Symphony Masses: Ho Drakon Ho Megas
| Symphony Masses: Ho Drakon Ho Megas | ||||
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| Studio album by Therion | ||||
| Released | April 1993 | |||
| Recorded | December 1992–January 1993 The Montezuma Studio, , Sweden |
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| Genre | Death/doom | |||
| Length | 37:34 | |||
| Language | English, Egyptian, Hebrew, Enochian | |||
| Label | Megarock, Nuclear Blast | |||
| Producer | Rex Gisslén, Therion | |||
| Therion chronology | ||||
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| Alternative cover | ||||
The Early Chapters of Revelation reedition cover
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| Allmusic |   |
Symphony Masses: Ho Drakon Ho Megas is the third studio album released in April 1993 by Swedish band Therion. The album was remastered and re-released by Nuclear Blast in 2000 as part of The Early Chapters of Revelation box-set.
In Ancient Greek Ho Drakon Ho Megas means "The Great Dragon". Uttering Ho Drakon Ho Megas is typically used at the end of ceremonies and rituals when conjuring Draconian force in a magical order Dragon Rouge, in which head of the band Christofer Johnsson is a member.
Active Records, Therion's music label, decided to scale down their operations and the band was switched to the new owners, Megarock Records. The band was recording the album from December 1992 to January 1993 in The Montezuma Studio in , Sweden, with the aid of engineer Rex Gisslén. Symphony Masses: Ho Drakon Ho Megas was released under changed line-up; only Christofer Johnsson remained. During the playing Beyond Sanctorum tour, band ran into a few personnel problems. Oskar Forss decided to leave the band, Peter Hansson quit the band after health problems. Piotr Wawrzeniuk, from the band Carbonized in which Johnsson also played, took up drumming duties. The guitar was taken up by Magnus Barthelsson, an old school friend of Johnsson's, while Andreas Wahl took up the bass.
The album marks the band's departure from typical death metal in favor of experimentation with traditional doom metal, goth rock, progressive rock, jazz, symphonic classical, Persian traditional music, Arabic music, and 1980s heavy metal inspired by Iron Maiden and Judas Priest. The focus of lyrical themes changed from social and environmental issues and Lovecraftian fantasy to occult topics, including qliphoth, the mythological demon Lilith, and the Abyss (Thelema).
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