The Tenth Sub Level of Suicide

“The Tenth Sub Level of Suicide” is an enormous monster of size, strength, and power - just as the band’s name would imply. It’s also a monster of slight beauty and a whole lot of bitter ugliness. Truth be told, “The Tenth Sub Level of Suicide” is an uncomfortable album; I would never describe it as tranquil. It stresses a certain mood, and that mood is not a positive one. However, while the mood it circulates may be a dreary one, that mood is consistent, and that’s one of the things that makes this album work so wonderfully.

This sound is achieved by the sole member of Leviathan: Wrest. Sure, it’s not terribly uncommon for a black metal band to have only one member. However, I don’t think I’ve ever listened to a black metal album, performed by one person, that has been played with so much talent musically. He’s not a virtuoso at any one instrument, but he is easily well above average on all of them.

First, let me start with the drums. The drums are pretty solid overall. They definitely aren’t flashy. They do, however, have no problem getting the job done. The blast beats are played with vigor and dedication. However, the album isn’t just constant blast beats. There’s a lot of mid-paced drumming, which, while not as impressive, definitely fits the overall sounds of the album considerably well. Furthermore, I really liked the regular use of cymbals. Sans hi-hats, I think cymbals are terribly underused in metal (especially black metal). Wrest uses an above average amount of cymbals, and he uses them quite competently.

Wrest’s vocals may be the strongest point of the whole album. Leviathan would not be the black metal monster that it is without the vocals. They’re easily some of the best that I have ever heard. His shrieks are inhuman and reek of anguish and misery. Wrest sounds as though he is being tortured, which is, surely, what he’s going for. Often he uses several overdubs on the vocals, and has them beginning and ending seconds apart causing a very layered (and effective) wall of sound. He also occasionally just throws in random howls of suffering, grief, and utter pain (they're all over "Scenic Solitude and Leprosy"). One of my favorite aspects to his vocals, is this thing he does where he starts a superb shriek only to let that same shriek rise and rise in volume, tone, and power (0:36 in "Fucking your Ghost in Chains of Ice" is a great example of this).

The surprise performance of this album is the bass. The bass does a solid job of keeping the rhythm of the songs going and letting the guitars do their best to display an eerie and depressing mood. The bass isn't just playing basic parts either; quite often they're pretty damn impressive (without getting into the bracket of being overly technical). Even though the bass plays the backseat role pretty much the entire album, it does so valiantly and is absolutely essential to the album's success. It sits in the background and (at least somewhat) quietly takes the album from the beginning to the end on it's back. Is the bass the most important part of the album? It certainly isn't, but the album wouldn't be nearly as good without it. 2:35-3:30 in "Scenic Solitude and Leprosy" is a pretty good example of a section that, while seemingly dominated by the guitar, is being driven by the subterranean bass sound. Every time I listen through this album, the bass impresses me more and more each time.

Now Don’t get me wrong here, I’m not saying that the guitars aren’t doing some heavy lifting, because they undoubtedly are. Take the first couple of riffs at the start of "Mine Molten Armor", They're absolutely blistering. Then at 2:22 in the same song Wrest slows it down and plays a little a creepy riff. Both of these are good examples of how Wrest is constantly using the guitar to create a feeling of melancholy and pain. As you might expect, the guitars abuse tremolo picking causing a general sound of discordance. Wrest does a pretty good job of changing up his riff style (sometimes playing a semi-groovy hooks, and sometimes sections of almost pure beauty), but in the end, Wrest’s guitar strength is reliant on his ability to create unnerving, happiness-shattering riffs. Some of his riffs just ooze with agony and sorrow (0:58 "At the Door to the Tenth Sub Level of Suicide" is a perfect example of this).

One thing that I found to be interesting was the use of keyboards. They’re not used heavily, and when they are they are usually during beginning, ending, or interlude type sections. I found this to be a very strong trait. While, I think keyboards are good at adding ambience, and a lot of time, mood, I think here Wrest has discovered when they're good for complimenting a section, and when he should just let the other instruments do their thing.

The arrangements of the songs are another strong point of the album. Even with most of the tracks being five to six minutes or more (with four being over seven, and "At the Door to the Tenth Sub Level of Suicide" being over fifteen) I never felt bored, or that the songs were dragging on . This has a lot to do with the arrangements. There's enough new stuff going on all the time, that I'm never given a chance to feel as though a song has gone on for too long.

All in all “The Tenth Sub Level of Suicide” is one of the better records I’ve heard in a while. The music is interesting and well-played. Yet, in the end, the album is great because Wrest has done a superb job of painting a terrifying picture of horror - which makes me listen to this record over and over and over and over.