Band:	Therion
Album:	Beyond Sanctorum
Style:	Death metal, Symphonic metal
Release date:	1992

01. Future Consciousness
02. Pandemonic Outbreak
03. Cthulhu
04. Symphony Of The Dead
05. Beyond Sanctorum
06. Enter The Depths Of Eternal Darkness
07. Illusions Of Life
08. The Way
09. Paths
10. Tyrants Of The Damned [bonus]
11. Cthulhu [Demo Version] [Re-issued 2000 bonus]
12. Future Consciousness [Demo Version] [Re-issued 2000 bonus]
13. Symphony Of The Damned [Demo Version] [Re-issued 2000 bonus]
14. Beyond Sanctorum [Demo Version] [Re-issued 2000 bonus]

Therion is one of the oldest Swedish death metal bands. Although they have totally changed their sound after 5-6 years their old work should not be underestimated. I actually prefer their older albums.

Beyond Sanctorum is the second full-length by Therion and the first thing that can be noticed when listening to the album is that they have changed their sound a bit. Thrash metal elements are less present than in their debut and there are more melodic death characteristics. It is also important to notice that the songs greatly differ in length, some songs like "Beyond Sanctorum" are shorter than 3 minutes while the longest "The Way" is longer than 10 minutes. With that they proved that they are capable of creating very progressive songs.

In the album the guys from Therion really proved that they are great musicians and that they have great songwriting skills. The longer songs are my favourites, especially the "Symphony of the Dead", which starts with a 3-minute intro (which is also available on "A'arab Zaraq Lucid Dreaming") and then turns into a great death metal song. "The Way" is also a very good song, although it is longer than 10 minutes it never becomes boring. Another thing worth mentioning is that the production is poor for a death metal album, but since the album has been released in 1992 I can understand it.

To sum up, this album is great for any old-school death metal fan, I would also like to add that it is also accessible to death metal newbies. I swear that you won't be sorry if you buy it!