Beyond Sanctorum
Encyclopedia
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.
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.
and other elements to their sound. The record shows a more experimental edge to the death metal
music, with keyboard instrument
s, clean male & female vocalists used sparingly, and also some Persian folk music tunes. However, the riff
ing 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. 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.
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 deity Cthulhu
that appears in Cthulhu Mythos
.
2000 re-release album contains original remastered songs, and four bonus demo songs.
, 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.
and classic of death metal. It has received 3 of 5 rating by Allmusic, and 3.66 of 5 by Rate Your Music
community being #201 in its 1992 ranking.
Guest musicians:
Production
Audio samples
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
released on January 1992 by Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
band Therion
Therion (band)
Therion is a Swedish symphonic metal band founded by Christofer Johnsson in 1987. The word "therion" comes from the Greek therion , meaning "Beast," i.e., that of the Christian Book of Revelation...
. The album was re-released on November 27, 2000 under Nuclear Blast
Nuclear Blast
Nuclear Blast is an independent record label and mail order record distributor with subsidiaries in Germany, the United States and Brazil. The record label was founded in 1987 by Markus Staiger in Germany. Originally releasing hardcore punk records, the label moved on to releasing albums by melodic...
label as a part of The Early Chapters of Revelation
The Early Chapters of Revelation
The Early Chapters of Revelation is a 3 CDs box-set released by Swedish heavy metal band Therion in 2000. Box-set contains remastered and rereleased first three albums of the official Therion's discography: Of Darkness..., Beyond Sanctorum and Symphony Masses: Ho Drakon Ho Megas...
box-set. It contains remastered songs, as well as four bonus tracks.
Recording and production
The band signed a contract with Active RecordsActive Records
Active Records is a record sublabel of RCA. Label focuses mainly in heavy metal music.-Bands:* Atheist* Budgie* Candlemass* Therion* Destiny...
after the deal with previous label Deaf Records
Deaf Records
Deaf Records is a record sublabel of Peaceville Records. The label focuses mainly in heavy metal music.-Bands:* Accidental Suicide* Agathocles* At the Gates* Banished* Drudge* Impaler* Isengard* Morta Skuld* Pitchshifter* Prophecy of Doom* Therion...
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
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
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
Peter Hansson
Peter Hansson is a co-founder and guitarist of Swedish metal band Therion.- References :...
, Oskar Forss
Oskar Forss
Oskar Forss was a co-founder and during the years of 1987–1992 drummer of Swedish then-death metal band Therion.-Music career:Oskar Forss was a drummer of a pre-Therion band called Blitzkrieg. Due to personal problems with Forss, band decided to split up in ca. March 1988 but soon reformed having...
and Christofer Johnsson
Christofer Johnsson
Christofer Johnsson is a Swedish musician. He is a founding member and the guitar player for Therion and used to be in Carbonized, Liers in Wait, Messiah and Demonoid. He is a member of the magical order Dragon Rouge and founder of the defunct Dark Age Music label...
filling in on bass guitar.
Songs, lyrical themes and influences
In Beyond Sanctorum Therion began progressively including classicalClassical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
and other elements to their sound. The record shows a more experimental edge to the death metal
Death metal
Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It typically employs heavily distorted guitars, tremolo picking, deep growling vocals, blast beat drumming, minor keys or atonality, and complex song structures with multiple tempo changes....
music, with keyboard instrument
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
s, clean male & female vocalists used sparingly, and also some Persian folk music tunes. However, the riff
RIFF
The Resource Interchange File Format is a generic file container format for storing data in tagged chunks. It is primarily used to store multimedia such as sound and video, though it may also be used to store any arbitrary data....
ing sections can be compared to most Stockholm death metal (see Scandinavian death metal
Scandinavian death metal
Swedish death metal is a death metal music scene developed in Sweden. Many Swedish death metal bands are associated with the melodic death metal movement, thus giving Swedish death metal a different sound from other variations of death metal. Unlike American death metal groups, the first Swedish...
) bands with power chord riffing in classical harmonic sense, its melodiousness, and lead riffing focusing on melodies. 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.
The lyrical content had changed into an occult
Occult
The word occult comes from the Latin word occultus , referring to "knowledge of the hidden". In the medical sense it is used to refer to a structure or process that is hidden, e.g...
themes. Therion began being inspired by H. P. Lovecraft
H. P. Lovecraft
Howard Phillips Lovecraft --often credited as H.P. Lovecraft — was an American author of horror, fantasy and science fiction, especially the subgenre known as weird fiction....
writings. The song title "Cthulhu" refers to Lovecraft's fictional deity Cthulhu
Cthulhu
Cthulhu is a fictional character that first appeared in the short story "The Call of Cthulhu", published in the pulp magazine Weird Tales in 1928. The character was created by writer H. P...
that appears in Cthulhu Mythos
Cthulhu Mythos
The Cthulhu Mythos is a shared fictional universe, based on the work of American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft.The term was first coined by August Derleth, a contemporary correspondent of Lovecraft, who used the name of the creature Cthulhu - a central figure in Lovecraft literature and the focus...
.
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 EuropeCentral Europe
Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...
, mainly in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
and Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
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
Piotr Wawrzeniuk
Piotr Wawrzeniuk is a Polish vocalist and drummer. Best known for membership in symphonic metal Therion, but also member of Serpent, Carbonized and The Robots.-Music career:...
, from the band Carbonized
Carbonized
Carbonized were a Swedish death metal band formed 1988 in Saltsjöbaden. The band was formed by Lars Rosenberg in 1988, with Dismember vocalist Matti Kärki...
in which Johnsson also played, took up drumming duties. The guitar was taken up by Magnus Barthelsson
Magnus Barthelsson
Magnus Barthelsson is a guitarist and former member of Therion , Grain, Feeble Lies, Conspiracy, Formicide.- References :...
, 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 metalMelodic death metal
Melodic death metal is a heavy metal music style that combines elements from the New Wave of British Heavy Metal with elements of death metal. The style was developed during the early and mid-1990s, primarily in England and Scandinavia...
and classic of death metal. It has received 3 of 5 rating by Allmusic, and 3.66 of 5 by Rate Your Music
Rate Your Music
Rate Your Music is a metadata database where musical albums, EPs, singles, videos, bootlegs, and movies are rated and reviewed by users. This data is then used to generate recommendations for users and to create rated lists of albums...
community being #201 in its 1992 ranking.
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 JohnssonChristofer JohnssonChristofer Johnsson is a Swedish musician. He is a founding member and the guitar player for Therion and used to be in Carbonized, Liers in Wait, Messiah and Demonoid. He is a member of the magical order Dragon Rouge and founder of the defunct Dark Age Music label...
– vocals, guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick.... - Peter HanssonPeter HanssonPeter Hansson is a co-founder and guitarist of Swedish metal band Therion.- References :...
– guitar, keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, bass - Oskar ForssOskar ForssOskar Forss was a co-founder and during the years of 1987–1992 drummer of Swedish then-death metal band Therion.-Music career:Oskar Forss was a drummer of a pre-Therion band called Blitzkrieg. Due to personal problems with Forss, band decided to split up in ca. March 1988 but soon reformed having...
– drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
Guest musicians:
- Magnus Eklöv – lead guitarLead guitarLead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
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 WåhlinKristian WåhlinKristian Wåhlin is a Swedish musician, graphic designer, and album cover artist for many bands in the extreme metal scene worldwide. He is often credited under his pseudonym, Necrolord....
– cover art
External links
- Beyond Sanctorum at the official website
Audio samples
- Beyond Sanctorum at Amazon.comAmazon.comAmazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...