Totentanz II / Portrait in Scars

Leviathan is a project I absolutely adore. Whether it’s the earlier, more old-school releases (ala The Tenth Sub Level of Suicide), to the more experimental releases like Scar Sighted and Massive Conspiracy Against All Life – it seems that no matter what Wrest does, it turns out absolutely amazing. That’s a particularly great feat when you have such a large discography. Beyond just the full length releases, Leviathan has had a plethora of demos, splits, compilations and so on. These releases can vary in popularity, but for the most part, these releases are infinitely more obscure and lesser-known. Yet, one of Leviathan's most obscure works, Portrait in Scars, is arguably among his best work.

This split, done with an obscure little black metal band called Blackdeath, is celebrated by the few people who know it – but never because of the Blackdeath side. Basically, their side is generic, poorly written, poorly recorded black metal with nothing unique about it. With that out of the way, let’s discuss what makes Leviathan’s side so highly praised. Right off the bat, there are some immediate things that differences about this release. While TTSLoS and Tentacles of Whorror tended to use a lot of old school black metal riffs, Portrait in Scars tends to have way less. Instead, this release rings closer to being more of a full-blown DSBM release. In place of the Darkthrone-influenced riffs like the ones in Fucking Your Ghost In Chains If Ice or Heir to the Noose of Ghoul, Leviathan’s side of this split instead has shades of Shining and Xasthur. This release is much more reliant on melancholic, depraved guitar leads than it is the rumbling fury of 2nd wave black metal. Compared to any full length Leviathan had released, this was much more divergent from traditional black metal. This sound isn't just unique to this release however - around this time, Wrest did multiple different splits, and particularly his splits with Xasthur and Iuvenes (later rereleased as The Speed of Darkness EP) are in a similar style. Something else that others have noted makes this album different from the other splits he's done, is that there are film samples on this release. Prior to Scar Sighted, this was the first (and only) time he had done that, so it’s a pretty cool little addition to the split. Not exactly a big deal or anything, but it does add a little bit of atmosphere and context to the songs.

With stylistic differences aside, the first song, Corpse Glide (Beneath Great Dragon), is definitely the closest to his earlier works – both in sound and in title. After a quick sample, Wrest goes immediately into the blasting, dissonant riffing we have all come to know, with that signature Roland drum sound. However, it doesn’t take long for the song to completely change direction towards a more melancholic riff, with some truly evil arpeggios. There is a really satisfying chorus-like moment that appears a few times in the song, which falls somewhere closer to the aforementioned old-school Darkthrone riffing. It sounds like this song could have totally come out in the early 90’s. Overall, the song is the least interesting and most traditional of the songs here, but serves as a great introduction into the release. After all, the record takes a second to ease into the atmosphere before diving headfirst into the pure DSBM side of Portrait in Scars.

The second track, Mine Portrait in Scars, plunges the listener directly into the more depressed atmosphere the rest of the release reeks of. There is much more of a sense of ambience on this track, and the guitars sound truly fucked up. The leads are highly dissonant and drip with unbridled agony. The vocals at times sound more like the Silencer approach, coming off as a genuine howl of bloodletting as opposed to the shrieks Wrest is known for. The atmospheric use of (what I assume to be) a guitar loop gives the song a huge sense of layering; every single element of the recording lends itself to the extraordinarily suicidal tone the album is going for. The songwriting here is great, and it’s clear Wrest did a great job of using it to accentuate the emotions he poured into these songs. He knows when to repeat a section, and when to do something different, or go off on a tangent. The vocal phrasings are also masterful – he comes in at just the right times, and delivers his vocals without repeating the same patterns too much. As the track goes on, the sense of dread in Wrest's vocals become clearer, equally filled with vitriol and terror. The end of the song ends on an especially bitter note – removing the layers down to just the atmospheric guitar loop, before iterating the mission statement of the song with a sample from another film; “I want no mercy.”

The next track, The Wither Season, acts as an ambient interlude. Still, while it’s only an interlude, it plays an important part of preceding the final track, and it does that exceptionally well. This track particularly reeks with Xasthur influence – comparing this track to something like Disharmonic Convergence or the intro to Violating the Oblivious album, you can see where Wrest got the idea for this style of intro. But, that’s not to say it’s without its own charm; the track ends on a particularly “Leviathan” moment, where you can hear Wrest groaning out a call of confusion, or fear, or perhaps something else entirely. Whatever it is, it’s eerie as all hell. And before you know it, you’re thrust right back into the horrific atmosphere with Derision. This song is more of a dirge compared to the others. While the first song was a fast and rabid attack, Derision acts as a death knell to the release. While it certainly has the furious drumming and faster moments, there is an overall sense of finality. There are lots of slower moments, with simpler drumbeats that accompany some of the most desperate riffs on the release. At this point, the vocals are truly tortured, and Wrest sounds like he's moments away from a total mental breakdown. Any hope you might have felt at the beginning of Portrait in Scars is thrown out completely by the time you reach the final climax; every moment of this song screams out that "this is the end." To contrast against the ferocious intro to Corpse Glide, Derision ends not on an explosion, but a slow death. The final guitar drones sustain and ring out, as Wrest screams up a maelstrom. Just as quickly as the album began, it's snuffed out with a desperate whimper.

One of the things that I guess always appealed to me about Leviathan (and Lurker of Chalice) is that I don't find myself headbanging to Wrest's music. Instead, I sit and listen. I let the atmosphere and the raw emotions envelope me, and I think. This isn't music you'll find yourself singing along to, or windmilling to in your lounge room - it begs you to just take in every little element of the songs. Portrait in Scars is probably among the best examples of Wrest's more "sit and listen" type of tunes. Ultimately, DSBM lives or dies by it's atmosphere and the quality of the songwriting. In both of these cases, Portrait in Scars excels. The songwriting is memorable and catchy, but by no means is it easily digestible. The raw production works well to get across everything Wrest was trying to do here - it's rough, and it's imperfect, but that mirrors the music. That sense of depression isn't clean and crisp; it's soaked in a fuzzy haze, just like the feelings the music are trying to get across. Everything about this albums sounds tortured and malicious.

This is far from unique, though. While many bands do come off as tortured, it's hard to sound tortured and still have it ring with sincerity. While some bands like Draugr or Happy Days attempt to do the raw DSBM shtick, alot of their works don't feel sincere. There is a very fine line between mellow-drama and the real, honest feelings of betrayal and despair. This is the place Portrait in Scars ultimately succeeds - it's sad and wretched, but it's perfectly real for it's entire duration. That is what sets this entirely apart from Leviathan's own works, but also from alot of the DSBM scene in general.