Live Gothic (2 CDS + DVD)

I have been a fan of Therion's for some time, but was skeptical of buying this album for two reasons: first that it was a live performance, second that all the music from this set has already been released on other albums. I went ahead and bought it - it has rapidly become one of my favorite albums.

-Despite being recorded live, the sound quality is not bad. Not on level with their studio recordings, but quite listenable. The crowd noise never drowns out the music, but the audience participation - shouting and singing along, encouraged by the vocalists - actually adds to the production. The performances are tight - this is a fabulous cast for Therion, and it's impressive that they can perform this virtuosically live.

-All of the songs have been recorded by Therion before, but these are different arrangements of the same music and are very different from the studio recordings. In every case I prefer the instrumentation and singing on the live recording here to the earlier studio one. In particular, "Wine of Aluqah," "Schwarzalbenheim," and "The Falling Stone" are much more powerful in the renditions given here.

The disadvantages to this set are that it does not include the lyrics, and that the track names are difficult to read at all.

Originally I gave this 2 stars, I jumped the gun, based on videos I saw on Youtube. I also flamed Snowy Shaw. for that I apologize. He is a very good singer, just not quite Therion. Though he can hit some of the low notes, he can't get low as some of the songs require. That said, let's move on.
This DVD is great, a good mix of songs. The only thing that really might be considered a downside(though not that big of a deal)is the performance of Wine of Aluqah. I was also happy to see some my favorites, An arrow from the sun, Lemuria, Nightside of Eden and the list goes on. Overall it is a very solid performance, much better than Celebrators of Becoming where the vocalists were pretty much stone statues during the whole show.

The 2-CD set plus DVD is a great buy. Although their music live is not quite as good as the studio music, I enjoyed it. The DVD was the best part, 2 hours long of great gothic presented music.

This 2XCD+DVD combo covers the most recent tour of Therion presenting the double CD "Gothic Kabbalah". There are many good things and a few minor things that could be improved, but the overall feeling is extraordinary, and it is highly recommended. Furthermore, even though I am reluctant to recommend a live album as a starting point for the novice, this is an exception to that rule, for it portraits the band at a creative peak, both in singing and performance.

As a Therion aficionado, the first thing I noticed was a production improvement. Both "Live in Midgard" and "Celebrators of becoming" had so-so production values. Midgard sounded a bit sterile and distant, whereas Celebrators was busy and somewhat fuzzy. The production here is crystal clear, highlighting each instrument at the right time. Volume is high, but without clipping, which is refreshing after, for example, Metallica's fiasco.

As for the show itself, it's really really good. Whereas the instrumental body of the band retains the same structure of the last three tours, vocal arrangements have changed and improved. Following the layout of Gothic Kabbalah, two female voices are now present, one lyrical, or "opera-like" (Lori Lewis, not the singer in Kabbalah) and one lighter, more rock-oriented (Katarina Lilja, same as in Kabbalah). The male singers are Snowy Shaw and Mats Leven. The female singers in particular are really interesting, and have great chemistry on the stage. They push each other and, because they have different vocal registries, they do not compete for the spotlight and they make the show interesting and fun to watch, adding to the music values.

The DVD show portraits more of the trademark gothic "props" fans enjoy, such as heavy makeup, renn/medieval/gothic outfits (particularly good-looking in the ladies) and an excellent idea flawed in execution, that is, inclusion of a belly dancer in the show. The idea is excellent, for Therion's harmonics are adaptable to Middle Eastern dances, but the dancer herself is pretty unremarkable. She feels uncomfortable on the stage and her dancing is forgettable at best. It doesn't help either that the female singers are so poised and comfortable, making one feel the dancer is a belly dancer student in a pros' show. As I said, it's a good idea that I hope the band executes it in the future with a more able dancer.

Most of the songs presented here belongs to Gothic Kabbalah, and they greatly benefit from the live treatment, particularly "Perennial", which results in an emotive onstage duet a la Roy Khan-Simone Simons in Kamelot's "Haunted". Some classics of the past, such as "Wine of Aluqah" and "Birth of Venus Illegitima" are also covered.

A minor flaw, the live DVD contains many more songs than the CDs (runs at >120 min), but the songs' names cannot be found except in the menu. A good idea for the future would be to overlay the names of the songs at the beginning of each segment. That greatly helps new fans to locate their favorites.

In summary, an almost perfect release. High quality values, good presentation, enhanced stage presence and live show, and most importantly, improved versions of excellent songs that provide new and interesting twists. A+

The Therion cd/dvd combo Live Gothic is utterly amazing!! I was fortunate enough to see the band in Denver in 2007 and the dvd more than captures the experience. To anyone who is sitting on the fence about whether or not to try a Therion cd this combo is perfect it gives an excellent sampling of their material from Theli forward and has that wonderful dvd to give some idea as to the persona of the band live.