Okay, so somebody decided heavy metal and adult contemporary needed to get married. Weird pitch. Weirder that it kind of works.

Dr. M. is 39, does everything himself: writes the songs, programs the drums, mixes the whole record, and calls this thing “Adult Metal.” His new album, ‘Follow Me’, holds nine tracks, one singer for all of them: Maria Moon. Big range, knows when to pull back, knows when to push. Some of these choruses would fall flat with a weaker voice behind them, but she sells it every time.

The concept is smooth radio hooks slammed against actual metal riffs, but in practice it’s less jarring than expected. Verses sit closer to pop songwriting, then the chorus hits and there’s real weight to it. Glam rock strut in some spots, post rock haze in others, melodic pop rock structure holding it all together. Then Svante Forsbäck, a Grammy winning mastering engineer, took it the rest of the way. As a first outing, Follow Me makes a decent case for itself.