Crawl/Leviathan/Red River Family Records/2018 Split EP Review

 This  is  a  review  of  a  split  ep  between  U.S.A's  Crawl  and  Leviathan  which  was  released  by  Red  River  Family  Records  and  we  will  start  the  review  of  with  Crawl  a  band  that  plays  a  mixture  of  black  metal,  sludge  and  noise.

  Their  side  of  the  split  starts  out  with  drum  beats  and  primal  sounding  bass  guitars  while their  track  is  12  minutes  in  length    along  with  the  music  bringing  in  the  heaviness  of  sludge  while  tortured  black  metal  screams  can  also  be  heard  in  the  background  and  after  awhile  ritualistic  synths  are  added  into  the  music  and  blast  beats  can  also  be  heard  briefly  as  well  as  some  acoustic  guitars  towards  the  end, the  production  sounds  very  dark  while  the  lyrics  cover  hateful  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  track  from  Crawl  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  black  metal,  sludge  and  noise,  you  should  enjoy  their  side  of  the  split.

  Next  up  is  Leviathan  returning  with  another  atmospheric  and  depressive  black  metal  track.

  His  side  of  the  split  starts  out  with  an  ambient  orientated  sound  along  with  his  track  being  12  minutes  in  length  while  a  brief  use  of  bass  leads  can  also  be  heard  and  after  awhile  the  music  goes  into  more  of  a  heavier  direction  while  the  vocals  are  mostly  grim  yet  high  pitched  black  metal  screams  while  the  riffing  is  very  depressive  and  raw  sounding and  the  song  sticks  to  mostly  a  slow  or  mid  tempo  direction,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  and  raw  while  the  lyrics  cover  depressive  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  track  from  Leviathan  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  solo  project,  you  should  enjoy  his  side  of  the  split.

  In  conclusion  i  feel  this  is  a  very  great  sounding  split  and  I  would  recommend  it  to  all  fans  of  USBM.  8/5  out  of  10. 

http://crawl.bandcamp.com

http://trvlvthn.bandcamp.com      

Leviathan/The First Sublevel Of Suicide/Ascension Monuments/2017 CD Compilation Review

  Leviathan  are  a  solo  project  from  the  United  States  which  needs  no  introduction  and  on  this  recording  played  a  very  raw  and  depressive  form  of  black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  his  2017  compilation  album  "The  First Sublevel  Of  Suicide"  which  consists  of  unreleased  demo  tracks  which  where  recorded  before  his  first  full  length  "The  10th  Sublevel  Of  Suicide".

  Raw  tremolo  picking  riffs  start  off t he  compilation  along  with  some  dark  sounding  melodies  while  the  faster  sections  of  the  songs  bring  in  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  while the  vocals  are  mostly  high  pitched  black  metal  screams  as  well  as  most  of  the  tracks  being  very  long  and  epic  in  length.

  At  times  the  vocals  throw  in  depressive  screams  while  the  song  also  bring  in a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  along  with  the  music  bringing  in  atmospheric  riffing  that  would  later  influence  future  bands  as  well  as  one  track  also  bringing  in  a  brief  use  of  demonic  voices and  when  synths  are  utilized  they  also  add  in  a  touch  of  ambient  and  clean  guitars  can  also  be  heard  briefly.

  On  this  recording  Leviathan  played  a  style  of  black  metal  that  was  more  raw  and  depressive  then  later  releases  taking  a  lot  of  second  wave  influences  and  taking  them  into  a  direction  that  was  very  original  for  its  time  and  also  showing  what  was  to  come  in the  future  for  USBM,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  and  raw  while  the  lyrics  cover  depression,  darkness,  suicide  and  misanthropy  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  a  very  great  sounding  collection  from  Leviathan  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  solo  project,  you  should  check  out  this  compilation.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "The  Bitter  Emblem  Of  Dissolve"  and  "The  Idiot  Sun".  8/7  out  of  10.

Bandcamp 

  

Crebain/Leviathan/Split/tULMULt/2004 Split CD Review

  This  is  a  review  of  a  split  album  between  San  Francisco,  California's  Crebain  and  Leviathan  which  was  released  by  tULMULt  in  2004  and  we  will  start  of  the  review  with  Crebain  a  1  man  project  which  plays  a  very  raw  and  primitive  from  of  depressive  black  metal.

  Drums  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  drumming  with  some  blast  beats  being  utilized  at  times,  while  the  bass  playing  has  a  very  dark  tone  with  riffs  that  follow  the  riffing  that  is  coming  out  of  the  guitars.

  Rhythm  guitars  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  depressive  black  metal  riffs  that  are  very  dark,  raw  and  primitive  sounding  with  some  thrash  influences  being  thrown  into  the  riffing  as  well  as  some  melodic  parts  and  there  little  to  are  no  guitar  solos  or  leads  present  on  their  side  of  the  recording.

  Vocals  are  all  high  pitched  black  metal  screams,  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark,  depressive  and  satanic  themes,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  dark,  heavy,  raw  and  primitive  sound  to  it  with  the  songs  not  being  either  too  short  or  long  in  length.

  In  my  opinion  Crebain  are  a  very  great  sounding  raw  and  primitive  depressive  black  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  their  side  of  the  recording.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Sorrow  Of  The  Ancients"  and  "Glorious  Age  Of  Satan".  RECOMMENDED.

  Next  up  is  Leviathan  a  band  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  with  their  musical  style  being  fast,  heavy,  raw  ad  primitive  sounding  atmospheric/depressive  black  metal.

  Drums  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  drumming  along  with  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  being thrown  into  the  music,  while  the  bass  playing  has  a  very  dark  tone  with  riffs  that  follow  the  riffing  that  is  coming  out  of  the  guitars  and  at  times  they  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them,  as  for  the  synths w hich  are  only  utilized  briefly  they  bring  a  dark  ambient  sound  to  the  music.

  Rhythm  guitars  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  atmospheric/depressive  black  metal  riffs  that  are  very  dark,  heavy,  raw  and  primitive  sounding  and  there  are  no  guitar  solos  or  leads  present  on  their side  of  the  recording.

  Vocals  are  mostly grim  sounding  and  high  pitched  depressive  black  metal screams  with  some  spoken  word  parts  being  utilized  at  times,  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark,  depressive  and  occult  themes,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  dark,  raw  and  primitive  sound  to  it  with  some  of  the  songs  being  long  and  epic  in  length. 

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  recording  from  Leviathan  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  band,  you  should  check  out  their  side  of  the  recording.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Ruminating  In  Hatemagick"  and  "Blood  Angel"  which  is  a  Von  cover.  RECOMMENDED.

  In  conclussion  I  feel  this  is  a  very  great  sounding  split  and  I  would  recommend  it  to  all  fans  of  USBM.  RECOMMENDED  BUY.

https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Crebain/9081
https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Leviathan/9562

 

Leviathan/A Silhoutte In Splinters/Moribund Records/2008 CD Review

  Leviathan are a band from San Francisco that is known to be a black metal band, who also have had an album reviewed in this zine, on this recording they went for a more dark ambient sound and this is a review of their 2008 album "A Silhouette In Splinters" which was released by Moribund Records.

Distortion on this album has a very dark and somewhat heavy feel on this recording,, while the synths bring a very dark ambient feel to the album, as for the noise effects they have an underground avant garde feel to them.

The music on this album touches on the darker side of humanity, while the production has a very dark feel to it, as for the bass playing when it is utilized it brings an extra dimension of darkness to the music.

Acoustic guitars when they are utilized have a very weird sound that makes the music sound more avant-garde and dark with a good amount of full chords and finger picking, while the vocals have a very cryptic feel to them mixed in with some black metal growls when they are utilized.

In my opinion this was a very good album from Leviathan and while some of their more hardcore black metal fans would probably not enjoy this album, I still feel this recording would appeal to someone more open minded that is looking for something that is dark and original. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Particular Dis-ease" and "A Silhouette In Splinters". RECOMMENDED BUY.

Spotify

Leviathan-Massive Conspiracy Against All Life/Moribund Records/2008 CD Review

 Leviathan is a 1 man band from San Francisco that has been releasing material since the Mid 90's and early 2000's and this is Adam Wrest's newest project and I would describe his music as Suicidal Black Metal with a dark ambient edge.

Drums on this recording are really fast with a lot of blast beats and some slower parts while the bass guitars on this recording are very raw and primal.

As for the guitars on this c.d they have a lot of variety with a lot of fast riffs and some slower parts that contain some doom metal influences as well as a lot of feedback that reminds me of some noise rock bands from the mid 80's -early 90's era and there are a lot of different effects going on as well and I really like the arpeggios that are used occasionally and I would describe the keyboards on this recording as being very dark and haunting somewhat esoteric with a lot of effects and they don't over dominated which is a problem with a lot of bands and luckily they don't weaken or water down the music while the vocals are very raw somewhat distorted and they don't get to high over pitched..

Lyrics on this recording deal with a lot of dark and depressing themes about how weak and pathetic humanity is., and I would describe the production on this recording as having a decent sound and you can hear all of the instruments and everything is all heavy and primal.

In my opinion this album is really good but seems to lack the power of early Leviathan releases which were some of the best black metal out there. Rumor has it that this might be the last album Adam Wrest does under the Leviathan name, if so this album is a perfect finale to a great history this band has created, When I heard their Moribund debut years ago and some of the material they put out before then I considered them as being the new leaders of black metal. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Spotify