Therion (formerly Blitzkrieg, Megatherion) is a Swedish symphonic metal band founded by Christofer Johnsson in 1988. Its name was inspired by the Celtic Frost album To Mega Therion. "To Mega Therion" is Greek for "The Great Beast" and was a title used by occultist Aleister Crowley. Originally a death metal band, Therion adjusted its musical style by adding orchestral elements, including choirs, classical musicians, and even a full orchestra at their concert performances.

On 13 November 2016 the band announced, that Johan Koleberg had decided to leave the band "due to different goals in playing music". For the 2017 live gigs the former Amon Amarth member Fredrik Andersson was applied, then on 21 November 2017 Sami Karppinen has officially re-joined. On 26 January, Johnsson revealed he had been suffering from intense pain in the neck and shoulders, and he was diagnosed with two spinal disc herniations (allegedly produced because of years of headbanging), and he was in risk of losing the ability to perform live. As a result, the rock opera project was delayed and the band downplayed their sets of songs in concerts to allow Johnsson to perform. By 8 April, Johnsson announced he had been able to avoid surgery as his condition had improved through physiotherapy, and the band would resume to perform at festivals by August, although he would have to play sitting. On 15th August 2017 the band announced the title and the release date of a operatic rock musical. The Beloved Antichrist - inspired by and partly based based on Vladimir Solovyov's Tale of the Antichrist - containing over 3 hours of music, and 29 vocal characters is to be scheduled at January 26, 2018, later postponed first to February 2, and finally to February 9. The theatric performance of the rock opera is planned for stage earliest end of 2018. Until that a European and a Latin American tour was scheduled. The European tour has featured again Imperial Age, whose current album Legacy Of Atlantis was made with the starring of Vidal, Pahlsson and Thomas Vikstrom.

Ask a question about this article.
Was the Beloved Antichrist an album or a stageplay?