THERION — Time Shall Tell (review)

THERION — Time Shall Tell album cover EP · 1990 · Death Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3/5 ·
UMUR
"Time Shall Tell" is an EP release by Swedish death metal act Therion. The EP was released through House of Kicks Records in 1990. It succeeds the band´s three demo releases and is Therion´s first official label release. The EP was recorded at Sunlight Studio, Stockholm with producer Tomas Skogsberg. The original vinyl release was limited to 1.000 copies, which quickly sold out, and then House of Kicks Records pressed another 1.000 copies. The second pressing is considered a bootleg release though, as it was not approved by the band.

If you´re familiar with the quality of the material on the demo releases, it´s obvious from the opening notes of "Time Shall Tell", that Therion have improved greatly both as musicians, but also as composers. The material on the 4 track, 19:04 minutes long EP is raw, brutal, and relatively catchy death metal (all 4 tracks ended up in re-recorded versions on the band´s 1991 debut album "Of Darkness..."). Lead vocalist/guitarist Christofer Johnsson have changed his abysmal deep and unintelligble growling vocal style to a more aggressive and intense intelligible growling vocal style and it has great effect on the power and bite of the music. His vocals sound amazing on this EP.

The production values are still very raw and unpolished, but it´s above demo sound quality, and the sound production is perfect for the material. There is the right balance between being able to hear what´s going on the soundscape, and the brutality and savage authenticity which is crucial on a release like this.

I mentioned the higher quality songwriting above, and it is definitely an area where Therion have improved greatly since the early demo releases. They learned to cut a minute or two off their tracks so the tracks don´t overstay their welcome like they did on the demos, and as a result have produced much tighter and more memorable material. Therion still alternate between blast beat sections, faster-paced section, mid-paced heavy death metal grooves, and slow doom/death sections, so the tracks can sometimes be a bit structurally messy and a bit difficult to follow, but if you enjoy a rather anarchistic approach to songwriting and structure of tracks, it won´t be an issue for you. A 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is warranted.
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