Leviathan
Leviathan
Scar Sighted
Profound Lore Records
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Leviathan has, since the time of the project’s inception, been a mainstay of the American black metal scene. Pioneered by its sole member and musician, Jef Whitehead (aka Wrest); Leviathan has had a twenty-two-year legacy of producing, in my opinion, some of the most technically complex and cutting-edge BM to be put to tape. This bulwark of a one-man effort has put forth an extensive back catalog of demos, EPs, and collaborations – a discography that was somewhat inaccessible for many years due to the tendency for black metal artists to release works in intensely limited and profoundly low-fidelity mediums; even after cassettes had long since been eclipsed by more advanced technologies (there are even a few BM releases on CDr, with artists opting to burn each copy themselves rather than mass produce). However, the demand for Wrest’s music compelled Leviathan to synthesize collections and reissues of the harder-to-find material that was formerly confined to the magnetic strips closely guarded by collectors. Thus, Leviathan’s discography can be somewhat of a maze to navigate – and the original tapes and esoteric copies of Wrest’s efforts have become even more intensely valued.

This is somewhat of the principle that black metal thrives on – a sense of exclusivity; the feeling that you have your hands on something that very few other people have, or even want (indeed, the musical structure of this genre is something of an acquired taste). This same feeling is the masterstroke of Profound Lore’s 2022 reissue of Scar Sighted. While I don’t consider this particular release to be classically black metal in the sense of presentation since it did not come on a dusty cassette with a xeroxed j-card covered in sharpie, it evokes that same feeling of exclusivity; something that Wrest clearly prides himself on. The packaging itself is beautiful. Wrest, aside from being a musician, is also a highly trained and respected tattoo artist (having rubbed shoulders with the likes of Ed Hardy, Tim Lehi, Zach Stuka, the Horiyoshi family, etc., etc.). This is immediately evident as soon as the contents of the plain white sleeve are revealed. Included are eleven beautiful panels of artwork that accompany the lyrics of each song on the opposite side, with two serving as a tracklist and a credits page, respectively. The intricacy of the layout is reason enough to add the album to any collection – it is obvious intense effort was made to ensure that this experience was comprehensive. How often does an album include a companion art piece for every song? This is the very same feeling of exclusivity that early black metal cassettes embody – a physical experience that evokes the feeling of something hidden, a deep treasure waiting to be discovered. All these factors add up to create a somewhat magical effect. This makes a mass-marketed black metal release feel like an early Burzum demo. Not to mention, of course, the prowess of Profound Lore’s pressing. I own several vinyls from PL Records, and not once have I ever experienced an issue with quality. The sonic spectrum of this particular reissue is impeccable – a worthy effort (yet somewhat oxymoronic when applied to black metal) when it comes to putting this album to wax.

Leviathan, Scar Sighted, Included Artwork.

Leviathan, Scar Sighted, Included Artwork Close up.

Musically, the album embodies what Leviathan has come to represent within USBM – an absolutely irreproachable selection of technically complex songs which not only evoke classical black metal, but also elements of doom metal, drone, ambient, and noise music. Aside from boasting some of Leviathan’s most accessible production (whilst still evoking the lo-fi roots of Norway’s progenitors), the standout on this record for me is the drums. Jef Whitehead has stated before that drums are his instrument of choice – the element that he has had the most experience with and likewise finds the most enjoyment in. This is immediately evident in Scar Sighted. Each song is driven by an ever-changing drum track, twisting and turning in unconventional ways that sometimes create polyrhythms within each composition. Not to say that the release is unapproachable by the black metal layman; someone just starting to explore black metal may find this release more interesting than a Transylvanian Hunger or a Live in Leipzig (not to discredit the classics, of course) simply because of the unpredictability, the tendency for twists and turns within the course of the album that even a prog-rock enthusiast would come to respect. Whilst I remain partial to releases like Tenth Sub Level and Massive Conspiracy (the latter of which I consider to be the culmination of Leviathan, both for its musical perfection and since Wrest discontinued the project for several years after its release), Scar Sighted in my opinion represents a meeting point between Leviathan’s aggression and Lurker of Chalice’s ambient sensibilities (an album which I will discuss later within this article). All in all, Scar Sighted leaves the listener immersed in the artwork which accompanies it, something which very few albums to date have ever accomplished.

the body
the body
I’ve Seen All I Need to See
Thrill Jockey Records
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There have been several occasions where I have played the body for unsuspecting listeners – and without fail, I always get the reaction I secretly want: “What in GOD’S NAME are you PLAYING? Turn that shit OFF!” While I usually try to pick music that I feel others will enjoy, the body is a band that is so sonically punishing that it’s actually fun to make people suffer through. A two-man effort courtesy of Chip King and Lee Buford, the body has slowly transitioned from a noise-sludge band to something that is far more difficult to define. Throughout the course of the body’s career, they have consistently broken down barriers that define what heavy music is. Through an extensive history of collaborations with Full of Hell, Thou, the Assembly of Light Choir, Uniform, Krieg, and many more, Chip and Lee have assimilated an absolutely astounding level of different influences into their music. Sludge, drone, black metal, grindcore, harsh noise, doom… the list goes on. And here is where I find the bent, backward appeal of listening to the body; somehow, these two musicians can take the most grating and brutal forms of music that exist today and blend them together into something that can still find moments of intense melody and emotional weight.

I considered the body’s previous standalone effort I Have Fought Against It, but I Can’t Any Longer a practical masterpiece (I do still prefer it in some senses to this particular album), but I’ve Seen All I Need to See retains a powerful counterpoint to it, in that it is essentially the work of Chip and Lee alone. While they did have assistance in production and some other aspects of this work, I Have Fought Against It was a heavily collaborative album, in my mind representing what the body could do given access to a wide variety of outside parties and resources. There was an abundance of guest performers on Fought Against, while All I Need to See was driven almost solely by the body’s two core performers. This produces a far rawer and stripped-down musical experience, given that Fought Against was supplemented with operatic guest vocalist features. All the listener is left with is brutally harsh Merzbow-esque soundscapes punctuated with gunfire war drums. However, this is the genius of the body: throughout these harsh compositions, they still come to climactic moments of relief, melodic passages that break through the waves of warbling distortion in an almost cinematic manner. Their audio tracks clip in and out in time with the music and the distortion on tracks fluctuates as if it were intentional eighths placed within the measure – within the body’s chaos there is a clear and definite order. This is where, in my opinion, the body differentiates itself from other acts. Chip and Lee can create something that is simultaneously listenable and unlistenable – a musical oxymoron that forces the listener to wait for the payoff.

In terms of clarity, the vinyl I procured of this record is incredibly sound. It should be noted that every bleep, sweep, and creep is as equally important to the listener as it is to that poor gentleman who was subject to the jam in Spaceballs. Thrill Jockey made sure to capture every punishing iota of the body’s most raw and ruthless recording since All the Waters of the Earth Turn to Blood, and it shows without a doubt. Whether it be a cathartic, desperate melody or an absolutely crushing riff through burgeoning layers of distortion, this vinyl carries it all carelessly and delivers the listener to a conclusion that defies all reason. There is no compromise in the direction or construction of this record, and the same goes for the production of the vinyl itself.

Lurker of Chalice
Lurker of Chalice
s/t
Nuclear War Now! Productions
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Herein lies a counterpoint to the raw aggression so common within Wrest’s aforementioned Leviathan; Lurker of Chalice represents a unique landmark within Jef Whitehead’s musical career. The short-lived side project produced but one album (excepting two incredibly rare CDr releases and four semi-legendary unreleased albums, which would be selected from, compiled, and remixed into 2020’s Tellurian Slaked Furnace). However, it is an essential listen if one wants to familiarize themselves with Wrest’s work. Whilst the project was ceased abruptly for many years, it has consistently been revisited by Leviathan fans for a very simple reason – here Wrest allows his non-black metal musical influences to truly shine through. That is not to say that this isn’t a black metal record; of course, the man’s primary genre takes a front seat. However, within this record is an audibly more diverse sound – one that would seem to inform later Leviathan releases and would leave a lasting mark on its legacy. Leviathan’s albums post LoC eschew far more of these ambient and drone-oriented characteristics, whilst the demos and albums which preceded it are far more emblematic of classic black metal. This momentary departure from the absolute raw aggression – and the lasting effect that it saw on Wrest’s musical career – designate this release as somewhat of a turning point.

Musically, the album is far closer to a classic Leviathan release (in terms of production) than Scar Sighted. Throughout, it retains a sound that feels like it has been deliberately compressed – a kind of twisted digital counterpoint to the usual suspects of black metal’s “necrosound” (recording with a single mic in the middle of the studio; using broken tape recorders that are missing their playback function, purchased for 15 kroner in a Norwegian back alley…). While this type of sound would usually annoy me to high heaven, it seems at home for this release. The strangeness of the lo-fi sound seems to reflect the strangeness of this release when compared to Wrest’s other albums. The release opens with a sweeping clean-guitar intro, punctuated with cawing crows and drums fitting for the hangman’s march – before giving way to a beautiful harp-ish refrain that opens the first track. Then, a crushing black metal riff ensues, interlaced with Wrest’s trademark loudspeaker echo vocals. This is the theme that pervades the album – a collision of extremes. From the droning howls of the track “Minions,” to the semi-soothing spoken word on “This Blood Falls as Mortal, Part III,” back and forth from distorted to acoustic… curveball after curveball.

The particular pressing of this record that I possess is the 2021 reissue, released by Nuclear War Now! productions. The label has done an excellent job of doing justice to the original sound of the album. Whilst the production at play has never been particularly high-fidelity to begin with, NWN! has put forth a worthy effort when it comes to delivering each nuance of this already very nuanced album. A careless repressing would have lost a great deal of the sound within the difficult production – not so in this case. While there is a slight warp in one half of my particular version of this double LP, it does not affect the sonic quality (and in fairness is most likely a product of heat exposure or improper storage after the pressing itself). In terms of packaging, the album is housed within a finely textured matte gatefold, complete with a blue foil embossed logo and a depiction of the original album cover on the reverse side, and also a poster print. It seems to reflect the music itself – outwardly gruff, but upon closer examination attention to detail and meticulousness is revealed.