Description

Double album on grey and black splatter vinyls with gatefold cover

How low can a person go? you might ask – well, according to the one-man band Leviathan, a person can go very low indeed, at least where this album’s concept and lyrics are concerned. In Wrests view, death and hell are inevitable and should be accepted, maybe even welcomed, and life and hated humanity should be shunned. A tragic grandeur is the hallmark of this music even at its most aggressive and thrashy and the anger and furious pace prevent it from sounding self-piteous even when everything seems most desperate. Production is foggy as though Wrest is screaming and playing in a huge cavern behind a thick steel prison door but our man forces the situation to turn to his advantage by creating a distinctive black metal universe and turning those echoing monster screams into something very unearthly. The music flows very well and Wrest maintains a solid and consistent standard throughout the album. Even though the pace is extremely fast, this is a highly melodic recording and some tracks like Submersed have an atmospheric beauty and majesty. I sometimes wish there were more moments of ambient icy-winter soundscape wonder on this album but Leviathan seems happy playing a style of music that combines traditional song-based heavy metal elements with black metal. Some melodic passages don’t sound all that original but appear to be derived from a general universal formula and I have the impression that Wrest acquired considerable classical or other professional music training before answering the call of black metal and making it his vocation. The major achievement here is how Wrest makes creating his own operatic black metal cosmos look so easy and natural. Everything is solid from start to finish with no filler track and nothing can be faulted. With every song contributing to a perfectly built edifice, Wrest is to be commended but, contrary creature that I am, I find myself wishing that he could have allowed the odd eccentric worm-hole or two to be burrowed in his perfect universe. Sometimes a work can be just too perfect and the odd imperfection can paradoxically lift it to an even greater height.

Track lis:
1. Introit
2. Fucking Your Ghost in Chains of Ice
3. Sardoniscorn
4. The Bitter Emblem of Dissolve
5. Scenic Solitude and Leprosy
6. He Whom Shadows Move Towards
7. Submersed
8. Mine Molten Armor
9. The Idiot Sun
10. At The Door To The Tenth Sub Level Of Suicide