LEVIATHAN

I believe this is one of the most exciting releases from the Italian Black Widow label, largely specialized in heavy rock/prog. ANNOT RHÜL is the backwards-pseudonym of the Norwegian multi-intrumental talent Sigurd Lühr Tonna, and Leviathan is his third full-length album.

One word best to describe this music is *intense*. If it was a movie, there would be tags such as adventure, fantasy, horror, scifi, nailbiter, etc. Literary sources of inspiration seem to be early speculative fiction writers, e.g. Jules Verne and H.P. lovecraft to whom some of the track subtitles refer. Vocal parts are scattered here and there in the album which is oriented to keyboard-heavy instrumental Psych/Space Rock. In my mind the best musical comparison would be ELOY at their best Space Rock era (albums such as Ocean), and at least ideologically perhaps Italy's GOBLIN who made music to horror flicks, but one could also think of a combination of vintage Heavy of say BLACK SABBATH and the Saucerful of Secrets -era PINK FLOYD, produced with perfectionism by ALAN PARSONS. Actually the last mentioned association came to me from a section that featured a kantele-like sound -> 'The Fall of the House of Usher' from APP's Poe-inspired debut. But anyway the production here is superb; Tonna and his wide cast of guest musicians and vocalists have created a full and - sorry to repeat myself - intense soundscape that avoids becoming shapeless mess. Of the instruments one must especially mention Mellotron [samples], Hammond and Mini-Moog, and Gretsch Lapsteel played by Svern-Arne Skarvik.

So, with all that praiseworthy characteristics of this album, the high rates are definitely justified. I was momentarily thinking of a five-star rating myself. But there's the negative side to it too. In the end, the music is a bit samey throughout the 48 minutes, both in composition and in execution. some less *intense* sections here and there, bringing in more delicate nuances, would have done magic to the whole. But these are purely matters of taste, the never-ending dilemma of artistic unity vs. versatility. If my attempt above to describe this music sounds very promising to you, you've got my full recommendation. 3½ stars rounded upwards.