Therion is too good for the U.S. Uses excuses for not touring here.

For the sake of not misquoting here is the excerpt of Christopher Johannsen's interview with Blistering.com

Blistering.com: Indeed. Speaking of which, I read on the Net that you are never touring the United States again. Is that still true?

Johnsson: Oh yeah, we're never going to tour the U.S. again. It would be a miracle for us to do that again, like an offer we couldn't refuse. I knew we'd do OK there, but the tours we did [both in support of "Gothic Kabbalah"] had total shithead booking. It was pretty miserable, never too posh. There were about 150-200 people a show and in this economy, it's tough. Hard to get anywhere with this economy. I'm 40 years old. We do well in Europe, great in Latin America. Some people think the United States is essential, but we're not big in Africa either. [laughs] Not touring there takes away a lot of the legwork, and when you do all of that work to tour the States, it's not worth it. Not when you're 40. I have to cut down because I have a kid at home. We can go anywhere, it's totally possible, but we're doing it when we need to.

My reaction after the jump.



You know, it's not the America's fault that you decided to take an already huge entourage, fire them, and then add even more people to your metal show spectacular.



Look at that shit. That's just the choir and strings section. That doesn't include the actual band itself and the gear. How fucking full of yourself do you have to be to cut out the U.S. because your 'project' is too ambitious to fit into clubs?I've got a news flash for you Chris, can I call you Chris? You're not big over here because you overdid it on the last two albums and created a bombastic mess that no one fucking likes.
Isn't one of a bands goals to introduce their music to markets that may or may not otherwise have known about it before? How do you propose to do that if you don't tour over here? The U.S. is actually starting to wake up and be more accepting of metal that isn't of the 'core' variety and now would be a good time to tour over here. You don't need to bring the whole damn entourage. Just use prerecorded orchestral parts and have the core band play. But that's not good enough is it? You think your creation monstrosity is too good for what you consider shithead booking. Why is it every other godamn band from your region of the world tours over here. Epica plays Slim's all the time. Dimmu Borgir plays here. Why the fuck are you so special that you can't? Mikael Akerfeldt has kids and he can come out here and do a big tour.Oh that's right, I'm listing bands with much better compostions and music then you.

So fuck off with the economy excuse. You are not the London Philharmonic Orchestra. You are a metal band that incorporates opera and classical music. And based off of my review of your last album you do it badly.So don't blame the U.S entirely for 'shithead' bookings. The U.S. has not fully embraced intelligent classically themed metal yet but your material and your business choices have also fucked it up for you. Have nice time touring Europe and Latin America and ignoring the U.S. Meanwhile I will continue to listen to and write about much more interesting and talented bands then you that aren't too good to play in smaller clubs and continue to ignore you.

Dick.

For those that think I might be too harsh on old Christopher listen to this song and tell me that this deserves arena status in the States.