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Lethean is a U.K.-based band that plays metal with a big, expansive atmosphere, brooding riffs and clear, soulful vocals. The Waters of Death is their debut album and features six tracks of epic metal that follows in the footsteps of acts like Grand Magus and Argus. The guitars have a great, heavy sound and when tracks like "Idylls of the King" and "Devouring Fire" start, you can kind of feel where the band is trying to go but the vocals aren't heading in the same direction. The singer has a fine voice but doesn't have anywhere near the power or gravity in her performance this kind of music demands. While the guitars gallop across the tundra, she sounds like she's riding in a sedan chair at the back of the column. I'd like to hear her let loose more, like she does toward the end of "Devouring Fire" when she injects some emotion and raises her voice before the song starts winding down. The Waters of Death shows some promise but Lethean need to fine-tune their presentation a bit if they want to carry their listeners to faraway lands.