and make sure they stepped forward at the same time for harmony lines, or putting his arm around the shoulders of one of the others as they sang together. At times he perhaps seemed uncertain, but clearly relished the role. It would be great to see him front a band at some stage. Leven meanwhile, the precise sum of Ronnie James Dio and Myles Kennedy, would generally be head banging by himself, hanging from his microphone stand. This is fair enough, as Leven was always hired to be the lead singer of Therion, whereas Shaw was added as an additional vocalist, it was just an interesting contrast to note.

Therion mastermind and rhythm guitarist Christofer Johnsson was strangely anonymous for much of the show, only really coming to life during the last couple of songs. Obviously throughout the rest of the show he did his job, and did it well, he just wasn’t particularly animated, leaving most of the attention for the singers and guitarist Kristian Niemann, who’s blistering solos would receive waves of appreciation.

The multiple singers approach, as it has done for the likes of Arjen Lucassen’s Star One in the past, adds a unique dynamic to metal that cannot be achieved with just the one. The dueling voices, especially female and male, effortlessly creates an additional sense of grandeur, often turning the music into a performance rather than a gig. This is, of course, similar in nature to an opera. Hence the term “rock opera” applied to much of Arjen Lucassen’s Ayreon work.

The set was predictably a mixture of tracks from the new double album and stuff from each of their albums since Vovin (the album credited with being the breakthrough to their current symphonic style). Of the new songs, Son of The Staves of Time received the loudest response as it’s not been played too often on the tour so far. It’s also the most adrenaline-filled song on the album, with a powerful, classic metal lead vocal from Leven. And of course, the band’s almost-ever-present Celtic Frost cover To Mega Therion proved as popular as anything else.

Normal procedure for a co-headliner tour is to rotate the headlining acts on each night. However, it’s easy to see why Therion are top of this bill. Their show is much better than Grave Digger’s, and they are quite rightly the bigger draw (apart from in Germany, where as already mentioned Grave Digger are being afforded a longer set). For me, the night belonged to Snowy Shaw, who is not normally a singer and proved he is more than capable of stepping up and fronting a performance as grand as Therion’s.

“ unique dynamic ”

Grave Digger Setlist: Liberty Or Death / The Dark of The Sun / Excaliber / Valhalla / Lionheart / Yesterday / Raven / The Round Table (Forever) / Highland Tears / Morgane Lefay / Knights of The Cross / Rebellion // The Last Supper / Heavy Metal Breakdown

Therion Setlist: Der Mitternacht Lowe / Schwartzalbenheim / Blood of Kingu / The Falling Stone / An Arrow From The Sun / Deggial / Wine of Akuqah / The Perennial Sophia / Son of The Sun / Son of The Staves of Time / Birth Of Venus Illegitima / Tuna 1613 / Drum solo / Muspelheim / Rise Of Sodom & Gomorrah / Ginnugagap / Grand Finale // Lemuria / Nightside of Eden / To Mega Therion

Photo(s): Johan Eriksson | www.rockersdigest.com

Written by Andy Lye
More: Gigs, Power Metal, Symphonic, Grave Digger, Therion