In 2018, Therion released the controversial monolith Beloved Antichrist, an esoteric three-hour metal opera with 29 different character singers, choirs, and two symphony orchestras. It was the culmination of a musical aesthetic theyve pursued for decades. Guitarist and bandleader Christofer Johnsson felt afterwards that the only musical angle left to pursue was a collection ... packed with Therion hit songs, and he didnt mean a greatest hits. Paring the bands approach down to its essences, he and lead vocalist Thomas Vikstrom composed three albums worth of material under the project name Leviathan. This first volume distills the bands developed strengths, combining doom and symphonic metal, globally sourced folk, and classical musics. These songs delve into Celtic, Finnish, Toltec/Aztec, Chinese, and Germanic mythologies with an uncharacteristic accessibility. Therions lineup here includes guitarist Christian Vidal, bassist Nalle Phalsson, drummer Johan Koleberg, and soprano Lori Lewis. They enlisted additional guest vocal spots from Marko Hietala (ex-Nightwish), Mats Leven (ex-Candlemass), and Taida Nazraic (the Loudest Silence). The Leaf on the Oak of Far showcases a meaty, chugging riff that drives the intense call-and-response vocals from Lewis and Vikstrom, who are buoyed by a choir. Keyboards and strings add texture to interlocked guitar vamps in a serpentine melody. Tuonela is introduced by distorted guitars, rumbling bass, snare, and kick drums. Swelling strings introduce the choir, adding urgency and dimension as it roars. The title track references the bands early engagement with doom metal. Lewis, choir, and strings rise above Therions plodding, hooky guitar and bass chug. Azi Dahaka showcases the bands long-held obsession with Persian classical modes. Initially a symphonic metal sprint, the guitars and strings struggle for dominance before an organ, bass, and blastbeats introduce the singers who rein in the edgy, dissonant sprawl. The intro in The Nocturnal Light simultaneously recalls the moodiness of 20th century composers Jean Sibelius and the pastoral grandeur of his contemporary, Ralph Vaughn Williams. A rolling tympani and kick drum frame the midtempo guitar vamp, lilting woodwinds, and nervous strings. Razor-wire guitar breaks duel with an aggressive drum kit as Lewis leads the explosive choir through an anthemic refrain. Psalm of Retribution is saturated in darkness. Therions singers and choir exchange lines with dramatic tension just atop an overdriven, discontent musical arrangement without harmonic resolution. Closer Ten Courts of Diyu employs the orchestra as Therions primary vehicle in melding Native American and Sami ritual music, and Impressionist classical motifs. A bluesy lead guitar vamp rises over it all accompanied by filthy, downtuned power chords, and doomy tom-toms. Lewis and Vikstrom exchange call-and-response lines amid a syncopated Kashmir-esque string pulse. The catchy refrain stitches the disparate elements together amid maximal keyboard and guitar interludes. While it remains to be seen how the multi-album Leviathan project unfolds, this initial volume succeeds in admirably distilling to essences Therions expansive approach to metal essences and de rigueur orchestral excesses. ~ Thom Jurek

Rovi