''Symphony Masses: Ho Drakon Ho Megas'' is the third studio album by Swedish

symphonic metal Symphonic metal is a cross-genre style designation for the symphonic subsets of heavy metal music subgenres. It is used to denote any metal band that makes use of symphonic or orchestral elements. The style features the heavy drums and guitars ...

band Therion, released in April 1993. The album was remastered and re-released by

Nuclear Blast Nuclear Blast Records is a German record label with subsidiary, subsidiaries located in Germany, the United States and Brazil. It was founded in 1987 by Markus Staiger in Donzdorf. Originally releasing hardcore punk records, the label moved on ...

in 2000 as part of ''

The Early Chapters of Revelation ''The Early Chapters of Revelation'' is the first box set by Swedish symphonic metal band Therion, released in 2000. Box-set contains remastered and rereleased first three albums of the official Therion's discography during their death metal era: ...

'' box-set.

Etymology

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

, ''ho Drakon ho Megas'' (ὁ Δράκων ὁ Μέγας) means " The Great Dragon". Uttering ''Ho Drakon Ho Megas'' is typically used at the end of ceremonies and rituals when conjuring the

Draconian Draconian is an adjective meaning "of excessive severity", that derives from Draco, an Athenian law scribe under whom small offenses had heavy punishments ( Draconian laws). Draconian may also refer to: * Draconian (band) Draconian is a Sw ...

force in a magical order

Dragon Rouge Thomas Karlsson (born 1972) is a Swedish occult and esoteric writer, with a PhD in the History of Religions from Stockholm University. (Thomas Karlsson's PhD thesis, in Swedish) In 1989 he founded Dragon Rouge, a Left-Hand Path initiatory orga ...

, in which head of the band

Christofer Johnsson Christofer Jan Johnsson (born 10 August 1972) is a Swedish musician and producer. He is a founding member and the guitarist for symphonic metal band Therion and was previously a member of Carbonized, Liers in Wait, Messiah, and Demonoid. In ...

used to be member.

Recording and production

Active Records Active Records was a record sublabel of RCA Records founded in 1980. The label focused mainly on heavy metal music. The label was dissolved in 1994. Bands * Anacrusis * Atheist * Budgie * Candlemass * Merciless * Destiny * Therion See also ...

, Therion's music label, decided to scale down their operations and the band was switched to the new owners,

Megarock Records Megarock Records was a Swedish record label which focused on heavy metal music. It was located in Stockholm. Bands * Abstrakt Algebra * Ace's High * Alien * Backyard Babies * Bad Habit * Candlemass * Criss * Crossroad Jam * It's Alive * Jeste ...

. The band was recording the album from December 1992 to January 1993 in The Montezuma Studio in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, with the aid of engineer Rex Gisslén. ''Symphony Masses: Ho Drakon Ho Megas'' was released under changed line-up; only

remained. During the playing ''

Beyond Sanctorum ''Beyond Sanctorum'' is the second studio album by Swedish symphonic metal band Therion, released in January 1992. It was re-released on 27 November 2000 under the Nuclear Blast label as a part of '' The Early Chapters of Revelation'' boxset. It ...

'' tour, band ran into a few personnel problems.

Oskar Forss Oskar Forss was a co-founder and during the years of 1987–1992 drummer of Swedish symphonic metal Symphonic metal is a cross-genre style designation for the symphonic subsets of heavy metal music subgenres. It is used to denote any metal ...

decided to leave the band, Peter Hansson quit the band after health problems.

Piotr Wawrzeniuk Piotr Wawrzeniuk (born 1971 in Warsaw) is a Polish historian and musician. He is best known as a member of the symphonic metal band Therion, and as a member of Serpent, Carbonized, and The Robots. Music career Wawrzeniuk was a member of Swedis ...

, from the band

Carbonized Carbonized was a Swedish avant-garde metal band formed in Saltsjöbaden in 1988. The band was formed by Lars Rosenberg in 1988, with Dismember vocalist Matti Kärki. Joined by drummer Piotr Wawrzeniuk, the trio was completed by Therion's Chri ...

in which Johnsson also played, took up drumming duties. The guitar was taken up by

Magnus Barthelsson Magnus Barthelsson is a guitarist and former member of Therion (1993–1994), Grain, Feeble Lies, Conspiracy and Formicide. References * Therion (band) members Swedish heavy metal guitarists Living people Year of birth missing (living pe ...

, an old school friend of Johnsson's, while Andreas Wahl took up the bass.

Songs

The song "A Black Rose" has been included in a Nuclear Blast DVD compilation ''Death… Is Just the Beginning Classics'' released on March 25, 2002.

Reception

''Symphony Masses: Ho Drakon Ho Megas'' mostly gained very positive reviews. It has received ratings of 4 of 5 by

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

with songs "Dark Princess Naamah", "Dawn of Perishness", and "Ho Drakon Ho Megas: The Dragon Throne/Fire and Ecstacy" picked by its staff, and 3.47 of 5 by the

Rate Your Music Rate Your Music (often abbreviated to RYM) is an online encyclopedia of music releases and films. Users can catalog items from their personal collection, review them, and assign ratings in a five-star rating system. The site also features comm ...

community being number 473 in its 1993 ranking.

Track listing

All songs were written by Christofer Johnsson.

Personnel

; Therion *

–

vocal The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound producti ...

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

, keyboards *

– guitar *Andreas Wallan Wahl –

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

–

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

; Production *Rex Gisslén – engineer, producer ; Cover design *

Kristian Wåhlin Kristian Wåhlin (born 4 December 1971) is a Swedish musician, singer, graphic designer and album cover artist for many bands in the extreme metal scene worldwide. He is often credited under his pseudonym Necrolord. Biography Wåhlin's interes ...

– cover illustration *Mikael P. Eriksson – cover photographs and design

Release history

Notes

References

External links

''Symphony Masses: Ho Drakon Ho Megas''
at the official website * ; Audio samples
''Symphony Masses: Ho Drakon Ho Megas''
at

Amazon.com Amazon.com, Inc., doing business as Amazon, is an American multinational technology company engaged in e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. Founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezos in Bellevu ...

{{Authority control 1993 albums Albums with cover art by Kristian Wåhlin Megarock Records albums Nuclear Blast albums Therion (band) albums