The Ocean Conductor - The Anaton Project (2026)

An epic tale of the cruel sea, from a Norwegian studio project that uses a wide array of styles to tell its story.

The band veers from movie soundtrack dynamics to scream-sung metal to lovely string arrangements to tense alt-rock.

I often say that I can’t be bothered to figure out the story when a band says their album is a concept album. This one is actually pretty straightforward, given a couple of spoken-word tracks that lay out the characters and the stakes by reading letters the characters write.

There’s a lot here, and I’m sure I haven’t unpacked it all this morning. But I have enjoyed the ride.