THERION To Begin Touring In January 2007

THERION founder Christofer Johnsson has posted the following update at the band's official website, confirming his previously announced plans to have Therion back on the road in early 2007:

"Therion will go on tour again starting in end of January 2007.

I don't like when local promoters are announcing Therion shows before they are official. Before a contract has been signed, it is not to be considered an officially booked show. When the contracts are signed, you will see the date on this website.

I cannot post dates here that are uncertain because I have to take responsability for what I post. If the schedule change a million times, no one will trust in it in the end. Plus we will have hundreds of questions why we c'ancel' shows that have never been 100% booked in the first place.

So, if you hear about a Therion show somewhere else than on this page, it means something is (probably) going on there, but before you see dates on this page, nothing legal is signed."

As previously reported, Johnsson recently announced that he was retiring from vocal duties with Therion. Following in his official statement:

"As was announced at the Metal Mania festivals, I am going to retire from vocals. The reasons for this are two: One is that I feel it's not fun to sing anymore (even though I have enjoyed playing the old songs on guitar). [My] voice is getting weaker over the years and I experienced problems at the end of the U.S./Canada tour. The problem isn't only getting older, but rather that we basically never rehearse as a band and therefore, I don't keep my throat 'warm.' It simply doesn't work to not sing for half a year and then go on tour for two months and shout every evening. It used to work when I was younger, but now I feel it's not comfortable anymore and when it doesn't feel right, it's definitely time to stop.

The second reason is that we would like to stop playing old songs, anyway. By old I mean Lepaca Klifffoth and older. We are now working on our 13th studio album and it is getting harder and harder to choose which songs to play live. The number of 'classics' - songs that we more or less must play - is growing all the time and we don't want to end up like one of those bands where you know beforehand 95% for sure what songs that are going to be played. We want to be able to have space to play a couple of unexpected songs each new tour. We, of course, realize that many fans will miss those old brutal songs, but we are convinced that those fans also will prefer to hear something new each time from the Theli album and onwards."

As a result, Johnsson has also stepped down as the frontman for DEMONOID, the death metal act also featuring Therion members Kristian Niemann (guitars) and Johan Niemann (bass).