Therion Family Tree
This is a project aimed at making it easy to see who inspired the bands you love or even hate. For this I try not to use any influences that the band don’t claim themselves. There will be a focus on predecessors but successors will be added as they site the band. These trees become more and more interactive as new bands are added, allowing you to click any band that has a tree and jump to it.
We want our lists to be better. If you know something that belongs on this list, let us know. When in doubt we will leave it out, so we need reliable sources.
Therion, who started in the death metal realm, and are pioneers of symphonic metal. Guitarist/vocalist Christofer Johnsson has been the heart of the band and only original member. This tree of influences will focus on the influences of Christofer and members who had significant contributions to writing. It will not be diving in for people who only contributed lyrics. More particulars for writing credits will be noted below.
Richard Wagner
Richard Wagner was a Romantic era composer known for his operas. Christofer Wagner is his biggest influence when it comes to mixing operatic and classical influences.
Igor Stravinsky
Igor Stravinsky was an important 20th century composer. Christofer said there was some influence from him but he found it hard to incorporate it into metal.
Deep Purple are a hugely influential hard rock / early heavy metal band. Christofer named them as a big influence. Mats named Ian Gillan and David Coverdale as influences. Nalle also names Deep Purple as an influence.
Black Sabbath are the fathers of metal. Christopher named them as a big influence. Mats named Ozzy and Dio both as influences. Johan named Geezer as an influence. Thomas also named Dio as an influence. Nalle also names Black Sabbath as an influence.
Uriah Heep were a progressive rock band who dabbled in early heavy metal. Christofer named them as a big influence.
Scorpions were one of the early bands to dabble in metal after Sabbath. They became a very well known hard rock / heavy metal band. Christofer named their 70’s stuff as a big influence.
Judas Priest are one of the most important and probably the most quintessential heavy metal band. Christofer named them as one of his biggest influences. Thomas named Halford as an influence.
Uli Jon Roth was on many of the 70’s Scorpion albums. He then formed his own band Electric Sun and later released solo albums. Christofer named his solo albums as an influence. It is likely that he could be including Electric Sun in that as well. Kristian also names him as a huge influence.
Motorhead are hard rock / heavy metal legends. Christofer named them as an influence.
Accept are German metal legends. Christofer named them as one of his biggest influences.
Iron Maiden are one of the most influential metal bands. Christofer named them as one of his biggest influences. Mats is also a fan and Johan named Steve Harris as an influence.
Ozzy after his time with Black Sabbath was blessed with some incredible guitar players and was hugely influential. Christofer named Ozzy as an influence. Johan named Bob Daisly as an influence.
Venom are the fathers of traditional black metal and had a huge influence on extreme genres. Christofer named them as an influence.
Manowar, although often more known for their look than their sound, created a new sound of metal that has best been described as epic metal. Christofer named them as an influence.
Mercyful Fate played a technical heavy metal style and are often known for the falsettos of King Diamond. Christofer said he was a big fan.
W.A.S.P. are a hard rock / heavy metal band often lumped in with the glam scene. Christofer named them as an influence.
Metallica are the fathers of thrash metal. Christofer named them as an influence.
Slayer was the most aggressive of the early thrash bands. Christofer named them as an influence.
Hellhammer was an important band that was the prelude to Celtic Frost. Christofer said he was a big fan.
Celtic Frost was a band that had a big influence on extreme genres such as death and black metal. Christofer named them as a big influence and Therion is even named after a Celtic Frost album. He said that Celtic Frost was the band that he learned how to combine different influences together from.
Voivod were a technical thrash band. Christofer named them as an influence.
Bathory are the fathers of the second wave Black Metal sound. Christofer said he was a dedicated fan after the release of Under The Sing…
Morbid were an underground Swedish extreme metal band which at one time Dead (more famous for Mayhem) was the vocalist. Christopher said he was a fan.
Grotesque were an underground Swedish black/death band who’s vocalist would later go on to At The Gates. Christofer said he was a fan.
Christofer described their earliest sound as Metallica’s Kill ‘Em All with Venom, Slayer, and Motorhead. He then got into death metal and moved in that direction and then began adding outside elements until they were no longer death metal.
Christofer first wanted to play music after seeing The Beatles on TV, he was probably eight years old at the time and got their greatest hits when he was nine. He discovered metal at age 10 with Accept. He said Balls to the Wall and Saxon’s Wheels of Steel were his first metal albums. He later got a copy of Restless and Wild and Screaming for Vengeance all of which were the early albums that shaped him.
Besides the heavy metal influences, Christofer says they are influenced by folk influences , classical, operatic influences and many different things but didn’t name anything specific.
Christofer has mentioned being a big fan of Nightwish.
Peter Hansson was the co-founder of the band. He wrote one song on Beyond Sanctorum. I’m unsure if his influences.
Fredrik Isaksson played bass on Lepaca Kliffoth and wrote one song.
Piotr Wawrzeniuk was the drummer for two albums and had one co-writing credit on Lepaca Kliffoth.
Jonas Mellberg was the second guitarist on the Theli album. He wrote two songs but I’m unsure of his influences.
I’m not completely sure about the writing credits for Lemuria, and Sirius B.
Mats Levén had multiple writing credits on Gothic Kabbalah. He was also on Lemuria, and Sirius B. Besides singers already noted above (Ozzy, Dio, Ian Gillian, David Coverdale) Mats also named Peter Gabriel and David Bowie as influences. He also named Iron Maiden and Kiss as important to him.
Petter Karlsson was the drummer on Gothic Kabbalah and has multiple writing credits on the album. He also did vocals and wrote another song on Sitra Ahra. I’m not sure of his influences; the only list I saw had no sources.
Brothers, guitarist/keyboardist Kristian Niemann and bassist/guitarist Johan Niemann were on several albums. Both had writing credits on Gothic Kabbalah.
Kristian Niemann named Yngwie Malmsteen as his biggest influence and also names “Paul Gilbert, Bruce Bouillet, Greg Howe, Michael Lee Firkins. Tony MacAlpines album Maximum Security was a big one for me”. He also names “the first two Dream Theater albums. Then Vai and Satriani of course. A big gamechanger was Uli Jon Roth, I abolutely love everything about him. Also Marty Friedman and guys like Eric Johnson, Steve Lukather and Shawn Lane. My other really huge influence is Allan Holdsworth. His soloing is just beyond everything you can possibly imagine.” He goes on to say he is a “huge fan of Jeff Loomis, Per Nilsson, Brandon Ellis (TBDM) and Doug Rappoport. Ian Thornley from Big Wreck and Shawn Tubbs are two others that continually inspire me to practice more.”
Johan Niemann is a big fan of Kiss and Iron Maiden and bassists Gene and Steve Harris respectively. He names Al Di Meola bassist. Anthony Jackson as his biggest influence. He also names Billy Gould and Bob Daisly as influences and Queensryche bassist Eddie Jackson as a big influence as well as Justin Chancellor, Geezer Butler, Pino Palladino, and Lee Sklar.
Snowy Shaw was on several albums but only has one co-writing credit on Gothic Kabbalah.
Guitarsit Christian Vidal has a few writing credits on Beloved Antichrist. Some of his influences include Piazzolla, The Beatles, Van Halen, Cacophony, Vinnie Moore, Satriani, Vai, Maalmsteen, David Gilmour, Paul Gilbert, John Petrucci, Mozart, Beethoven, Bach, and Chopin. He started playing guitar by playing folk.
Vocalist Thomas Vikström contributed to writing on Beloved Antichrist and Leviathan. He said he got into metal through hearing KISS when he was young. He named his biggest vocal influences as Halford, Dio, and Freddie Mercury.
Vocalist Linnéa Vikström has writing credits on Beloved Antichrist. She has been involved in music since she was a kid. She says her influences range from Cyndi Lauper to Dark Funeral. She names bands including Alice Cooper, Kiss, The Beatles, Tina Turner, Beyonce, Spice Girls, Yes, Aerosmith She also mentions being a fan of Van Halen, and names David Bowie as one of her favorites. She said really learned to sing in a metal style from Chaka Khan.
Bassist Nalle Påhlsson has been in the band since 2008. He has a couple writing credits on Leviathan. He names influences as “Jimi Hendrix and The Rolling Stones. Then there were Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, and a bit later on – KISS, AC/DC etc., and then Foreigner, Journey and so on” He also mentions Def Leppard. He also names progressive bands Genesis, Yes, U.K., Kansas, and Rush.
Sources:
https://bravewords.com/features/therions-christofer-johnsson-im-willing-to-risk-my-career-with-every-record
https://www.wikimetal.com.br/interview-with-christofer-johnsson-therion/
https://metalinvader.net/interview-with-christofer-johnsson-therion/
https://alternative-zine.com/interviews/en/6
http://www.bardomethodology.com/articles/2019/04/17/therion-interview/
http://thor.megatherion.com/php/articles.php?article_id=684
https://www.wearethepit.com/2019/11/mats-leven-5-albums-that-changed-my-life/
https://www.metal-rules.com/2020/07/03/sorcerer-interview-with-kristian-niemann/#:~:text=I%20was%20heavily%20influenced%20by,first%20two%20Dream%20Theater%20albums.
https://forbassplayersonly.com/johan-niemann/
https://bassmyfever.weebly.com/interview-with-johan-niemann-from-evergrey.html
https://crypticrock.com/interview-linnea-vikstrom-of-qft-therion/
https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/instructor/Christian-Vidal/
http://www.roadtometal.com.br/2016/01/interview-thomas-vikstrom-therion-i-was.html
http://www.sidestagemagazine.com/side-stage-magazine-sits-down-with-linnea-vikstrom-of-quantum-force-theory/
https://www.crommetal.com/post/2018/05/07/interview-with-linnea-vikstr%C3%B6m-of-qft-exploring-theories-of-how-the-universe-ends-were-bo
http://www.roadtometal.com.br/2015/12/interview-linnea-vikstrom-therion-heavy.html
http://www.rockradioni.co.uk/interviews/3355-interview-with-linnea-vikstrom.html
http://hardrockhaven.net/online/2015/arcint2015/interview-with-nalle-pahlsson/
