#i asked my brother to get their vinyl or my fave album for christmas

[kinetickarma]

Listen say what you will about capitalist hellscapes but there's something about getting a gift from someone that let's you know they GET you and it's so nice

[therionsymphonicmetalmasters]

Vinyl Sunday

Musically I had a big influence in going into a dramatic direction very much thanx to songs like ”Revelation (Mother Earth)” and ”Mr Crowley” (especially the epic intro). This together with the dramatic part of ”Diary of a madman” (the title track) and the choral arrangements of Manowars ”Battle Hymn” and ”Thor (The Powerhead)”. I was always thinking it’s such a shame there is no metal band who do that kind of stuff ALL THE TIME. I guess that was the thought that both later made me get drawn towards orchestral symphonic rock bands like Klaatu, Eloy etc + also planted the first seed in Therion slowing becoming precisely that type of band.

I always loved Randy Roads. He isn’t a fantastic solo guitarist in a way that he is super technical or had the best tone on he planet (though his tone WAS great). What was so special about him was his great ability to compose solos. To play solos that everyone remembers tone by tone and can sing along to. I never really aspired on playing solo guitar. When Therion ended up as a trio in 1994 and we did Lepaca Kliffoth I more or less had to do it, so I practised solo a bit for the first time just some weeks before we entered the studio. It also ended up with me doing some for Theli and then we barely had solos until we made ”Secret of the Runes” and then there was a Niemann in the band doing it properly instead. While I personally enjoyed Uli Jon Roth most as a solo guitarist, I could of course never play that kind of crazy stuff, so in practise Randy Roads was more of a guiding star for me. To make melodic solos with some drama that would be an integrated part of the song composition. In retrospective I don’t like most of those solos much, but given that I was practically a total beginner playing those solos (prior to that it was all rhythm guitars) I guess there are examples of even worse playing in famous bands.

So even if I never stated or thought of Ozzy as a direct Therion influence, going into detail in my development as an artist, I’d have to say I think the first two Ozzy albums definitely had an impact at a certain time, which would push me in a direction leading to good things. It’s like a ”Butterfly effect”.

As a music fan, I love the first 3 Ozzy albums (the later ones have good stuff too, but never knocked me out totally) and ”Blizzard of Ozz” is by far my fave Ozzy album. I used to have it copied on cassette when growing up (as usual, no money for buying the record) and I don’t remember exactly when I bought the vinyl. But given the sticker on the front, it was probably early 90’s in the transition from vinyl to CD.

Speaking of cassettes. I was never offended or irritated when fans asked me to sign pirate cassettes in eastern Europe or Latin America (like some bands). I remember growing up loving music and buying original vinyl for practically every cent I could spare. But there were always more music to love than money in my pocket. So me, friends and my younger brother (who also got into metal some year later) would often buy (or wish for Christmas) different albums and then record them on tape for each other, so we would get more music to listen to. When we got older and had more cash, we would buy all those records on vinyl and later we’d buy most of them one more time on CD. Then some time even a third time when there was some special edition released with some bonus track. So I think most people who are passionate about a record will buy it one day and contribute to make the wheels keep spinning. And if not, I hope I have at least been able to give others the same pleasure and enjoyment I got from the music I listen to. If you could messure emotions and 1000 people on the planet could be proven they had the same emotions from any of my songs like I had growing up with songs like ”Revelation (Mother Earth)”, or ”Mr. Crowley”- then I guess that alone would be a reason to be able to die satisfied when time is up and I look back on my life. One of the few good things (because most are bad) that distinguish man from animals is music.

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