By Vinnie Apicella

One of Sweden's most prolific metal bands, Therion, has come up with another jewel for their crown in "Deggial." When dealing with pushing musical boundaries to their fullest extent, there are few bands if any that can match up with Therion. One of the leaders of the Gothic Metal revolution that continues to sweep the European shores that's now quickly catching up to American audiences, Therion again comes out strongly with majestically creative arrangements, orchestrated smoothly in and above their usually heavy features. It's what allows traditionally classical pieces like "Eternal Return", "Ship of Luna", and "Emerald Crown" to be admirably comfortable while not fitting awkwardly amongst the explosiveness of "Seven Secrets of the Sphinx," "Enter Vril-Ye" or "Flesh of the Gods". Always at the forefront of experimentally stretching the boundaries of traditional metal, with "Deggial", the floodgates are left open several moments more than usual and here flows the winding stream of creativity that carries them toward the river of amalgamated self-expression. Haunting sound effects cradle themselves around chilling compositions… disturbing lullabies in their own right, incorporating the frequent use of chants and string arrangements in a hymnal-like fashion that stimulate the cool autumn air before withering away in the wind…

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