What's there to say about Leviathan that every music critics and bloggers haven't said already. During the 00's, I was reading a lot about these one-man Black Metal bands, in metal magazines. One of them is Leviathan. A project started in San Francisco by Wrest (Jef Whitehead), back in the late 90's. For over a decade, not only has Whitehead been putting out the most grim and kvlt-ist black metal in the US, but has also been pushing the black metal sound. On "Scar Sighted, you'll hear Leviathan creating it's own sonic path, and standing out from the rest of the Black Metal bands, who are only settling for the traditional/raw recording.
When Jef did "True Traitor, True Whore" in 2011, it was a very dark time for him, and the album didn't turn out the way he wanted. With "Scar Sighted", Jef finally cleaned himself up and put all his effort to create his best work to date. "-" is a slow ambient track that start things off. Of course once "The Smoke of Their Torment" begins, then we know we're in for one Hell of a record. "Dawn of Vibration" is a perfect example of how Whitehead is able to bring something new to Leviathan, while still keeping the Leviathan sound. The same thing with "Within Thrall" If there's one thing that Jef Whitehead can do is create some very haunting sounds. And of course, "All Tongues Toward", which is my favorite track. From the opening drum beat to those ripping riffs, everything about that song sounded perfect. Definitely one of my favorite songs of 2015.
If you were a fan of Leviathan's early work, I like to thing that you'll still enjoy "Scar Sighted". Even though the production is better (wonderful job by Billy Anderson), it still has that grim and raw presence. Some "traditional" black metal fans may have some issues, but Jef Whitehead have said he doesn't care what the internet BM community thinks. The album is very dark and intense, which is why this is one of my favorite black metal album of this year. Hopefully with Jef's sober life and his first child, that it will help him to push Leviathan in a very creative way. "Scar Sighted" totally gets "5 Hitlers Punched in the Face" Already looking forward to the next Leviathan record.
To purchase "Scar Sighted":
