Gothic Kabbalah

Untitled

Gothic Kabbalah is a title of Therion's album released in January 12, 2007 in Europe. This double album was produced by Stefan Glaumann who already contributed with many popular bands including Rammstein, Evergrey, Europe and Def Leppard. The main line-up has been slightly changed since previous studio albums (Lemuria and Sirius B). Petter Karlsson returned to play drums, having already played with the band during Lemuria / Sirius B tour during the period of 2004–2006. Since Christofer Johnsson announced in 2006 he is retiring from singing, vocals on Gothic Kabbalah were performed by Mats Levén, as well as Snowy Shaw and two opera female singers: Katarina Lilja and Hannah Holgersson.

Track listing

Disc one

1. "Der Mitternachtslöwe" (Christofer Johnsson, Mats Levén) – 5:38
2. "Gothic Kabbalah" (Petter Karlsson) – 4:33
3. "The Perennial Sophia" (Johan Niemann, Levén, P. Karlsson) – 4:54
4. "Wisdom and the Cage" (Kristian Niemann, P. Karlsson) – 5:01
5. "Son of the Staves of Time" (Levén) – 4:47
6. "Tuna 1613" (P. Karlsson, Snowy Shaw) – 4:23
7. "Trul" (P. Karlsson) – 5:11
8. "Close Up the Streams" (Johnsson, Levén) – 3:55

Disc two

1. "The Wand of Abaris" (Johnsson, K. Niemann) – 5:51
2. "Three Treasures" (Johnsson) – 5:20
3. "Path to Arcady" (K. Niemann, P. Karlsson) – 3:54
4. "TOF – The Trinity" (K. Niemann, Levén, P. Karlsson) – 6:18
5. "Chain of Minerva" (J. Niemann, Levén, P. Karlsson) – 5:21
6. "The Falling Stone" (P. Karlsson) – 4:46
7. "Adulruna Rediviva" (Johnsson, K. Niemann) – 13:37

Vinyl release

Gothic Kabbalah has been also released as limited edition double LP vinyl (180 gram; 33 rpm). It features colored vinyl, gatefold cover and it has been released in 1000 handnumbered copies.

Track list

Track list is as follows:

Side A

1. "Der Mitternachtslöwe"
2. "Gothic Kabbalah"
3. "The Perennial Sophia"
4. "Wisdom and the Cage"

Side B

1. "Son of the Staves of Time"
2. "Tuna 1613"
3. "Trul"
4. "Close Up the Streams"

Side C

1. "The Wand of Abaris"
2. "Three Treasures"
3. "Path to Arcady"
4. "TOF – The Trinity"

Side D

1. "Chain of Minerva"
2. "The Falling Stone"
3. "Adulruna Rediviva"

Reception

While the album has received generally good reviews from critics, including Chronicles of Chaos and All Music Guide hailing it as "the first truly great rock opera of the 21st century", it has also been accused of "pretentiousness" and "overkill".

The album was the band's first to enter the Swedish Albums Chart.

Chart positions

World wide charts

Chart (2007)	Peak position	Source
Greece	13
Poland	21
Sweden	26
United Kingdom Independent Albums Chart	45
Netherlands	55
France	58
Germany	59
Switzerland	73
Hungary	74
Belgium	84
IndieHQ Independent Sales Chart	156

Credits

• Christofer Johnsson – guitar, keyboards, programming
• Kristian Niemann – lead and rhythm guitars, keyboards
• Johan Niemann – bass guitar, guitar, acoustic guitar
• Petter Karlsson – drums, guitar, keyboards, solo and choral vocals, percussion

Guest musicians

• Mats Levén – vocals, guitar
• Snowy Shaw – vocals
• Katarina Lilja – vocals
• Hannah Holgersson – vocals, soprano
• Jonas Samuelsson–Nerbe – tenor
• Anna Nyhlin – solo soprano on "The Falling Stone" and "Path to Arcady"
• Karin Fjellander – choral soprano
• Ken Hensley – Hammond organ
• Joakim Svalberg – Hammond organ
• Rolf Pilotti – solo flute on "Gothic Kabbalah" and "Trul"
• Stefan Glaumann – tambourine

Others

• Thomas Karlsson – lyrics (all)
• Sanken Sandqvist – engineering
• Thomas Ewerhard – design

Singles

Gothic Kabbalah discography

Gothic Kabbalah discography

External links

• Informations about album at the official website
• Ecard at Nuclear Blast USA
• Stream previews at Nuclear Blast Europe
• Gothic Kabbalah at Discogs
• Gothic Kabbalah at MusicBrainz: disc one, disc two