Therion’s 23-year long career has been a constant commercial rise, marked by four distinct and stylistically diverse periods. In the very beginning Christofer Johnsson’s project was a pure death metal monster, raging and roaring like a Nordic storm (try the first two releases ‘Of Darkness...‘ и ‘Beyond Sanctorum‘). It was only after the early death metal days that Christofer’s esoteric interests and love for classical music became more evident. The second, transitional period included more adventurous approach towards compositions plus well-structured, almost heavy metal tracks ( ‘Symphony Masses: Ho Drakon Ho Megas‘ and the marvelous ‘Lepaca Kliffoth‘). Therion’s 1996 album ‘Theli‘ marked the beginning of era 3 for the band – the complete merging of occult lyrics. Symphonic bombast, epic choirs and heavy guitars. ‘Vovin‘,‘Deggial‘ and ‘Secret of the Runes‘ followed, received splendidly by both fans and critics. Yet, we might have objected to the fact that great though it was, Therion’s formula was getting predictable. We soon regretted wanting a change for when change came with 2007’s ‘Gothic Kabbalah‘ it was not a pleasant surprise but a total disappointment. A shallow and unimaginative piece of contemporary Gothic metal, that album marked era 4 for Therion. Sadly ‘Sitra Ahra‘ follows in the footsteps of ‘Gothic Kabbalah‘. All the time changes, flutes, marching drums and riffs in the 10-minute opus ‘Land of Canaan‘ can’t hide the complete lack of big, clear ideas that could elevate the album above the average level of a something patched hastily together. The sound of the guitars is deliberately quiet (try comparing ‘Kali Yuga, Pt. 3‘ to anything from ‘Vovin‘ for example), Snowy Shaw’s voice is ridiculous in its efforts to sound both rocknroll and operatic, and while decent, the female singing could move the 13-year old Tarja fans but certainly not me. With its lean on ballads and pseudo-prog tinged Gothic metal, ‘Sitra Ahra‘ could only lead one to the sad, sad conclusion that these days Johnsson is more capable of putting out sleazy rock operas rather than anything remotely close to the classic Therion albums of old.