ITP V.011 REVIEW: LEVIATHAN: TRUE TRAITOR, TRUE WHORE

BAND: LEVIATHAN (San Francisco, California, USA) GENRE: BLACK METAL/AMBIENT RECORD LABEL: PROFOUND LORE RECORDS RELEASE DATE: 11/8/2011









PREVIOUS RELEASES (CATALOG): (SPLIT-SIC LUCEAT LUX-Leviathan/Acherontas-2009-ZYKLON B PRODUCTIONS), MASSIVE CONSPIRACY AGAINST ALL LIFE-(2008-MORIBUND RECORDS), THE BLIND WOUND (EP-2006), THE SPEED OF DARKNESS (EP-2006-VIVA HATE RECORDS),SAPHTHURAN/LEVIATHAN (SPLIT-2006-BATTLE KOMMAND RECORDS),HOWL MOCKERY AT THE CROSS (2005-MORIBUND RECORDS), TOTENHANZ II/POTRAIT IN SCARS (SPLIT-2005-
ISO666 Releases),A SILHOUETTE IN SPLINTERS (2005-PROFOUND LORE)) DEMOS TWO THOUSAND (2005-BFD RECORDS), LEVIATHAN/XASTHUR (2004-PROFOUND LORE), BLACK METAL AGAINST THE WORLD (2004-SPLIT-Funeral Winds / Leviathan / Ad Hominem / Eternity-UNDERCOVER RECORDS), TENTACLES OF WHORROR (2004-MORIBUND RECORDS), CREBAIN/LEVITHAN (SPLIT-2004-tUMULt), THE TENTH SUB LEVEL OF SUICIDE (2003-MORIBUND RECORDS), LIVE IN ETERNAL, SIN AND THE SPEED OF DARKNESS (SPLIT-IUVENES/LEVIATHAN-2003-NO COLOURS RECORDS), VERRATER (2002-COMPILATION-tUMULt RECORDS)

DEMOS: Time End Demo (1998)
Three (Demo 3) Demo (1998)
MisanthropicNecroBlasphemy Demo (2000)
Shadow of No Light Demo (2000)
Seven & Slaveship Demo (2000)
Video Brolo (Demo 8) Demo (2000)
V (Demo 5) Demo (2000)
Sacrifice Love at the Altar of War (2001)
Nine (Inclement Derision) Demo (2001)
Howl Mockery at the Cross Demo (2001)
Ten Demo (2001)
Intolerance (XI) Demo (2001)
White Devil, Black Metal Demo (2002)
The 10th Sub Level of Suicide Demo (2002)
XV Demo (2002)

BEST RELEASE (s): THE TENTH SUB LEVEL OF SUICIDE (2003), MASSIVE CONSPIRACY AGAINST ALL LIFE (2008), THE BLIND WOUND (2006), A SILHOUETTE IN SPLINTERS (2005)

TRACKLISTING:LEVIATHAN:TRUE TRAITOR,TRUE WHORE:
1. True Whorror
2. Her Circle Is The Noose
3. Brought Up To The Bottom
4. Contrary Pulse
5. Shed This Skin
6. Every Orifice Yawning Her Price
7. Harlot Rises
8. Blood Red And True




ITP RATING: *** 1/2
PRODUCTION: ***
SONGWRITING: *** 1/2
PERFORMANCE: ****


Founded in 1998, San Francisco based black metal project LEVIATHAN is the brainchild of WREST (AKA: Jef Whitehead). LEVIATHAN is a one man black metal project as all instruments are recorded and performed by WREST. WREST has contributed to ambient extreme projects SUNN O)))(Black One & Solstitium Fulminate), TWILIGHT, KRIEG, NACHTMYSITIUM and LURKER OF THE CHALICE.

LEVIATHAN was put on hold after the release of the critically acclaimed 2008 release "Massive Conspiracy Against All Life" after a legal battle against LEVIATHAN's former label MORIBUND RECORDS. In 2011, LEVIATHAN re activated and inked a deal with PROFOUND LORE RECORDS.

LEVIATHAN's WREST (Jef Whitehead-tattoo artist) was arrested and charged with criminal sexual assault and aggravated domestic battery on 1/9/2011 (Chicago, Illinois: http://www.suntimes.com/news/crime/3229375-418/according-whitehead-police-tattoo-report.html) and held on $350,000 bond after allegedly attacking his girlfriend and raping her with tattoo tools. Whitehead was released on $100,000 (bail dropped) bail. The criminal case vs. Jeff Whitehead is still pending as the re activated LEVIATHAN have unleashed a new offering, a middle finger against his enemies and critics entitled "TRUE TRAITOR, TRUE WHORE".

LEVIATHAN's "TRUE TRAITOR,TRUE WHORE" kicks off with the track "True Whorror", a trippy grunted intro, non English spoken word segues into a blast beat hell ride with screamed vocals evoking the first wave of black metal. Dissonant, punky riffs paint the portrait of "True Whorror" as LEVIATHAN delves into a psychedelic horror trip out (3:40), psychotic and tortured. \m/ \m/

LEVIATHANS's "Her Circle Is The Noose" enters mid pace, with varied, tribal drumming, employing enough psychedelic reverb to provoke psychotic hallucinations. WREST's vocals are tortured screams from the abyss of despondency as the song varies tempo with tight blastbeats and a perfectly timed scream, (2:52) as if this is last day of your existence, and release from life's mundane tortures is a relief.

LEVIATHAN's "Brought Up To The Bottom" evokes traditional black metal with awesome guitar effects (:32) and perfectly timed blast beats accentuating a misanthropic hell ride. Quality, melodic and varied riffing flow freely to the surface of LEVIATHAN's "Brought Up To The Bottom" as the tune floats into your subconscious.

LEVIATHAN's "Contrary Pulse" evokes a dramatic intro of psychotic screams, and snare military styled drumming before segueing into beautiful melodic riffing and back into misanthropic chaos. Bi Polar in song structure, LEVIATHAN's "Contrary Pulse" wavers back and forth from beautiful, melancholic textures to apocalyptic, psychotic episodes ending in ambient beauty.

LEVIATHAN's "Shed This Skin" enters with some truly disturbed spoken word before segueing into blast beats (:46), shifting into spoken word and whispered vocals, evoking a creepy atmosphere and wooh..(2:11), a truly horrifying vocal segues into tight blast beats evoking a traditional black metal hellride... LEVIATHAN's "Shed This Skin" evokes a jazzy passage, as if MR. BUNGLES tripped out on DARKTHRONE releases (2:47). LEVIATHAN's "Shed This Skin" continues to spit in the face of all detractors with a quality back and forth interplay of tight, and kult, sludge passages into blastbeats.

LEVIATHAN's "Every Orifice Yawning Her Price", enters with an gorgeous ambient acoustic intro into a quality back beat of dark black metal. Employing light keyboards and WRESTS tortured rasps, LEVIATHAN's "Every Orifice Yawning Her Price" is the projects most accessible track to date. UNTILL..WREST's mood changes as LEVIATHAN evokes a psychotic/psychedelic passage as by now the listeners serotonin levels have dropped, and the song sinks into a dark abysmal, depressive, despondency.

LEVIATHAN's "Harlot Rises" evokes mid pace, with quality syncopated drumming, as WREST's sick rasps segue into some quality, and bizarre riffing. WRESTS's drumming is creative, carrying the composition as "Harlot Rises" trips out into a bizarre psychedelic passage (1:57) and a sludge, crusty black metal interplay. LEVIATHAN's "Harlot Rises" wondrous experimentation twists and turns from blackened crust, to sludge to the most ambient psychedelic textures, all in a blink of eye.

LEVIATHAN's "TRUE TRAITOR, TRUE WHORE" closes with the track "Blood Red And True", a sludgy black metal composition of enough spite, venom and creepy atmospheres to over turn grave stones. LEVIATHAN's "Blood Red And True", again evokes a psychedelic trip out, (2:47) employing effective spoken word vocals as the song sobers into a bi polar sludge anthem, picking up the pieces and frayed ends of loyalty and betrayal.

LEVIATHAN's "TRUE TRAITOR, TRUE WHORE" was intended to be a personal and spiteful release as reflected in the song titles. LEVIATHAN's psychedelic and ambient dirges are often misplaced and in-cohesive, trading in the musical misanthropy for ambient downfalls, as "TRUE TRAITOR, TRUE WHORE" doesn't rip you a new asshole, sounding more like LURKER OF CHALICE.

A bone to pick with LEVIATHAN's production as drums are turned down or are too loud, as the mix for "TRUE TRAITOR, TRUE WHORE" does not do this ambitious release justice.
Ideally, LEVIATHAN's experimentation of combining punkier black metal, crust, sludge, with psychedelic textures is an ingenious one, the execution of quality riffing and songwriting is lacking although WREST's drumming can be creative. When LEVIATHAN's musical ambitions are realized and correctly executed, it is truly mesmerizing, horrifying and groundbreaking.

Despite, imperfections and it's bi polar delivery, LEVIATHAN's "TRUE TRAITOR, TRUE WHORE" is an intriguing release with it's share of genre bending moments.

I shutter to think what WREST can accomplish in the context of LEVIATHAN if he's angry, so should you.


ITP RATING: *** 1/2
PRODUCTION: ***
SONGWRITING: *** 1/2
PERFORMANCE: ****

Thanks-Stay Metal, Stay Brutal-\m/ -l-