After the "Secret of the Runes" tour, the band had amassed 55 unreleased songs which included the ones Johnsson had shelved as well as contributions from the Niemann brothers. Johnsson remarked that "we went through the songs and realized that we had enough good material for three albums. Recording one after the other, promoting, and touring each one separately would have taken several years and would have been a bad idea; and being so productive, we would have had another 55 songs waiting when we finally came to the end of it." In 2004, the band released 21 tracks on two albums: "Lemuria" and "Sirius B". The albums were released simultaneously and were available as separate albums or a twin-pack. 171 musicians participated, including the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra and a 32-member choir. Contributing to lead vocals were Mats Levén and a returning Piotr Wawrzeniuk.