Holy shit the middle of Dawn Vibration is bizarre but so good!

Well this is definitely his best in quite a while, enjoying it even more than Massive Conspiracy in some respects. It sounds a lot more like LoC to me, which might not entirely be coincidental, because Wrest has said in an interview that there's a lot of stuff here he'd been planning to use for a while. So maybe some unused Lurker material ultimately fell into the mix.

Written by Auntie Sahar on 03.03.2015 at 00:32

Well this is definitely his best in quite a while, enjoying it even more than Massive Conspiracy in some respects. It sounds a lot more like LoC to me, which might not entirely be coincidental, because Wrest has said in an interview that there's a lot of stuff here he'd been planning to use for a while. So maybe some unused Lurker material ultimately fell into the mix.

if that is the case, I'm excited for it. loved Massive Conspiracy, but always enjoyed LOC a tad more.

Written by BitterCOld on 03.03.2015 at 00:51

if that is the case, I'm excited for it. loved Massive Conspiracy, but always enjoyed LOC a tad more.

Same here, that project always did seem to be focused more on the dark ambient, and while I love his take on black metal as well, I prefer Wrest's music when that agenda takes dominance.

This album is prrreeetty good. I didn't think it was too difficult to get into either.

It's not at all difficult to get into. None of Wrest's works are, to be honest.

That said, it's pretty damn awesome.

Written by Guest on 03.03.2015 at 06:27

Yeeee I can get behind this. Contrary to flightoficarus86 I thought this was pretty easy to digest.

It's definitely more accessible than a lot of the crazier avant garde black metal out there, but less accessible to someone who listens to stuff like Darkthrone or Immortal.

Written by flightoficarus on 03.03.2015 at 21:57

It's definitely more accessible than a lot of the crazier avant garde black metal out there, but less accessible to someone who listens to stuff like Darkthrone or Immortal.

Accessible in a good way though, not like a gimmick for more attention via making things more simple. It's really all about the production here for me, this album has that same vile, dark ambient edge to it that Massive Conspiracy and Tentacles Of Whorror did, but it's more in your face and less buried under the gritty haze of the guitar and the vocals. And in a way, that's what I had been wishing for more of when I first heard those albums to begin with, which is probably why I'm enjoying this one so much now.

Written by Auntie Sahar on 04.03.2015 at 17:01

Written by flightoficarus on 03.03.2015 at 21:57

It's definitely more accessible than a lot of the crazier avant garde black metal out there, but less accessible to someone who listens to stuff like Darkthrone or Immortal.

Accessible in a good way though, not like a gimmick for more attention via making things more simple. It's really all about the production here for me, this album has that same vile, dark ambient edge to it that Massive Conspiracy and Tentacles Of Whorror did, but it's more in your face and less buried under the gritty haze of the guitar and the vocals. And in a way, that's what I had been wishing for more of when I first heard those albums to begin with, which is probably why I'm enjoying this one so much now.

Absolutely. It's funny that you messaged me, cuz I was just listening to it again (and at my favorite track, Within Thrall) thinking about how it is the most accessible "inaccessible" album I have heard. It doesn't sound like he is trying to draw a wider audience, rather he is just skilled enough to walk the line between chaos and order. I would go so far as to say that seems like a theme of this album, and given his history, I can see why it sounds so personal at times.

Great album. It feels like something in between Massive Conspiracy and Lurker Of Chalice, although sadly not as good as either of those.

Much better than TTTW! Hoping for more Lurker of Chalice.

Written by X-Ray Rod on 20.11.2014 at 18:05

Also, fucking dammit I can't unsee the trumpet coming out of the peacock's ass.

Same here.

All Nathan's fault.

Now this is how I like my black metal. Favorite track: Aphōnos.

This could be his best album to date

Actually that is not the cover
The cover is white with just the band logo on it.

What is featured here is one of the eleven artcards that come with the album.

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 13.03.2015 at 13:29

Actually that is not the cover
The cover is white with just the band logo on it.

What is featured here is one of the eleven artcards that come with the album.

The white cover is the cover for the box set, not the album itself

Written by Guest on 13.03.2015 at 18:31

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 13.03.2015 at 13:29

Actually that is not the cover
The cover is white with just the band logo on it.

What is featured here is one of the eleven artcards that come with the album.

The white cover is the cover for the box set, not the album itself

Also for the album itself. Both the box and the album proper have the white cover.

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 13.03.2015 at 18:46

Also for the album itself. Both the box and the album proper have the white cover.

Then how come the band and/or label haven't changed the cover to the white one on their websites? Why do they sell digital copies with the other cover? The way I see it, there are two covers, one for the regular version and one for the special edition box. Based on the fact that they are both released on the same day, then we should use the more commonly used cover, which is the digital one.

Plus it looks cooler.

Written by Guest on 13.03.2015 at 19:01



Then how come the band and/or label haven't changed the cover to the white one on their websites? Why do they sell digital copies with the other cover? The way I see it, there are two covers, one for the regular version and one for the special edition box. Based on the fact that they are both released on the same day, then we should use the more commonly used cover, which is the digital one.

Plus it looks cooler.

I own the regular album and all the other art is eleven artcards (check the review thread for a picture of it all). The box is white with the logo, the album proper is the same as the box and then you have eleven artcards with art on one side and recording info and lyrics on the other side.

As I see it the regular version is the cd box, since there is no jewel case version and it is a unlimited run and comes at the same cost as what one usually pays for a jewel case cd.

Will I be able to sleep tonight?

EDIT: luckily, I was.
By the way, this is my first experience with Leviathan, and it's quite awesome. Sounds like a monstrous beast frantically writhing and screaming unintelligible obscenities. What should I listen to now? I was intrigued by Massive Conspiracy...

Initially, it took me a while to get into this album. It's probably because I regard the album's first two songs as the weakest of the lot, and the rest of the album left me feeling very pleasantly surprised. For that reason, the album was a real grower for me, not only that, but the fluency of the album from start to finish was excellent too I thought. The second half I prefer to the first, if only because there seems to me to be a lot more emotional depth, specifically in songs like the title track and "A Veil is Lifted". However, I don't disregard the explosive, aggressive impact of earlier songs such as "Gardens of Coprolite", which for me injected a little bit of oomph into the album's overall sound. So yeah, I really enjoyed this release in the end.

Seems like the three songs he released before the album came out were the best ones. I didn't like Within Thrall too much at first, but now I think it's the third finest track on this album. Other than those, this album is pretty average actually. I liked it a lot on release, but it's no Massive Conspiracy or Tentacles.
All Tongues Toward and that outro from Garden Of Coprolite though... Damn.

Accessibly weird. Full review HERE

Written by Guest on 03.06.2015 at 18:19

Using your system your site gives it a 9.7. You give it a 9 on this site. THE INCONSISTENCIES MAN

Also fyi your scale goes up to 11.

I also love this album. One of my most replayed ones this year. So many memorable moments. At times reminiscent of Lurker which is always a + for me.

It is a great album. As for the inconsistencies, for one the site reflects my more recent opinion. The overall on the site is also the result of basic math as opposed to my previous method of coming up with an overall as I saw fit. Finally, the scale only goes to 10; we are still working out some kinks with how the graph displays, etc. That having been said...

Just noticed the sample at the start of "All Tongues Toward" is from True Detective. Black metal artists seem to really dig that series. That track is by far the best on the album by the way, one of my favourite Leviathan songs even.

Satanic album

Very average album, or maybe because I expected too much. But truly this is nothing like his early records. They are the shit.

Perfection. From the ambiance, to the spoken word, I loved every second. Truly pushed the bounds of Black Metal. Thoroughly pleased with this release.

Gave it another spin. I know that it does not exactly suck, but it is seriously highly ineffective, but at the end, I've never been the biggest fan of this band. Some riffs really sound too uplifting, fun and even dumb for leviathan, and that just feels awkward and stupid to me tbh. I feel the presence of death metal influence on this, which I'm not sure if it was a good thing at all.
I'd stick to necrite for the type of black metal that leviathan tries to play, although this albums sounds a bit different from his typical style with the band.

Still not 100% ok with the production. Just feels too muffled to me especially the guitars hence the riffs end up ineffective. Dawn Vibration, Wicked Fields of Calm and All Tongues are the standout tracks. Rest are ok. Closer is quite boring really. If not for Wrest and the insanely good artwork, this would be a forgettable release altogether.