Beyond Sanctorum

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Beyond Sanctorum
Beyond Sanctorum.jpg
Studio album by
Therion
ReleasedJanuary 1992
Recorded1991
The Montezuma Studio, Stockholm, Sweden
GenreDeath-doom
Length49:56
1:09:43 (reedition)
LabelActive Records
CDATV 23
Nuclear Blast (reedition)
NB 578-2
ProducerRex Gisslén, Christofer Johnsson, Peter Hansson
Therion chronology
Of Darkness...
(1991) 		Beyond Sanctorum
(1992) 		Symphony Masses: Ho Drakon Ho Megas
(1993)
Alternative cover
The Early Chapters of Revelation reedition cover
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 27 November 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 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.[1]

Music, legacy and lyrics[]

According to Christofer Johnsson, Beyond Sanctorum saw the band exploring "different elements", like Persian traditional music, and the inclusion of clean singing—female as well as male—to accompany increased keyboard experimentations.[2]

Deathmetal.org notes allusions to Celtic Frost and Obituary and a technique similar to that of Godflesh in layering of melodies, an approach that would be material to future black metal and death metal bands. With Beyond Sanctorum, Therion also added vibrant yet unsentimental solos and creative bass harmony to the metal music lexicon.[3]

The lyrics of the album diverge into the occult[1] and introduce a Lovecraftian influence with the track "Cthulhu".[4]

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.[1]

Reception[]

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Rate Your Music3.41/5[5]
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic3/5 stars[6]

Deathmetal.org considers Beyond Sanctorum a classic of early 1990s Swedish death metal, dubbing it an "endlessly inventive" album that "stimulate[s] fantasy and thought".[3]

Track listing[]

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

Re-release[]

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

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

Personnel[]

1992 Beyond Sanctorum main line-up
Therion
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

Notes[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c "Biography". Official website. Archived from the original on 2010-06-29. Retrieved 2008-02-06.
  2. ^ "Beyond Sanctorum". Official website. Archived from the original on 2008-02-16. Retrieved 2008-02-06.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b "Therion - Beyond Sanctorum (Death Metal)". www.deathmetal.org. Retrieved 2021-05-03.
  4. ^ Hill 2006, p. 74.
  5. ^ "Beyond Sanctorum". Rate Your Music. Retrieved 2021-05-03.
  6. ^ Beyond Sanctorum - Therion | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic, retrieved 2021-05-03

References[]

  • Hill, Gary (2006). The Strange Sound of Cthulhu: Music Inspired by the Writings of H. P. Lovecraft. Lulu.com. ISBN 1-84728-776-X.

External links[]

Audio samples
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