THERION ( gothic symphonic)
Snowy Shaw, Petter Karlsson, Johan Niemann, Christofer Johnsson, Thomas Vikström, Lori Lewis, Mats Levén, Piotr Wawrzeniuk, Ferdy Doernberg, Kristian Niemann, Arien (belly dancer), Messiah Marcolin.
Christofer Johnsson
Therion is a Swedish symphonic metal band founded by Christofer Johnsson in 1987. The word "therion" comes from the Greek therion (θηρίον), meaning "Beast," i.e., that of the Christian Book of Revelation. However, band's name is also taken as homage to the Celtic Frost album To Mega Therion.
Beginning as a death metal band, they later turned to combining orchestral elements with their metal music, employing heavy use of choirs and classical musicians, not only as additions to but also as integral parts of the composition. The band is one of the first both commercial and audience successful heavy metal with fully live orchestra featured. It is also one of the bands which originated, popularised and highly influencedthe symphonic metal genre, cited as "the most adventurous metal band at present".
Therion's music takes its themes from different mythologies and is based on concepts ranging from occultism, magic and ancient traditions and writings. The majority of their lyrics are written by Thomas Karlsson, head and founder of the magical order Dragon Rouge, of which Johnsson is a member. The band has seen many changes in line-up and style throughout its history.
Blitzkrieg and Megatherion (1987—1988)
Therion was originally formed under the name Blitzkrieg in Upplands Väsby, Sweden. The founder, Christofer Johnsson, was originally the bassist and vocalist, despite having only played bass for a few months prior to the band's formation. Joining him in this new band were guitarist Peter Hansson and drummer Oskar Forss. Johnsson and Hansson had met in several musical groups, while Forss was an old school friend of Johnsson. Blitzkrieg's main influences were Metallica and Slayer, but their sound was similar to Venom and Motörhead. The band however never recorded any proper demos, and only did two concerts together. Blitzkrieg deciding to split up in 1988 due to problems with Forss. Only a few recordings survive to this day.
The band was reformed in 1988 under the new name Megatherion and began to be influenced by the Swiss heavy metal band Celtic Frost. The new group name was originated by their album To Mega Therion. Johnsson switched [from bass] to guitar, P. Hansson was still guitarist, while Johan Hansson became a new bassist and Mika Tovalainen a drummer. The band name was soon shortened to Therion and the rhythm section was replaced by Erik Gustafsson of Dismember as a bassist and Oskar Forss returned as a drummer.
Niemann brothers Johan (left) and Kristian (right)
Debut releases and the first contract (1989—1993)
Therion recorded and released in 1989 the first two demos, Paroxysmal Holocaust (limited to 600 copies[10]) and then Beyond the Darkest Veils of Inner Wickedness (500 copies). In 1990 band released EP release, Time Shall Tell. It was still technically a demo, as it was only published by a local record store House of Kicks in a printing of 1,000. The record got the band their first record deal with Deaf Records. Through this company, they released their first full-length album, Of Darkness....
Of Darkness... consisted of songs Johnsson had written in the 1980s; despite having newer songs, the band opted to save them for their next full release. The album can be seen as a progressive death metal album in that it contained mainly influences that were not standard to death metal at the time. The lyrics were very political, in the vein of Napalm Death and other late-1980s hardcore punk bands. The deal with Deaf Records was only for one album, and the band had never had a good relationship with the label, so after the release, they moved to Active Records.
KIM GOSS
the band began to record a second full-length album, entitled Beyond Sanctorum, in 1991. Before the recordings started Erik Gustafsson decided to leave the band in order to return home to the U.S., but Therion continued as a trio with Hansson, Forss and Johnsson filling in on bass guitar. The record Beyond Sanctorum shows a more experimental edge to the death metal music, with keyboards and clean vocalists used sparingly.
After this recording, the band ran into a few problems. Forss decided to leave the band, Hansson quit the band after health problems. The shows in the Central Europe were played using a new line-up. Piotr Wawrzeniuk, from the band Carbonized in which Johnsson also played, took up drumming duties. The guitar was taken up by Magnus Barthelsson, an old school friend of Johnsson's, while Andreas Wahl took up
Musical metamorphosis (1993—1996)
With the new line-up, the band recorded the experimental less death metal stylish, but more doom metallic Symphony Masses: Ho Drakon Ho Megas in 1993. As a Therion's first and last doom metal record it was very experimental, incorporating elements of jazz, industrial music, traditional 1980s heavy metal and religious chanting. Active Records at the time decided to scale down their operations and the band was switched to the new owners, Megarock Records.
The band, despite being popular with its hardcore fans, was still largely unknown. Sales were poor and the band members were having a hard time making ends meet. Despite the work they put in, there was no financial success for the band. Because of this, Barthelsson and Wahl were forced to quit the band. Fredrik Isaksson was brought into the band as the new bassist. After a few months break, the band got an offer from the famous metal label Nuclear Blast. Despite the record deal, Megarock Records decided to let Therion go without any strings attached. The band signed a deal with Nuclear Blast in 1994 and remain with them to date.
The first record published with the new label was Lepaca Kliffoth, though a single entitled "The Beauty in Black" was released just before as a promotion for the new record. The record was very experimental, featuring classical sopranos and bass-baritone singers, and also Johnsson with a completely new style of singing. Fredrik Isaksson left the band after some personal problems. Lars Rosenberg, from the death metal band
LORI LEWIS
Metal and symphony era beginning (1996—2001)
In 1996 Jonas Mellberg was added to the line-up and Therion began recording their new experimental album, entitled Theli. The album heavily featured the vocals of two choirs, along with some vocals from Johnsson and Wawrzeniuk. Dan Swanö also contributed to the vocals on this album. The band used keyboards heavily, so many in fact that it was humorously called "Barmbek Symphony Orchestra" after the subway station next to the studio.Theli is considering to being almost acclaimed as the apex of Therion's career to date.The sales were more than double of Lepaca Kliffoth.
After recording was over, the mixing and mastering period became stressful. Mellberg was suffering from severe alcohol problems and literally walked out of the studio, never to return to the band. Rosenberg was also having problems with alcohol, but the band survived these problems long enough to release Theli. Johnsson also had a problem with the band members; Wawrzeniuk was busy with his studies and could not go on tour so Johnsson got Tommy Eriksson of Shadowseeds to fill in on drums. Tobias Sidegard was hired to play guitar, while Kimberly Goss was hired as a keyboard player and vocalist. Rosenberg's drinking problems got worse and in result of that, he was fired from the band.
In 1997 Therion released A'arab Zaraq - Lucid Dreaming album. The record contains a few unused songs from Theli, a few cover songs the band had made, plus a full soundtrack Johnsson had made independently for the short art movie called "The Golden Embrace".
The next album, Vovin, was recorded using professional studio musicians and his friend Tommy Eriksson helping out with some additional guitars. It featured for the first time a real string orchestra and a hand picked choir of considerable number. The Austrian singer Martina Hornbacher Astner and Sarah Jezebel Deva were chosen as the lead sopranos. Total sales were over 150,000 copies in Europe alone.
The band capitalised on this success and went on tour with the band Moonspell. The hired drummer, Sami Karppinen was offered a permanent place in the band. With this new line-up, the mini album Crowning of Atlantis was recorded. It was a short album fleshed out with several covers and live tracks that the record label and management insisted be placed on it to make it a full length album. Through Karppinen, Kristian Niemann joined the band on guitar, along with his brother Johan Niemann on bass.
Karin Fjellander
Johnsson had already made material for the next release Deggial which is far more symphonic, employing far more complex orchestral scores, this time using a full orchestra as opposed to a simple string one. The record went on to sell more than Theli but never reached the high sales of Vovin. Therion then began a big tour to promote their new record. This was the band's first headline tour as before they had always been support acts to other bands.
Secret of the Runes (2001—2004)
After Deggial, Johnsson began to compose again; he had idea to make a Nordic concept album. For the recording he built band recording studio "Modern Art". The new written songs were based on the nine different worlds of the world tree Yggdrasil from the ancient Norse mythology. This album was named Secret of the Runes and released in 2001. For a bonus, the band recorded cover songs of "Crying Days" originally performed by Scorpions and "Summer Night City" of ABBA. Piotr Wawrzeniuk returned as a guest vocalist for the bonus tracks of this album. The band's tenth album received very good reviews and scores including All Music Guide editors' pick.
Therion followed up this release with a tour with Evergrey and My Insanity as support acts. After the tour, Karppinen decided to leave the band, but he was responsible enough to find a replacement drummer for the band, Richard Evensand.
In 2001, the official fan club compilation Bells of Doom was released exclusively to paying fan club members. The album contained rare songs, including some original recordings from 1987, when the band was originally called Blitzkrieg. It also contained a few songs from demos, and rarities not found on other Therion records. The album was later put for sale on Therion's webstore when the fanclub was shut down and replaced.
Selection of the recordings from the 2001 Secret of the Runes tour were released on the 2002 band's first live album, a two-disc Live in Midgård. The album was released celebrating the band's 15th anniversary.
Lemuria & Sirius B (2004—2006)
After the tour, the band decided to take stock and sort out what they had in terms of music. The seven songs that Johnsson had made had grown to a considerable number, and along with the Niemann brothers' contributions the band discovered they had 55 new songs.[8] The band decided to record and release two of the albums simultaneously. 171 musicians were used in the recording of the new albums, a 32-member choir was recorded in Prague along with many lead vocalists. The results were the albums Sirius B and Lemuria, released together in a special twin pack in 2004. The albums are far more guitar-driven and more melodic than the previous Therion records. Wawrzeniuk returned on this album to provide vocals, along with the singer Mats Levén.
On July 2005, an album entitled Atlantis Lucid Dreaming was released. As the name suggests, it is a mixture of tracks from 1997 A'arab Zaraq - Lucid Dreaming and 1999 Crowning of Atlantis. The tracklist is all the non-soundtrack songs from the first one (except for the Iron Maiden cover version), followed by the first seven Crowning of Atlantis songs, and additionally the live version of "Black Sun".
The Lemuria/Sirius B Tour would last for 106 live shows stretching over two years. The final concert took part at the ProgPower Festival in Cheltenham, UK on the March, 2006 and that was the last Christofer Johnsson vocal stage performance.[14]
Therion released their first DVD entitled Celebrators of Becoming on May 2006. The set contains four DVD discs, featuring live video from Mexico City recorded in 2004 and other live video materials, bands' documentary from the 2004–2006 World Tour, art movie "The Golden Embrace", all band music videos to date and bootlegs with commentary, and two audio CDs with a live show recorded in Mexico City.
Gothic Kabbalah (2006—2007)
On September, 2006 Christofer Johnsson announced that recordings of the new album Gothic Kabbalah had been finished and the album was subsequently released on January 12, 2007. World tour promoting the album began in the early 2007 with Grave Digger and Sabaton as a support acts.
It was recently announced on Therion's official site that the core group of musicians were parting ways. Christofer also noted that he was in no way ending Therion
A forthcoming yet untitled album is to be released in 2009
THERION MEMBERS
Christofer Johnsson guitar, keyboards, formerly vocals 1987–present all albums
Petter Karlsson drums 2004–present since Gothic Kabbalah
Johan Niemann bass guitar 1999–present since Deggial
Kristian Niemann guitar 1999–present since Deggial
Current live guest appearances
Ferdy Doernberg keyboards since 2007 ex-Uli Jon Roth, Axel Rudy Pell, Rough Silk, and more
Lori Lewis vocals since 2007 ex-Aesma Daeva
Messah Marcolin vocals since 2007 ex-Candlemass, Mercy
Thomas Vikström vocals since 2007 ex-Talk of the Town, Candlemass, Brazen Abbot, Stormwind, 7 Days, and more
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Of Darkness... (1991)
Christofer Johnsson – vocals, rhythm guitar
Peter Hansson – lead guitar, rhythm guitar
Oskar Forss – drums
Erik Gustafsson – bass guitar
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Beyond Sanctorum (1992)
Therion
Christofer Johnsson – vocals, guitar, bass guitar
Peter Hansson – guitar, keyboards, bass
Oskar Forss – drums
Guest musicians
Magnus Eklöv – lead guitar on "Symphony of the Dead" & "Beyond Sanctorum"
Anna Granqvist – vocals on "Symphony of the Dead" & "Paths"
Fredriq Lundberg – vocals on "Symphony of the Dead" & "Paths"
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Symphony Masses: Ho Drakon Ho Megas (1993)
Christofer Johnsson – vocals, guitar, keyboards
Peter Hansson – lead guitar, rhythm guitar
Andreas Wallan Wahl – bass guitar
Piotr Wawrzeniuk – drums
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Lepaca Kliffoth (1995)
Christofer Johnsson - guitar, vocals and keyboards
Piotr Wawrzeniuk - drums
Fredrik Isaksson - bass guitar
Guest musicians
Hans Groning - bass-baritone vocals ("The Beauty in Black", "Evocation of Vovin")
Claudia Maria Mokri - soprano vocals ("The Beauty in Black", "Evocation of Vovin", "Black")
Harris Johns - lead guitar (first part of solo in "The Beauty in Black")
"Jan" - additional vocals (chorus parts of "Wings of the Hydra", "Sorrows of the Moon")
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Theli (1996)
Therion line-up
Christofer Johnsson - guitar, vocals, keyboards
Piotr Wawrzeniuk - drums, vocals
Lars Rosenberg - bass guitar
Jonas Mellberg - guitar, acoustic guitar, keyboards
Guest musicians
Dan Swanö - vocals
Jan Peter Genkel - grand piano, keyboards, programming
Gottfried Koch - keyboards, programming
Orchestration was made by The Barmbek Symphony Orchestra
North German Radio Choir
Raphaela Mayhaus - soprano
Bettina Stumm - soprano
Ursula Ritters - alto
Ergin Onat - tenor
Joachim Gebhardt - bass
Klaus Bulow - bass
Siren Choir
Anja Krenz - solo soprano
Constanze Arens - soprano
Riekje Weber - alto
Stephan Gade - tenor
Axel Patz - solo bass-baritone
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A'arab Zaraq - Lucid Dreaming (1997)
Christofer Johnsson - guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, Hammond organ, grand piano
Piotr Wawrzeniuk - drums, Vocals
Jonas Mellberg - guitar, keyboards ("In Remembrance")
Lars Rosenberg - bass guitar
Guest musicians
Dan Swanö - vocals ("In Remembrance", "Black Fairy")
Tobias Sidegard - vocals ("Under Jolly Roger")
Peter Tägtgren - second and fourth lead guitar ("Under Jolly Roger")
Gottfried Koch - acoustic guitar ("Here Comes the Tears", "Up to Netzach"), grand piano
Choir and solo opera
Bettina Stumm - soprano
Raphaela Mayhaus - soprano
Marie-Therese Kubel - alto
Ergin Onat - tenor
Klaus Bulow - bass
Joachim Gebhardt - bass
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Vovin (1998)
Christofer Johnsson - guitar
Kimberly Goss - vocals, keyboard
Wolf Simon - drums
Jan Kazda - bass guitar, additional arrangements, orchestra and choir conducting
Guest musicians
Waldemar Sorychta - additional guitars
Siegfried Bemm - additionals guitars, production, mixing, mastering
Lorentz Aspen - Hammond organ ("Draconian Trilogy")
Ralf Scheepers - lead vocals ("The Wild Hunt")
Martina Hornbacher - solo and duet alto and soprano vocals
Sarah Jezebel Deva - solo and duet alto and soprano vocals
Mattias Klinkman - engineering
Choir
Eileen Kupper - soprano
Angelica Märtz - soprano
Dorothea Fischer - alto
Anne Tributh - alto
Gregor Dippel - tenor
Max Cilotek - tenor
Javier Zapater - bass
Jochen Bauer - bass
Indigo Orchestra
Orchestration was made by Indigo Orchestra:
Petra Stalz - violin
Heike Haushalter - violin
Monika Maltek - viola
Gesa Hangen - cello
Alois Kott - double bass, contrabass
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Crowning of Atlantis (1999)
Christofer Johnsson - lead and rhythm guitar, keyboards, choir/vocal melodies, classic orchestra arrangements,
Tommy Eriksson - lead and rhythm guitar
Jan Kazda - bass and acoustic guitar, additional arrangements, choir and orchestra conducting
Wolf Simon - drums (except "Crowning of Atlantis")
Sami Karppinen - drums ("Crowning of Atlantis")
Waldemar Sorychta - additional guitars, solo on "Crowning of Atlantis", "Seawinds" and second solo on "Crazy Nights"
Guest musicians
Ralf Scheepers - vocals on "Crazy Nights" and "Thor"
Eileen Kupper - vocals on "Mark of Cain"
Cossima Russo - vocals on "Mark of Cain"
Angelica Märtz - vocals on "Mark of Cain"
Martina Hornbacher - vocals on "Seawinds"
Sarah Jezebel Deva - vocals on "Seawinds" and ending vocal line on "Clavicula Nox"
Jochen Bauer - solo bass vocals on "Clavicula Nox"
Jörg Braüker - solo tenor, vocals on "Clavicula Nox"
Choir
Eileen Kupper - soprano
Angelike Maertz - soprano
Anne Tributh - alto
Joerg Braeuker - bass
Jochen Bauer - bass
Indigo orchestra
Orchestration was made by Indigo Orchestra:
Heike Haushalter - violin
Petra Stalz - violin
Monika Maltek - viola
Gesa Hangen - cello
Vovin Tour '98 line-up
Christofer Johnsson - guitar & vocals
Tommy Eriksson - guitar
Kim Blomkvist - bass
Sami Karppinen - drums
Sarah Jezebel Deva - vocals
Martina Hornbacher - vocals
Cinthia Acosta Vera - vocals
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Deggial (2000)
Christofer Johnsson - guitar, keyboards
Kristian Niemann - lead guitar
Johan Niemann - bass guitar
Sami Karppinen - drums
Thomas Karlsson - lyrics (except "O Fortuna")
Guest musicians
Hansi Kursch - lead vocals on "Flesh of the Gods"
Jan Kazda - acoustic guitar
Waldemar Sorychta - acoustic guitar on "O Fortuna"
Alexander Schimmeroth - piano
Choir
Eilen Kupper - soprano (choir, solo)
Angelica Märtz - soprano (choir)
Dorothea Fischer - alto (choir)
Anne Tributh - alto (choir)
Georg Hansen - tenor (choir, solo)
Miguel Rosales - tenor (choir)
Jörg Braüker - bass (choir, solo)
Javier Zapater - bass (choir)
Orchestra
Heike Haushalter - first violin
Petra Stalz - second violin
Monika Maltek - viola
Gesa Hangen - cello
Konstantin Weinstroer - double bass
Annette Gadatsch - flute
Stefanie Dietz - oboe
John Ellis - French horn
Volker Goetz - flugelhorn, trumpet
Dietrich Geese - tuba, sousaphone, trumpet
Daniel Häcker - orchestra drums
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Secret of the Runes (2001)
"Ginnungagap (Prologue)"
"Midgård"
"Asgård"
"Jotunheim"
"Schwarzalbenheim"
"Ljusalfheim"
"Muspelheim"
"Nifelheim"
"Vanaheim"
"Helheim"
"Secret of the Runes (Epilogue)"
Christofer Johnsson - rhythm guitar, keyboards, percussion, additional choir and orchestra arrangement on Bonus Tracks
Kristian Niemann - lead and rhythm guitar
Johan Niemann - bass guitar
Sami Karppinen - drums, percussion
Piotr Wawrzeniuk - lead vocals on "Crying Days" and "Summernight City"
Vocal and string soloists
Marika Schonberg - solo soprano
Erika Andersson - solo alto
Carl Rahmqvist - solo tenor-baritone
Anna Rodell - solo violin
Asa Akerberg - solo cello
Thomas Karlsson - whispering voice on "Ljusalfheim"
Choir
Kristina Hansson - coloratura soprano
Anna-Maria Krawe - soprano
Anna Artursson - alto
Marika Schonberg - alto
Henrik Holmberg - tenor
Patrik Forsman - tenor
Carl Rahmqvist - tenor-baritone
Joakim Berg - bass-baritone
String ensemble
Anna Rodell - first violin
Josef Cabrales-Alin - first violin
Malin Samuelsson - second violin
Johan Moren - second violin
Linda Svedrup - viola
Niklas Sjunesson - viola
Asa Akerberg - cello
Monica Jonsson - cello
Woodwinds (solo and ensemble)
Fareidah Hildebrand - flute, alt flute, piccolo
Erik Rodell - oboe, English horn
Henrik Blixt - bassoon, contrabassoon
Brass ensemble
Mikael Sorensen - trumpet, fluegelhorn
Ayman Al Fakir - horn, Wagner tuba
Kristina Borg - horn
Rune Bodin - trombone
Choir and orchestra on Bonus Tracks
Anna Rodell - first violin
Elisabeth Lagergren - second violin
Petter Axelsson - viola
Erik Rodell - oboe
Ingela Bolin - soprano (ensemble and solo), alto
Anna Artursson - soprano, alto
Henrik Holmberg - tenor, baritone
Pierre Pettersson - tenor (ensemble and solo), baritone
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Sirius B (2004)
Christofer Johnsson - rhythm guitar, mandolin ("The Wondrous World of Punt"), classical and choir arrangements
Kristian Niemann - rhythm guitar, acoustic guitar, mandolin ("The Wondrous World of Punt")
Johan Niemann - bass guitar, mandolin ("The Wondrous World of Punt")
Guest musicians
Richard Evensand - drums, gong ("Kali Yuga part 2")
Steen Rasmussen - Hammond organ
Lars Sømod Jensen - church organ
Mats Levén - lead vocals ("The Blood of Kingu", "The Khlysti Evangelist", "Kali Yuga part 2")
Piotr Wawrzeniuk - lead vocals ("Dark Venus Persephone", "Kali Yuga part 1", "Melek Taus")
Orchestra: City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra (conducted by Adam Klemens and Mario Klemens)
Choir: Kūhn Mixed Choir (conducted by Mario Klemens)
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Lemuria (2004)
Christofer Johnsson - lead vocals ("Typhon", "Three Ships of Berik part 1: Calling to Arms and Fighting the Battle"), rhythm guitar, keyboards ("An Arrow from the Sun", "Feuer Overtūre / Prometheus Entfesselt"), classical and choir arrangements
Kristian Niemann - rhythm guitar, acoustic guitar
Johan Niemann - bass guitar
Guest musicians
Steen Rasmussen - mellotron ("Lemuria"), Hammond organ
Jens Nyborg - balalaika, domra
Sven Lindblad - balalaika
Kavi Björkqvist - balalaika
Richard Evensand - drums
Mats Levén - lead vocals ("Uthark Runa"), rock and roll vocals ("Abraxas")
Piotr Wawrzeniuk - lead vocals ("Lemuria", "The Dreams of Swedenborg", "Feuer Overtūre / Prometheus Entfesselt")
Peter Mossman - narration ("Lemuria")
Orchestra: Prague Philharmonic Orchestra (conducted by Adam Klemens and Mario Klemens)
Choir: Kūhn Mixed Choir (conducted by Mario Klemens)
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Gothic Kabbalah (2007)
Christofer Johnsson – guitar, keyboards, programming
Kristian Niemann – lead and rhythm guitars, keyboards
Johan Niemann – bass guitar, guitar, acoustic guitar
Petter Karlsson – drums, guitar, keyboards, solo and choral vocals, percussion
Guest musicians
Mats Levén – vocals, guitar
Snowy Shaw – vocals
Katarina Lilja – vocals
Hannah Holgersson – vocals, soprano
Jonas Samuelsson–Nerbe – tenor
Anna Nyhlin – solo soprano on "The Falling Stone" and "Path to Arcady"
Karin Fjellander – choral soprano
Ken Hensley – Hammond organ
Joakim Svalberg – Hammond organ
Rolf Pilotti – solo flute on "Gothic Kabbalah" and "Trul"
Stefan Glaumann – tambourine
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