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I thought Alestorm's first album was fantastic fun, so was expecting another fine dose of pirate related shenanigans on this their new EP. However, it seems that Leviathan turns out to be simply a stop gap to keep the fans hungry for their next proper slab of pirate metal, without much to offer in the way of interest compared to their debut.

For me it's a bit TOO short, with only one original new track (the remaining three tracks being made up of a re-recorded track from their Battleheart days, a cover and a German lyric version of "Wenches and Mead" from their debut album). The new track has the same bounding enthusiasm as the shanties from their debut, but with a less tongue in cheek lyrical approach this time around (the song being about... well... a massive sea creature ripping crew limb from limb, naturally). Their re-recorded Battleheart song also sounds 100 times fresher than its original version. The biggest shock is that the cover of 'Wolves of the Sea' by the dubious 'dance/pop' band Pirates of the Sea (yes, the same group that made a Eurovision song contest entry for Latvia) is surprisingly catchy in its newly 'metalized' form. Finally, "Weiber und Wein" adds nothing to the original version of "Wenches and Mead" — so no shocks there then.

All in all, Leviathan is all well and good for what it is, but just don't go expecting too much from it - it merely adds up to the sum of its parts - nothing more, nothing less.