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Leviathan III
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Leviathan III
Current price: $17.99
Barnes and Noble
Leviathan III
Current price: $17.99
Size: CD
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Following 2018's three-disc rock opera
Beloved Antichrist
,
Therion
sought to return to its roots. Founder
Christofer Johnsson
announced the
Leviathan
trilogy in 2020. He explained it would serve as a kind of retrospective of various styles and sonics employed across the band's history -- with all new material. 2021's
flashed back to the earliest death and doom metal incarnation of
. 2022's
Leviathan II
showcased their embrace of prog, keyboards, operatic choirs, and symphonic charts.
Johnsson
predicted
Leviathan III
would likely not be received as well as its predecessors, as its songs were "leftovers" from the marathon recording sessions and didn't fit either of the first two volumes.
Opener "Ninkigal," a charging, sinister, operatic prog metal jam, is a highlight. Its overdriven guitar riffs, galloping drums, layered keyboards, chorales, and strings frame
Lori Lewis
' glorious, dramatic soprano. "Ruler of Tanag" commences with an acoustic guitar introducing
Lewis
. The band joins her on the second verse with a chugging twin guitar vamp from
, dissonant lead from
Christian Vidal
, and a layered male vocal chorus led by
Thomas Vikstroem
as
soars, weaving in and out of the lyric melody. "Maleficium" showcases
's command of symphonic metal with clashing sonorities and dynamics moving from lush to menacing, with contrapuntal chorales, blastbeats, and soaring lead vocals from
and
Vikstroem
; they either dialogue in call-and-response or entwine like battling angels. Shockingly, it's only three-and-a-half minutes long. "Ayahuasca," the set's longest cut at over seven minutes, lands as the album's centerpiece.
Piotr Wawrzeniuk
, the band's former drummer, joins the vocalists, adding a recitative framed by a massive choir. The track encompasses two distinct halves. The first is grounded by jagged midtempo guitar riffs and swinging drums before it transitions with a nearly gauzy bassline; first
, then
Wawrzeniuk
alternate croon in what almost amounts to a ceremonial chant. A church organ and Mellotron dominate the tune's body atop the drum kit; time signatures and backdrops shift and change before droning to a close. "Baccanale," a charging prog metal jam, contains glorious singing from
and guest
Susanne Sundfor
. "Midsommarblot" is almost anthemic, with a speedy guitar chug tempered under choral vocals and drums before
Vidal
delivers a stinging solo and the mellifluous choir carries it out over
's jagged guitar fills. "Duende" is introduced, appropriately, with a nuevo flamenco guitar intro before the classically trained Spanish flamenco singer (and recent
member)
Rosalia Sairem
rises above the crunchy two-chord vamp to deliver her show-stopping cante flamenco vocal performance supported by
. Closer "Twilight of the Gods" offers the bounty of
's dramatic tension with its dark, gloomy, and even Gothic elements as
growls and
soars above stirring choirs before orchestration, a dueling lead guitar break, and stop-and-start exchanges with the orchestral elements rise above to create a breathtaking finale.
may take another listen to fully grasp its ambitious scope, but the listener would be rewarded as this is easily one of
's most diverse, dramatic, and dynamic recordings yet. ~ Thom Jurek
Beloved Antichrist
,
Therion
sought to return to its roots. Founder
Christofer Johnsson
announced the
Leviathan
trilogy in 2020. He explained it would serve as a kind of retrospective of various styles and sonics employed across the band's history -- with all new material. 2021's
flashed back to the earliest death and doom metal incarnation of
. 2022's
Leviathan II
showcased their embrace of prog, keyboards, operatic choirs, and symphonic charts.
Johnsson
predicted
Leviathan III
would likely not be received as well as its predecessors, as its songs were "leftovers" from the marathon recording sessions and didn't fit either of the first two volumes.
Opener "Ninkigal," a charging, sinister, operatic prog metal jam, is a highlight. Its overdriven guitar riffs, galloping drums, layered keyboards, chorales, and strings frame
Lori Lewis
' glorious, dramatic soprano. "Ruler of Tanag" commences with an acoustic guitar introducing
Lewis
. The band joins her on the second verse with a chugging twin guitar vamp from
, dissonant lead from
Christian Vidal
, and a layered male vocal chorus led by
Thomas Vikstroem
as
soars, weaving in and out of the lyric melody. "Maleficium" showcases
's command of symphonic metal with clashing sonorities and dynamics moving from lush to menacing, with contrapuntal chorales, blastbeats, and soaring lead vocals from
and
Vikstroem
; they either dialogue in call-and-response or entwine like battling angels. Shockingly, it's only three-and-a-half minutes long. "Ayahuasca," the set's longest cut at over seven minutes, lands as the album's centerpiece.
Piotr Wawrzeniuk
, the band's former drummer, joins the vocalists, adding a recitative framed by a massive choir. The track encompasses two distinct halves. The first is grounded by jagged midtempo guitar riffs and swinging drums before it transitions with a nearly gauzy bassline; first
, then
Wawrzeniuk
alternate croon in what almost amounts to a ceremonial chant. A church organ and Mellotron dominate the tune's body atop the drum kit; time signatures and backdrops shift and change before droning to a close. "Baccanale," a charging prog metal jam, contains glorious singing from
and guest
Susanne Sundfor
. "Midsommarblot" is almost anthemic, with a speedy guitar chug tempered under choral vocals and drums before
Vidal
delivers a stinging solo and the mellifluous choir carries it out over
's jagged guitar fills. "Duende" is introduced, appropriately, with a nuevo flamenco guitar intro before the classically trained Spanish flamenco singer (and recent
member)
Rosalia Sairem
rises above the crunchy two-chord vamp to deliver her show-stopping cante flamenco vocal performance supported by
. Closer "Twilight of the Gods" offers the bounty of
's dramatic tension with its dark, gloomy, and even Gothic elements as
growls and
soars above stirring choirs before orchestration, a dueling lead guitar break, and stop-and-start exchanges with the orchestral elements rise above to create a breathtaking finale.
may take another listen to fully grasp its ambitious scope, but the listener would be rewarded as this is easily one of
's most diverse, dramatic, and dynamic recordings yet. ~ Thom Jurek
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