In an effort to get re-connected to new music, I am in search of the 21 best albums of 2021! To that end, I’m listening to new releases every month, sorting them into categories, and then I’ll do a final shake-out after the year ends. If you missed the January round-up, you can find it here.

(This is one of three music-related blog series I’m doing this year, you may also be interested in checking out the latest editions of my review of critic’s choices for the best albums of the 2010s and 2020.)

Let’s start with a quick note about the three categories:

Yes– These are the albums that, based on my initial listen, are in definite contention to be considered for the 21 best albums of the year. This is no guarantee! In fact, at current pace, we’ll end up with well over 100 possibilities, so there’s going to be quite a reckoning at the end.

Maybe– These are albums that had definite strengths, but about which I had some reservation. I’ve noticed over the years that certain “maybes” have a habit of lingering though, so I’m giving them a category just in case.

No– These albums are not in contention. Some of them deserve discussion, though, which I note.

And with that, we’ll proceed! Here’s my take on the 67(!) new releases I listened to in February:

Yes

Aaron Lee Tasjan, Tasjan! Tasjan! Tasjan!– The first track is like a lost 70s song from Todd Rundgren suddenly popped out of a wormhole. This isn’t an accident, as the accompanying video proves. Subsequent tracks are in the same vein and it is utterly charming. While the music has a 70s timeless feel, the very clever lyrics are full of modern references and personality. For what it’s worth, this and the Baio album from last month are the only albums in 98 I’ve listened to from January and February that I found myself singing along to out loud!

Alice Cooper, Detroit Stories– This album is like a double musical love letter, both to Detroit and to Rock itself. Cooper does both covers and originals here, with hints of Iggy Pop, Kiss, the MC5 and other icons of a certain era in that city abounding. Honestly, it’s a little bit of a mess, but a glorious and heartfelt mess! It just makes me happy.

Black Nash, Black Nash– I kind of fucking love this! It’s lo fi rock with occasional noise rock tendencies, but also classic rock call-backs, and a place for melody. Musically, vocally, and lyrically, it’s distinct from the get go.

Celeste, Not Your Muse– A very well-produced British R&B/soul/jazz/dance offering with smoky, soulful, affecting lyrics. It’s a good mix of uptempo and downtempo songs, and works equally well on both. Just lovely the whole way through- she doesn’t have to be anyone’s muse, because the muse itself is at her beck and call.

Claud, Super Monster– Musically and vocally very sweet, like a treat right from the first song. Things here are bright and shimmering, with just the right undertone from the emotionally earnest vocals/lyrics (as a nonbinary artist they bring an additional layer of meaning to both), and a perfect home-produced pop sensibility.

Cloud Nothings, The Shadow I Remember– Crunchy feedback-laden rock with a dreamy choral background, lyrical and vocal power, and a great way with melody. It’s really pretty delightful.

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, L.W.– I mean, the name, right? Is this a lo-fi hard rock album? A garage/psychedelic throwback? A weird jazz sitar album? Yes to all! I’d never heard of this band before, but apparently they are a recording powerhouse with a devoted following in their native Australia. You won’t hear anything else that sounds like this, and it is excellent.

Lael Neale, Acquainted With Night– This is great from the start- clear lovely instruments, arresting vocals, poetic/personal/philosophical lyrics. It has a curiously timeless sound, like something at the intersection of Joan Baez and Dylan has gotten unmoored in time. It was also home recorded on an omnichord. I had not previously known what an omnichord was, and if you don’t either I encourage you to look it up because they’re pretty amazing.

Melvins, Working With God– I had previously outed myself in our January edition as a Melvins fan. I mean, I don’t feel any need to be closeted about it, really. If a certain kind of sludgy stoner rock with a big vein of humor appeals to you, they are that par excellence. This album opens with “I Fuck Around”, a song sent to the tune of the Beach Boys. And, sure enough, they are fucking around for the length of this album. But their fucking around is more entertaining than many another band’s best effort.

Tele Novella, Merlynn Belle– Vocally charming, with clever clear lyrics, and it casts a spell. Is this a flamenco album? A sad country album? An effort by a twee singer songwriter? All yeses, and I love it!

Nick Cave & Warren Ellis, Carnage– The dark hypnotic power of the opening track pretty much had me, and it didn’t let up from there. Cave’s darkling imaginings are well-supported here by the brooding music and its eerie flourishes. Poetic, beautiful, and often heartbreaking.

Hearty Har, Radio Astro– When you discover that this band is driven by John Fogerty’s sons, you might develop certain expectations. Those expectations are not disappointed- you’ll hear 60s garage rock, pop, soul, and psychedlia, all with a 00s rock sensibility. It is just damn good.

Sam Coffey and the Iron Lungs, Real One– Rock! Oh my god, rock! I’d almost forgotten what it could sound like. The specific varieties you’ll hear here most reflect 70s cock rock, 70s/80s album-oriented rock stations, and the pub rock side of British punk. It is, in a sense, nothing new or unfamiliar. But it is oh so welcome.

Sarah Mary Chadwick, Me and Ennui are Friends Baby– Yes, that cover is really something. And it gives you a clue, albeit somewhat misleadingly, to what’s going on inside. I love the ragged vocals and bitter emotionally sophisticated lyrics. The phrasing and music interplay in a way that belies the simplicity of each, creating layers even though it’s substantially only her voice and piano. Between all this, the album is legitimately harrowing. It’s like something this raw and deliberately unpretty shouldn’t be out there. But here it is.

The Hold Steady, Open Door Policy– The Hold Steady’s ability to do storytelling in a song is really nonpareil. Except for, you know, Bruce Springsteen or Bob Dylan. So yes, you’ll hear echoes of them throughout, but never in a way that sounds merely like a copy. And the music has complexity and variability, with power and swagger. They won me over on the first track, and then never lost me from there.

Transatlantic, The Absolute Universe: Forevermore– The phrase “Progressive Rock Supergroup”, frankly, should set off alarm bells. And then the fact that the album is an hour and a half long? One should be running for the hills. It’s a fascinating story, though. Faced with a dispute over whether or not to release a double-album or something more streamlined, the principals of the band decided- Why not both?!??! The shorter version isn’t simply a selection of songs from the longer album though- each was independently produced, so the same song on each can sound quite different. This is the longer version (you’ll see the shorter one mentioned in a section below), and it’s pretty amazing. It feels like the high point of 70s Prog Rock/concept albums resurrected itself, in a way that’s simultaneously familiar but fun, and, for lack of a better word, friendly. Against all likelihood, I wanted every minute of the whole hour and a half.

Valley Maker, When the Day Leaves– This album had a country-flavored indie folk thing going. Granted, there is a lot out there that sounds like that, but there are many musical and production surprises here, and strong lyrics. I just kind of dig it!

Maybe

• Another Michael, New Music and Big Pop– I liked the personal lyrics and weirdly off-kilter vocals of this clear, bright, energetic acoustic-tinged pop with a 70s vibe plus 2000s indie flavor. Some of it was a little too muted, though.

• Cassandra Jenkins, An Overview on Phenomenal Nature– This would have been a yes if not for a meandering 7 minute instrumental track at the end. A NY-based artist and musician with quiet intensity in her vocals, and a deep philosophical vibe that takes the simpler music into overdrive.

• Chris Crack, Might Delete Later– Musically this reminded me of the heyday of concious hip hop in the 90s, but with a swager of attitude and production familiar from 2000s hip hop. If there had been less “bitch” and “pussy” throughout, it probably would have been a “yes”.

• Curtis Salgado, Damage Control– A nice contemporary blues album that does a good wrestle with mortality and aging on many tracks. It never rises above a certain level musically or lyrically, but it’s a fun, fun listen.

• Dan Kroha, Detroit Blues– It seems weird to put an album of stripped down blues covers by an alumni of Detroit punk bands in the running for best album of the year, but it is great material really well done.

• Django, Djiango, Glowing in the Dark– Energetic and propulsive, kind of electronica by way of Alan Parsons/Moody Blues art rock. Or an art rock band by way of electronica? It’s very catchy! It kept veering toward repetitive, but then the sheer well-doneness of it all pulls it out.

• Foo Fighters, Medicine at Midnight– I mean, I don’t think there is a bad Foo Fighters album. And the rock informed by funk/groove thing they’re exploring here is fun. The sort of problem is lots of other bands in the 2000s have already occupied this space. But the Foos sound great doing it!

• Katy Kirby, Cool Dry Place– She has an extraordinary voice, in both the lyrical and vocal senses, and is musically dynamic too- folky, rocky, the kind of searing feel you get from Aimee Mann. But it doesn’t feel quite consistent/coherent enough to be a great album.

• Maximo Park, Nature Always Wins– It rocks right from the get-go, which I appreciate, and has a Bowiesque/Roxy Music/80s alt feeling. I would have loved this album in my 80s alt youth! My only reservation keeping it from “yes” is the dated feel.

• Mush, Lines Redacted– I feel like I’ve flashed back to somewhere in 1979-1981 and landed in the most gonzo and discordant side of post punk/new wave. I kind of love it! But is it too dated sounding?

• slowthai, Tyron– It took me a little while to get in to this British hip hop album, but then I was loving it. The witty and unusual lyrical voice, and neat production and sampling really grew on me.

• The Boys With The Perpetual Nervousness, Songs From Another Life– Beats, guitars, melody, and sugary vocals bam in from the get-go. What can I say, I love the jangle pop. Maddeningly, this has a problem many things I’ve listened to do- second half deflation. Bands! Don’t put all your slower songs one after another at the end!

• The Telescopes, Songs of Love and Revolution– The wall of fuzzy guitar is a good start. I can’t make out the lyrics, but do I care? It’s a beautiful noise a la Jesus & Mary Chain or My Bloody Valentine, the only reservation is it’s so deliberately noisy I don’t know how regularly I’d want to hear it.

• TV Priest, Uppers– Hey, rock! In an angular, nervy, post-punk kind of vein. It’s a debut album by a band that first played together 20 years ago, which is a great story. Musically I was over the moon, but the vocals were a little too one shouting tone, which wore on its durability.

• Virginia Wing, Private LIFE– Lyrically and vocally intriguing, with fun and unusual musical & production choices. Arty, smart, and orchestral in a synth kind of way, it did a really good job of keeping my interest. About my only reservation is that it may be too deliberately discordant for frequent listening.

No

• Ad Nauseam, Imperative Imperceptible Impulse– Italian Death Metal band. It’s a little too 57 minutes of death metal not in English to be a good general album of the year contender, but genre fans certainly might enjoy it.

• Adeline Hotel, Good Timing– Nicely textured acoustic instrumental. It’s very nice, but too mellow, too one-tone, too lyric-free to be a “best”.

• AJ Croce, By Request– I love a good cover album, and these are a great fit with his blues/americana sensibility, but ultimately they’re too faithful to the originals to rise above and stand out.

• Blanck Mass, In Fernaeux– I mean, if your name is almost Black Mass and your album is almost named Inferno, I’m expecting something a little more dark and heavy than this. It was more in an electronica/sound art vein. By turns too ambient and too abstract for me.

• Brijean, Feelings– It’s got beats, it’s got dreamy musical swirls, it’s got fuzzed out vocals. It’s not bad, but it’s just not my jam.

• Cabaret Voltaire, Shadow of Funk– I honestly never would have considered they were still around-it’s a little too industrial flashback for my tastes.

• Deacon Blue, Riding on the Tide of Love– A booming Scottish alternative band with an 80s feel. The first half was great, but then the second went flat as all the dynamism went out of the songs.

• Death by Unga Bunga, Heavy Male Insecurity– If you’re going to still be doing punk this far down the line, the unusual metalesque and symphonic flourishes here are a way to make it worthwhile. The five minute track at the end did me in though.

• Francois & The Atlas Mountains- Banane Bleue– French indie rock. Certainly well done, but a little too swirly dream pop for me. And also, you know, mostly in French.

• Florida Georgia Line, Life Rolls On– I am determined to find a great country album this year. This was not it.

• Indigo Sparke, echo– This is 55% of a great album. on tracks 1-3 the acoustic folk vibe is too samey, but then it really picks up with tracks 4-8, before 9 kind of fizzles again.

• John Tejada, Year of the Living Dead– Electronica, pretty good as far as it goes, but way too ambient and fading into the background for me.

• Juliene Baker, Little Oblivions– Surging and affecting, but I feel like the soul is getting lost in the production, and the tracks tend toward sameness.

• Menahan Street Band, The Exciting Sounds of Menahan Street Band– 70s soundtrack vibe, only all originals. It’s too “album out of time” and instrumental to be a year’s best, but it’s so well and lovingly done.

• Mia Doi Todd, Music Life– The music and the lyrics are sophisticated and her voice rings like a clear bell, at first I felt like I was in a lost Jefferson Starship album from the mid-70s. But by-and-by it got a little too New Age and self-consciously expository for me.

• Mogwai, As the Love Continues– An interesting musical melange, more electronica and synthy than I was expecting, but I’m just not sure what would make it better or worse than a lot of other similar soundscape stuff.

• Mouse on Mars, AAI– Electronica is mostly not my genre, so something needs to be above and beyond to catch my attention. That being said, this is certainly well done, although even as electronica goes, a little experimental for me.

• Nightshift, Zoe– Almossstttt maybe. A brittle post-punk feeling with experimental flourishes. The good tracks were very good, but it was a little too uneven. For what it’s worth, it was best when the women were on lead vocals instead of the men.

• Nonconnah, Songs for and About Ghosts– Experimental sound collage is not my thing.

• nothing,nowhere., Trauma Factory– Shallow emo autotune hell.

• Pale Waves, Who Am I?– Pop/rock structure is strong from the get-go, it would have been right at home in the 90s or early 2000s. It doesn’t add up to more, but you won’t have a bad time listening to it.

• Puma Blue, In Praise of Shadows– Mellow beats, low key vocals, it’s pretty, but the tracks are indistinguishable, and the tempo never “ups”.

• Rat Columns, Pacific Kiss– Power-pop, much sweeter than you might expect from a band with the word “rat” in its name. Strong song sensibility, and it doesn’t misstep, until the second half when all the energy and dynamism goes out of it, and the tracks get too shimmery and ethereal.

• Robin Thicke, On Earth, As in Heaven– It’s very pleasant. It’s very smooth. It’s very blah.

• Roy Montgomery, Island of Lost Souls– While quite good, it was just too ambient for me.

• Sia, Music: Songs From and Inspired by the Motion Picture– Good fun dance-oriented pop, I’m just not sure it gets beyond that.

• Smerz, Believer– Kind of like an abstract music theory senior thesis project.

• Sun June, Somewhere– Ghostly breathless vocals, lyrics are sophisticated, mellow musical vibe, it’s got the minor chords, but ultimately everything is too much the same.

• Tash Sultana, Terra Firma– Well produced, jazz-inflected, but just too 80s easy listening for me.

• The Staves, Good Woman– The vocals are nice, the music is nice (with occasional surging surprises in each), but all a little too smooth and fading to sameness.

• The Weather Station, Ignorance– Quiet vocals, beats, and jazz flourishes, with occasional touches of frenzy or eerie dissonance that complement the harrow of the lyrics, but it is a little too one tone emotionally/musically, albeit very well done.

• The Weeknd, The Highlights– Very well produced dance music, some great singles certainly. It’s fun high-energy pop, and it’s not doing anything wrong. But does it add up to an album?

• Tindersticks, Distractions– Beats, mellow vibes, disembodied vocals. It’s a little too low key electronica for me compared to, say, a Daft Punk/LCD Soundsystem approach. I did appreciate the Neil Young cover, though.

• Transatlantic, The Absolute Universe: The Breath of Life– It’s a little surprising to see this here, right? The extended version made my “yes” list. I actually appreciate the production more on the longer version (this one has a more 80s feel), and it’s weird how this version essentially repeats the intro track twice in a row.

• Wild Pink, A Billion Little Lights– Some nice instrumental flourishes, but a little too muted for me, somehow it doesn’t ever emotionally or musically rise above.

• Willie Nelson, That’s Life– This is Nelson’s second recent album of Sinatra covers. (Dylan’s been doing this too lately. Why is this in the air?) The covers are a little too straightforward, but they are well done, and I like the worn gold sound of his voice here.
  

And there we have it, the “Yes”, “No”, and “Maybe” from February. Join me in a month (give or take) for the March roundup!

I have found it can be opportune to harvest the energy of the beginning of a new year to set some intentions for the year to come. Being an audiophile, some of my intentions for this year are music-related. To whit: after being out of keeping up with new music for various reasons for the last few years, I have determined to catch up!

So I am going to review new releases every month, with the goal of eventually finding the best 21 albums of 2021. This will be one of three musical blog series I’m doing this year, with another reviewing critic’s choices for the best albums of the 2010s, and the third one doing the same for 2020.

(Parenthetical shout out to Joe Biden for winning, and freeing up the time and mental/emotional energy to do this. The last four years politically weren’t the only reason I didn’t do much music writing, but they were a major reason.)

Let’s start with a quick note about how this will go. I’m listening to the new releases each month and sorting them into three categories:

Yes– These are the albums that, based on my initial listen, are in definite contention to be considered for the 21 best albums of the year.

Maybe– These are albums that had definite strengths, but about which I had some reservation. I want to leave myself some room though, because I’ve more than once had the experience of an initial “maybe” becoming a favorite eventually.

No– These albums are not in contention. In a few cases, I even abandoned them after listening to three or four tracks, although others were compelling in certain ways, which I note.

I’ll be doing this each month, and then at the end of the year we’ll do the final reckoning to find the best 21. And with that, let’s get to it! Here’s my take on the 31 new releases I listened to in January:

Yes

Arlo Parks, Collapsed in Sunbeams– A solid selection of British Soul, with a poetic sensibility throughout. Her lyrical emotional sophistication is breath-taking, and often haunting. On a musical level it is, in a way, very simple. But that’s the knife edge that slips the lyrics in between your ribs before you know what’s happened.

Baio, Dead Hand Control– A solo effort from the lead singer of Vampire Weekend. I have heard tell of this Weekend of Vampires for a few years now, but am not familiar with their work. Based on this I might want to be! It booms into gear from the get go, and feels like I’ve fallen in to the Pretty in Pink/Some Kind of Wonderful soundtracks. You can take the boy out of the Alternative 80s, but you can never fully take the Alternative 80s out of the boy…

Goat Girl, On All Fours– If I had to think of two words to describe this album from British group Goat Girl (which, despite the name, seems to be all human women and not fantastic hybrids) it would be “lush” and “hypnotic”. Musically, it’s a combination of instrumental rock and electronic rock, fused together by strong production and a knowing way with melody. And the vocals are clear and powerful.

Kate Davis, Strange Boy– So, I’m kind of in love with this album. Kate Davis, apparently, is a pop and jazz singer-songwriter who is now on her fifth album, a cover of Daniel Johnston’s Retired Boxer. Johnston himself was an outsider musician who’s stripped down approach to music came out of his own experience with mental illness. Somewhere between the quirky charm of the original material and her talented interpretation- her lackadaisical vocals synch perfectly with the lo-fi music- this is just great.

Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul, Macca to Mecca!– This is a live album from the touring band of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street band-member Little Steven. On that basis alone, you would think it would be solid. But wait, there’s more! It’s an album of Beatles covers recorded at the Cavern Club in Liverpool where the Beatles got their start. As Steven says on the album intro, “Rock and Roll is my religion, and this is Mecca”. Great material, well played, and, crucially for covers, true to the spirit of the originals without being slavish copies.

Midnight Sister, Painting the Roses– This album is unsettling in a good way. It’s partially the music, which is solidly in a neo-soul vein but keeps doing complex and surprising things track after track. And it’s very much in the lyrics and vocal performance. Lead singer Juliana Giraffe (I am not making this up) is heavy on hypnotic artistry, bringing to mind Kate Bush from way back and Florence and the Machine from more recently.

Pom Poko, Cheater– Discordant, but high on melody. Quirky. Clever. This is from the school of Post-Rock that still knows what makes a perfect pop-rock song work, but has blown up the formula and beautifully reconstructed the pieces (think Deerhoof). Also, they’re Norwegian, which may have something to do with it.

Rats on Rafts, Excerpts From Chapter 3: The Mind Runs A Net Of Rabbit Paths– This feels like an album lost in time. Multiple times, actually. You’ll hear traces of Psychedelia, 80’s New Wave/Synthpop, and Industrial. It all adds up to surging atmospheric music. And, as the album name might lead you to expect, it’s also a high concept story album. This could all get out of hand, but it doesn’t, and it’s weirdly wonderful.

Steven Wilson, The Future Bites– The musical mix of melody, samplings, and electronic dance music here brings to mind early 80s Peter Gabriel. It has a tendency toward the ethereal, but the dark bitterness of Wilson’s lyrics and more grating musical touches keep it grounded. All in all, very interesting!

Weezer, OK Human– I have to admit, when I heard that this latest Weezer foray involved a full orchestra and took inspiration from opera, I had more than a touch of trepidation. I thought we might end up with something like how Rivers Cuomo getting interested in music theory on Pinkerton squashed all the energy and charm that had been in their debut album. Here, though, those touches are always in service of solid Pop Rock structure, and Cuomo is in top form lyrically. It’s just too good to ignore.

Maybe

• Dale Crover, Rat-a-Tat-Tat– Crover is the drummer from one of my long-time favorites, the Melvins. Per what one might expect from that, this is full of great heavy and yet melodic rock. The downside is that throughout it veers into experimental sound forays that just get a little annoying.
  
  
• Kiwi Jr., Cooler Returns– Good solid Power-Pop. If you like the Modern Lovers and the Replacements, you might like this. I was left wondering, though, if the sound is a little too familiar?
  
  
• Lia Ices, Family Album– This is affecting from the start, she sounds and feels like a 70s singer-songwriter livened by psychedelic and 90s indie touches. Her voice weaves spells, but by the end a sense of sameness starts to set in.
  
  
• Palberta, Palberta5000– Sweet, melodious pop-punk, it’s musically propulsive and interesting. And I am a sucker for girl groups. It’s very charming, but occasionally gets a little lyrically and vocally repetitive.
  
  
• Sleaford Mods, Spare Ribs– Very interesting! The grooves are infectious, the lyrics political without getting polemical. It brings to mind PiL, and the Streets. The delivery, though, is a little, well, shouty, which gets hard to sustain toward the end.
  
  
• The Besnard Lakes, The Besnard Lakes Are the Last of the Great Thunderstorm Warnings– This is a very strong maybe. It’s surging, atmospheric and weird, in a way that brings to mind 70s Prog Rock as well as newer efforts by bands like the Flaming Lips. Per the Prog Rock vibe, the tracks sometimes feel a little…long. But it grew on me the more it went.
  
  
• Trevor Beld Jimenez, I like It Here– This felt like a 70s Southern California album lost in time. He’s lyrically compelling and vocally rich. My only hesitation is that the production sounds a little too thin and straightforward, but it’s definitely worth another listen or two.
  
  
• Yung, Ongoing Dispute– Poppy in a power-chordy kind of way, and I liked the naively self-referential lyrics. I did feel it veered a little too much toward sameness by the end.
  

No

• Alpine Decline, For the Betterment of Well People– Very high quality pop-rock, but there’s just too much “sameness” to the tracks.
  
  
• Ani DiFranco, Revolutionary Love– To be clear, there is no such thing as a bad Ani DiFranco album, and this isn’t bad. It was however, a little too in an “adult easy listening” vein musically and vocally, and I like my Ani a little more incendiary.
  
  
• Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, New Fragility– Very well done, but it’s just kind of too one tone “sad indie guy”.
  
  
• Gas Lit, Divide and Dissolve– Instrumental metal with new age and orchestral flourishes. It wasn’t for me, but I’m sure it does have an audience.
  
  
• Henrik Appel, Humanity– In a proto-punk/post-punk vein musically, and it has some mood and lyrical flourishes, but it’s a little too simple and one tone for me.
  
  
• Lucero, When You Found Me– It’s good dark Country-Rock, but descends into too much sameness.
  
  
• Madlib, New Ancestors– Please understand, I love Madvillain so I was pre-disposed to like this effort from the “Mad” half of that hip-hop duo, and this is beautiful and well done. But it’s too down-tempo and fading into the background for me.
  
  
• Pearl Charles, Magic Mirror– Pretty effort from a singer-songwriter with an interesting musical mix, but ultimately a little too simple in its production for me.
  
  
• Shame, Drunk Tank Pink– Third generation punk. It’s fine.
  
  
• Tamar Aphek, All Bets Are Off– Slick and well-produced effort from an Israeli indie rocker, but I failed to locate anything that felt genuine in it.
  
  
• The Body, I’ve Seen All I Need to See– I do like my noise rock and my experimental rock, but this was a little discordant even for me.
  
  
• The Notwist, Vertigo Days– It all ends up being a little too ambient and sound-effecty.
  
  
• Therion, Leviathan– Symphonic Scandinavian metal with Celtic elements. I was left flat when the really good metal moments kept giving way to the symphonic moments, but it’s definitely interesting.