Closing The Circle With THOMAS VIKSTROM From THERION

Interview by Kris Peters
What started as more of a way to fill in time during COVID before
expanding its reach across three albums, the Leviathan trilogy set
in motion in 2021 by Swedish symphonic metal legends Therion
finally draws to a close on December 15 with the release of
Leviathan III.
It has been a spectacular sonic journey from the band, with each
album exploring different musical territory while still paying
homage to the sounds that have seen Therion endure more than three
decades of sustained success.
Featuring choirs and orchestras and the ever-present operatic
mastery of Lori Lewis, Leviathan III is more than just the final
chapter of a period of time that tested the resolve of us all. It
is also an emphatic statement of individuality from a band that
pushes most every conceivable boundary of the metal spectrum and
comes up trumps every time.
Vocalist Thomas Vikstrom joined HEAVY from Sweden to help put the
final bow on an enduring legacy three years in the making.
We speak with Vikstrom more than one month out from the official
release date of the album, so we pose the question of what sorts of
emotions this period of inactivity and anticipation evokes.
"The waiting is boring, but it is what it is," he shrugged. "I'm
very pleased with the result, and it will be fun to hear what
people think about it. We're also preparing for going to Mexico in
January. We're going to follow this up with a tour, so we start off
in January in Mexico City with a full symphony orchestra this time.
Then we're planning on going through Europe and maybe China. It's
gonna be a lot of fun. It's funny, because for people this will be
a new record, but for me, I have already digested it. For me, it's
not a new record anymore because I've heard it so many
times."
It has been an epic journey over three years and three albums in
bringing the Leviathan trilogy to life, and we ask Vikstrom if the
reality of the process lived up to his expectations.
"That was not the plan from the beginning," he replied, talking
about having an album trilogy. "We started to write for a new
album, me and Christopher, and exactly when we started - almost on
the day - the COVID came and there was lockdown. I couldn't go
there, and he couldn't come here, so let's send files forward and
back and write like that, which works good today, actually. It's a
pity we can't meet, but it did work. Since it was the lockdown it
was hysterical. You could go to the supermarket once a day, that
was it. So there was not much more to do but write new songs and
work and order food from Burger King (laughs). So we started to
write, and I was asking Christopher what kind of direction do you
want to go with this album and his answer was it's gonna be good…
Okay (laughs). That's a bit vague (laughs). In the end we had so
many songs in different styles, everything from the hardest almost
in the borderlines to pop because we just wrote. So Christopher
said let's not make one album, let's make three and put them out in
a short period of time. That's how the story was."
In the full interview, Thomas reveals how Leviathan III wraps up
the series, the musical aspects to Leviathan III and how they fit
together, the vocal dynamics between himself and Lori Lewis and how
they structure them, getting the balance between so many eclectic
styles of music, the upcoming tour and more.