''Stream from the Heavens'' is the only studio album by Finnish

doom metal Doom metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other heavy metal genres.K. Kahn-Harris, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'' ...

band

Thergothon Thergothon was a Finnish doom metal band which lasted from 1990 until 1993 and pioneered the funeral doom subgenre. They only released one demo, ''Fhtagn nagh Yog-Sothoth'' (1991), and one album, '' Stream from the Heavens'' (1994). Their sound ...

. It was recorded in late 1992 and released after many delays on June 15, 1994 through the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

record label

Avantgarde Music Avantgarde Music is an Italian record label, formed as a continuation of Obscure Plasma Records, focusing on black and doom metal artists. The label had a sub-label called Wounded Love Records, which has released albums by Dolorian and Taake. A ...

. The band had eventually disbanded a year before the release of the album. ''Stream from the Heavens'' continues the

funeral doom Doom metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other heavy metal genres.K. Kahn-Harris, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'' ...

subgenre that Thergothon pioneered with their 1991 demo ''

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label Painiac as a 12" LP, limited to 500 copies.

Background

According to the album notes, the band started to compose songs between 1990 and the end of the recordings, which took place from October to November 1992. In an interview, singer and keyboard player Niko Sirkiä says that he only wrote the documented lyrics on the legend of Kthulu. After having recorded the demo ''

Fhtagn nagh Yog-Sothoth ''Fhtagn nagh Yog-Sothoth'' is the only demo album made by the funeral doom pioneers Thergothon. It originally was released in November 1991. It was reissued in 1992 by Wild Rags Records and in 1999 by Eibon Records.gothic rock Gothic rock (also called goth rock or simply goth) is a style of rock music that emerged from post-punk in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The first post-punk bands which shifted toward dark music with gothic overtones include Siouxsie a ...

, dark ambient and

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

and, compared to ''Fhtagn nagh Yog-Sothoth'', extreme slowness, an impression confirmed by Sirkiä, who, questioned on the influences of Thergothon which led to the sound of the album, named the following inspirations: In addition to

Paradise Lost ''Paradise Lost'' is an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton (1608–1674). The first version, published in 1667, consists of ten books with over ten thousand lines of verse (poetry), verse. A second edition fo ...

and

Cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...

, Sirkiä refers to pioneers of their own development, but the musicians did not go far enough, especially with the slow tempos. In retrospect, however, more important than musical influence seemed to him to be the search for means of expressing one of mine considered universal as an existential fear at the end of adolescence. He described music as "an appropriate means of expressing and expelling the negative emotions that he band membersexperienced." The lyrics also constantly refer to H.P. Lovecraft. However, Sirkiä described the atmosphere as the central objective of the band's music. All other aspects are only intended to support the desired atmosphere. Despite the completion of the recording process and the complete graphic design of the album without any difficulty, it has not been released for a long time. Some describe problems with the contractual partner as the cause of the long-term delay. After finishing the recordings and before the album was released, the group decided to disband. Sirkiä describes the dissolution as a consequence of the impression that he had completed the project. He also recalled the fact that they had become more and more tired of playing metal.

Artwork

The design of the album and booklets were done by Niko Sirkiä himself. K. Sirkiä is listed as the photographer of the cover picture, a low-lying sunrise with a barely identifiable tower monolithically protruding into the right picture space. The image was given an "ominous" appearance by Oscar Strik for the review written for the Webzine Doom-Metal.com. In addition to the information on the recording, the lyrics in the booklet were printed in a calligraphic font in white on a black background.

Release

The album was released on June 15, 1994, via Italian independent label

, and was reissued by

black metal Black metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include Tempo#Beats per minute, fast tempos, a Screaming (music)#Black metal, shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted Electric guitar, guitars played with t ...

label Obscure Plasma Records, as the first release under the new label name. It contains six songs with a total playing time of 40 minutes and 48 seconds. No changes were made to the volume of the album in later editions and additional bonus material was not added.

Legacy

Upon its first release, ''Stream from the Heavens'' was highly neglected by the professional music press. With time however, it became noticed by the international metal scene. In 2014,

Decibel Magazine ''Decibel'' is a monthly heavy metal magazine published by the Philadelphia-based Red Flag Media since October 2004. Its sections include Upfront, Features, Reviews, Guest Columns and the Decibel Hall of Fame. The magazine's tag-line is currentl ...

ranked the album ninth on the 100 Top Doom Metal Albums of All Time. In that same year, Deaf Forever, ranked it at number 34 on the list of the ''50 Best Doom Albums of All Time'' and as part of the list 20 Essential Black / Death Doom Albums. The album is also listed in various similar lists. British magazine Metal Hammer mentioned ''Stream from the Heavens'' among ''The 10 Essential Doom Metal Albums'', while

Loudwire ''Loudwire'' is an American online media magazine that covers news of hard rock and heavy metal artists. It is owned by media and entertainment business Townsquare Media. Since its launch in August of 2011, ''Loudwire'' has secured exclusive ...

listed it on The Best Metal Albums From 40 Subgenres and at number 6 of the Top 25 Doom Metal Albums of All Time. In his work for the British magazine Metal Hammer, Christ Chantler placed the album in terms of their importance for the development of doom metal and the genre that follows it in relation to

Winter Winter is the coldest season of the year in polar and temperate climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring. The tilt of Earth's axis causes seasons; winter occurs when a hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun. Different cultures ...

Eyehategod Eyehategod (also abbreviated and referred to as EHG) is an American sludge metal band from New Orleans, Louisiana who formed in 1988. They have become one of the better known bands to emerge from the NOLA metal scene. Their core lineup has re ...

Disembowelment Disembowelment or evisceration is the removal of some or all of the organs of the gastrointestinal tract (the bowels, or viscera), usually through a horizontal incision made across the abdominal area. Disembowelment may result from an accident ...

and Unholy. He declared that no other band has created more terrifying "than the non-Euclidean geometry of the Finnish pioneer band Thergothon, whose only album is an ice age Lovecraftian nightmare that still exudes its distant mysticism." In the weekly series Funeral Friday, which was written for the Webzine Metal Injection, journalist Cody Davis presented Thergothon as the starting point of the genre. According to such assessments, reviewers described the album as original and comparative work for releases in the genre that are currently to be discussed. Accordingly, bands like

Rigor Sardonicous Rigor Sardonicous is an American doom metal band from Long Island, New York. Coined as "raw, apocalyptic doom", Rigor Sardonicous is one of the earliest American doom metal bands that are still active today among Novembers Doom and Evoken. Th ...

Mournful Congregation Mournful Congregation is a funeral doom metal band from Adelaide, South Australia, which was founded in 1993, and has included members of Chalice A chalice (from Latin 'mug', borrowed from Ancient Greek () 'cup') or goblet is a footed c ...

, Profetus, Beneath Oblivion, Woebegone Obscured, Ea, and Funeral Moth have released albums which have been compared to ''Stream from the Heavens''. Performers and musicians such as Kostas Panagiotou of

Pantheist Pantheism is the belief that reality, the universe and the cosmos are identical with divinity and a supreme supernatural being or entity, pointing to the universe as being an immanent creator deity still expanding and creating, which has ex ...

, Nathan Guerrette of Great Cold Emptiness,

Nortt Nortt is an extreme metal project formed in 1995 by a Danish musician who goes by an eponymous pseudonym and describes his music as "Pure Depressive Black Funeral Doom Metal". In terms of lyrics and imagery (for instance the use of corpse pain ...

, Sacha Dunable of Bereft, Jonathan Théry of Funeralium and Ataraxie, John del Russi of

Hierophant A hierophant ( grc, ἱεροφάντης) is a person who brings religious congregants into the presence of that which is deemed ''holy''. As such, a hierophant is an interpreter of sacred mysteries and wikt:arcane, arcane principles. The word ...

and

Catacombs Catacombs are man-made subterranean passageways for religious practice. Any chamber used as a burial place is a catacomb, although the word is most commonly associated with the Roman Empire. Etymology and history The first place to be referred ...

and Nick Orlando of

Evoken Evoken is an American funeral doom metal band from Lyndhurst, New Jersey, United States. Evoken is one of the earliest U.S. doom/death metal bands that are still active today, along with Novembers Doom and Rigor Sardonicous. History Founding ...

cited the album as an inspiration for their own music.

Track listing

Credits

* Niko "Skorpio" Sirkiä –

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

* Mikko Ruotsalainen –

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

s * Jori Sjöroos –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

, vocals

Production

*Produced by Thergothon *Recorded, engineered, mixed & mastered by Markus Patrikainen

References

External links

"Stream From The Heavens" at discogsDoom-metal.com reviews
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stream From The Heavens 1994 debut albums Thergothon albums Avantgarde Music albums Cthulhu Mythos music