Vovin Review

Band	Therion
Album	Vovin
Type	Album (Studio full-length)
Released	May 4, 1998
Genres	Symphonic Metal
Labels	Nuclear Blast
Length	55:17
Ranked	#5 for 1998 , #107 all-time

Reviewer :  SilentScream213         Rating :  75 / 100

This one leans a lot further into choral and Gothic elements. No traces of any of the band’s Extreme Metal past remain, as most vocal duties are handled by operatic vocals and choirs. The music is still evil sounding, but much more gentle, smooth, and melodic (as far as Metal goes, that is). Songs are built around powerful orchestral pieces, guitars offering simple but effective leads in support of the chorus and strings.

All of the above aspects hold this album together, but there’s a fantastic amount of variety to found. There’s slow Gothic dirges, faster Power Metal pieces, aggressive parts, softer parts, dark atmospheres and uplifting moods. What’s more, the band succeeds in pulling off just about every different style they go for here, which makes the album entertaining and ever changing. Even individual songs shift between these traits, having a fair amount of Progressive elements in many of these compositions.

Each song is densely layered and well-constructed. For me personally, it definitely would have benefitted from some of their past Extreme Metal traits, and I do feel a slight lack of overall heaviness to be found here. But I can’t complain, it’s a very solid and consistent album especially for one with so many different styles present.