THERION Announces New Rock Opera, 'Beloved Antichrist'

When fifteen-year-old prodigy Christofer Johnsson founded THERION as a death metal band in 1987, little did he know that exactly thirty years later he would put the final touches to a project that will go down in history as symphonic metal’s most ambitious release. While “metal operas” are no longer an unusual creation, this term will forever receive a new meaning on January 26, 2018 when the curtain opens for Johnsson‘s lifelong creation: “Beloved Antichrist” is the title of his spectacular brainchild, consisting of three full-length CDs. It’s more than just a concept album, but a complete rock opera with multiple chapters unveiling a sweeping story, partly based on and inspired by Vladimir Solovyov‘s “A Short Tale Of The Antichrist”.

With an incredible total of twenty-nine different roles and characters, who all required a unique voice, THERION hired not only a big choir, but also twenty-nine vocalists to bring the epic story to life. With longtime collaborators like Thomas Vikström, Lori Lewis and Chiara Malvestiti, fans will hear the classical THERION vibe but also be able to drown in a magical maelstrom of many new as well as familiar voices. Divided into several chapters, the opera reaches a full-length of three and a half hours and THERION is currently working on the possibility of bringing the entire production to the stage. And while this monumental undertaking still simmers away in the Swedish production halls, the band has announced a pan-European tour, including U.K. dates, where they will perform some of their new masterpieces live in a classical concert setting. Support comes from Russia’s IMPERIAL AGE, Germany’s NULL POSITIV and New York symphonic metallers MIDNIGHT ETERNAL.

THERION tour dates with IMPERIAL AGE, NULL POSITIV and MIDNIGHT ETERNAL:

Feb. 01 – DE – Essen, Turock
Feb. 02 – NL – Amsterdam, Melkweg
Feb. 03 – UK – London, Islington Assembly Hall
Feb. 04 – UK – Manchester, Rebellion
Feb. 07 – UK – Aberdeen, The Assembly
Feb. 08 – UK – Glasgow, Audio
Feb. 09 – UK – Sheffield, Corporation
Feb. 10 – UK – Belfast, Limelight
Feb. 11 – IRE – Dublin, Tivoli
Feb. 13 – UK – Bristol, Bierkeller
Feb. 14 – UK – Birmingham, O2 Institute
Feb. 16 – FR – Paris, Trabendo
Feb. 20 – ES – Bilbao, Santana 27
Feb. 21 – PT – Oporto, Hard Club
Feb. 22 – Pt – Lisboa, Lisboa Oa Vivo
Feb. 23 – ES – Sevilla, Sala Custom
Feb. 24 – ES – Madrid, Sala But 2
Feb. 25 – ES – Barcelona, Razzmatazz 2
Mar. 01 – IT – Brescia, Circolo Colony
Mar. 02 – IT – Rome, Orion
Mar. 03 – IT – Bologna, Zona Roveri
Mar. 04 – SLO – Ljubljana, Kino Siska
Mar. 05 – HR – Zagreb, Tvornica
Mar. 06 – SRB – Belgrade, Dom Obladine
Mar. 08 – GR – Thessaloniki, Principal Club Theater
Mar. 09 – GR – Athens, Poraeus 117 Academy
Mar. 10 – BG – Sofia, Weekender Club
Mar. 11 – RO – Bucharest, Arenele Romane
Mar. 13 – HU – Budapest, Barba Negra
Mar. 14 – SK – Bratislava, Majestic Music Club
Mar. 15 – CZ – Praha, Meetfactory
Mar. 16 – PL – Wroclaw, A2
Mar. 17 – PL – Warsaw, Progresja
Mar. 18 – PL – Gdansk, B90
Mar. 20 – LT – Vilnius, Rock River Club
Mar. 21 – LV – Riga, Melna Piektdiena
Mar. 29 – DE – Bremen, Tivoli
Apr. 03 – DE – Munich, Backstage
Apr. 05 – DE – Jena, F Haus
Apr. 07 – NL – Tilburg, 013
Apr. 10 – ISR – Tel Aviv, [to be announced]