Not quite sure what audience Therion are after here with Miskolc Experience...then again, judging by the varied music this act has been creating over the last decade, I don't think they are too sure either. This is a live CD/DVD set filmed/recorded at a concert in Romania with a full choir and orchestra, and the first set is a full-on classical/opera concierto so to speak, as the band, orchestra, and choir cover famous works by Wagner, Mozart, Verdi, and others. For many metal fans, this might be a pleasant listen once or twice, but after a while you'll start to feel the urge for some symphonic and adventurous Therion tunes. It's not that these classics are not well done, and there's plenty of bombast and soaring operatic choir vocals, but if we all wanted to listen to something of this nature, I'm sure there are better avenues to take.
Over on the second set, the full Therion band and singers, backed by the orchestra and choir, tackle some Therion classics like "Draconian Trilogy", "Lemuria", "Sirius B", "The Rise Of Sodom And Gomorrah", and of course "Blood Of Kingu", among others. Though the meeting of rock/metal and orchestra has been done to death other the last few years, this is pretty entertaining stuff all around, though hardly essential listening unless you are a real die-hard fan of the band. The meshing of symphonic rock, prog, extreme metal, power metal, and classical makes for a strange yet interesting mix, and again shows how Therion refuse to be pigeonholed into any one genre. Quite frankly, you just never know what direction these guys will go in next. Of note is that band leader Christofer Johnsson basically ousted the entire band not long after these concerts, so this is basically the last you will see of the 'classic' line-up of Therion.
Kudos to Nuclear Blast for making this available in this set on CD and DVD. The DVD is well filmed and colorful, with good sound, although the audio and video seems to be out of synch in spots. Overall it's a nice set and package, certainly not essential for the casual fan but longtime followers of the band will need to have it.
Track Listing
CD 1
Classical Adventures
01. Clavicula Nox
02. Dvorak: Excerpt from Symphony no. 9
03. Verdi: Vedi! le fosche notturne spotigle from Il Trovatore
04. Mozart: "Dies Irae" from Reqiuem
05. Saint-Saens: Excerpt from Symphony No. 3
06. Wagner: "Notung! Notung! Niedliches Schwert!" from The Ring
07. Wagner: Excerpt from the Overture from Rienzi
08. Wagner: Second part of "Der Tag ist da" from Rienzzi
09. Wagner: First part of "Herbei! Herbei!" from Rienzi
CD 2
Therion Songs
01. Blood Of Kingu
02. Sirius B
03. Lemuria
04. Eternal Return
05. Draconian Trilogy
06. Schwartsalbenheim
07. Via Nocturna
08. The Rise Of Sodom And Gomorrah
09. Grand Finale
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