Of Darkness…

Released in 1991, 'Of Darkness...' is the debut full-length from Sweden's Therion, recorded at the legendary Sunlight Studio with producer Tomas Skogsberg. While the band is now synonymous with symphonic metal and operatic arrangements, this album is a pure death metal document. However, even at this early stage, Christofer Johnsson was incorporating progressive elements and 'atypical' song structures that separated Therion from the more straightforward 'Stockholm sound' of bands like Entombed or Dismember. The lyrics notably focus on social and political themes rather than the occult or mythological topics that would later define the band. It compiles material written during their demo years (1987-1989), serving as a definitive end-cap to their initial creative phase before they began experimenting with keyboards and choral vocals on subsequent releases. It remains a cult classic of the Swedish scene for its unique blend of brutality and nascent technicality.