Scar Sighted

Sonically this is the outfit's most in-your-face and intimate record to date, with a production intent on smothering the listener in warm, muggy darkness in what is a stark contrast to the frigid cold of early LVTHN albums. The alien production and structure of previous efforts Massive Conspiracy and The Blind Wound is findable in traces, but this is a much more Human(oid?) sounding record than either of those two. The psyche, the emotion, the romance is undeniably human, real, tangible. The guitars boom and clang, rise and fall in the mix depending on the song and even the moments within them. The drums are noticeably muffled and buried, yet the bassy nature of everything means they beat away at the floor of it all like something awful trapped in the basement yet uncovered. The howls and cries are nauseatingly loud and front-heavy at times.

The atmosphere, as thick and specifically crafted as it is for this album and this album alone (I assure you there are no black metal nor adjacent albums that sound quite like this one ) it does not hinder Wrest from treating each song like a new dizzying adventure. Astoundingly varied, there are funeral doom tracks, bolzer-type crushing death metal ones, punk beats, and just about every sound leviathan has attempted in the years since formation. Every song sounds distinct as a result, helped largely in part by how hooky this album is. The early 2010's were precarious for black and death metal, with many bands seeking to replicate the atmospheric sprawl that projects like Portal captured. It was lightning in a bottle for some time, and this release fits snug in the chronology of it all- it is indeed of that period. Though in stark contrast of that eras ethos perhaps I believe that, ideally, for any album in just about any style, each song should be instantly recognizable. Each song here is crafted with all sorts of moments that keep them fresh in the memory even as the album nears its 10th anniversary. Within Thrall's gentle, feelsy lead guitar that serves as a chorus, Dawn Vibration's chills-inducing howl-and-clean-guitar break away from pummeling black metal. These different quirks flow organically through the album giving strong identity to each of the tracks.

One might notice that the bulk of the aggression is at the front of the album. The last 3 and some tracks slow to a crawl, one of which is funeral doom and the final of it all which one may more readily describe as abruptum-esque nightmare noises rather than a song. Indeed, by the end of this nearly hour-long album whatever thin bandaging was unraveling over the course of it all leaves behind a final, amorphous blob of a last track that has shed all the hookiness and catchy riffing. Aphonos (Greek for voiceless, mute, bereft of speech) spirals out into the nether for some 10 minutes. And to some listeners this may be a puzzling choice - for the temptation to end an album with a whopper of a track or some brief ambient runs high in metal, lest you leave your audience with something mediocre as the last thing they remember about your album. Needless to say this isn't an album that bends to such conventions. It is as deliberate as it is painful, and while perhaps not as strong as other tracks it is in no ways a mistake. The album's trajectory of starting with the most forward and pummeling death metal influenced track and ending with the least structured is about as representative of what the album stands for as it gets. There is something dying, deteriorating and anyone listening is along for the ride, forced to watch (or perhaps listen) in close, ugly proximity of it. All of its lashing out, its acceptance (or lack thereof) of its miserable state, and its eventual slow death.

I have tended to conclude that the best albums in metal are ones of opposites. Everyone wants to be catchy, but also everyone wants to be relentless, pummeling and atmospheric. Everyone wants to be chaotic, but also wants to be controlled, able to play their own music with drive and purpose. Only the finest artists have a seemingly magic touch that allows them to not have to pick and choose, to have it all in their works. Perhaps shy of a masterpiece, but nonetheless a modern classic.

Back then, commenting on his new album "Scar Sighted" in an interview with "Noisey", Wrest has almost renounced black metal: "I don't think I'm really making black metal anymore. It's not for me to say Leviathan's black metal, because I don't know what the fuck it is. But it's not, every once in a while I'll listen to older stuff I've done, and I'm like yeah that's textbook black metal. But now I don't know what the fuck I'm doing". Indeed, "Scar Sighted" isn't black metal in the usual sense of the genre. Nevertheless, this recording is perceived precisely as a black metal album. It's just that this black metal is so... unusual. Leviathan's black metal? Well, there is no better definition for "Scar Sighted" – this is Leviathan's black metal. Even when you hear death metal.

Make no doubt about it, death metal is present here, starting with the very first composition "The Smoke of Their Torment" (actually, this is the second track on CD, but the first track "-" is an ambient intro, tragic and pompous at the same time, so it can be ignored in the search of black metal). It's definitely death metal, through the lens of both the sound and manner of playing: you can detect in "The Smoke of Their Torment" typical brutal death metal with a string-bending style of playing, something in the vein of Immolation. Even the vocals in this song, – like on almost the entire album, – are "death metal-ish". In one form or another, whether tremolo or downstroke picking, death metal is present in almost every subsequent song. But in no case can we say that black metal is replaced with death metal on "Scar Sighted" – in fact, death metal gets lost in general chaos of this album. So death metal is just an element in this crazy mosaic.

The same first song (ok, the second track) demonstrates the highly sophisticated structure, which is maintained almost throughout the entire album: wild tremolo picking is permanently punctuated with fingerpicking; some avant-garde riffs get loose suddenly in the body of the songs; and seemingly common riffs are performed intricately, as if Wrest set himself a goal to play everything exactly as it is not accepted by the "old school"; and the whole thing is spiced with string bending technique or pinch harmonic or something like that. And not lose sight of the fact that the tempo changes very often.

It should be noted that such a structure, interspersed with some non-metal sections, periodically challenging your mind with an idea about Lurker of Chalice's legacy and/or inspiration. Acoustic guitar strumming ("Dawn Vibration") and fuzz-guitar strumming ("Wicked Fields of Calm") – here we are! You can also often trip over a post black metal riff or fingerpicking – more precisely, what can be called as post black metal, but in fact, this is not "post" at all, because it sounds very malicious. Not to speak of ambient passages with weird cosmic noise, which repeatedly get involved in the plot thread, starting with "The Smoke of Their Torment".

And it's not enough to say that ambient music is implanted into the body of the songs, that's nothing! "Gardens of Coprolite" begins as if Bauhaus had composed their song in an overdose state, it is a true soundtrack to Lynch's movie. This trick with "perverted" gothic rock is repeated in the second half of this song, but the atmosphere is more "lively" here – now this is a soundtrack to Tarantino's movie.

The structure is chaotic, right, but it's well thought out. And all of this results in an impression that everything has been done here in order to drive the listener crazy. This is really an asylum: the atmosphere is nervous and anxious – not everyone will be comfortable in the inner world of Wrest's thought and feeling. Only at the end of the album, somewhere in "All Tongues Toward", there is a feeling that he is tired of devising and contriving with his music, so he began to generate rather "tolerable", i. e. traditional black metal.

Actually, some "black metal-ish" riffs were heard before, but previously this process was not stable. For example, in "Dawn Vibration", there is a tremolo picking riff in the vein of Satyricon; and as compared with other songs, "Wicked Fields of Calm" turns out to be a "half-regular" black metal composition – thanks to a traditional but well-disguised black metal tremolo riff, very pompous, and a very lyrical fingerpicking; in "Within Thrall" at 2:03 a downright classical black metal tremolo sounds, which alternates with riffs in the vein of Profanatica; and in the finale of "Scar Sighted" you can also hear more or less usual black metal tremolo picking.

And do not forget about depressive black metal, although Wrest generally denies this term, as applied to Leviathan. Nevertheless, there are elements of this genre on "Scar Sighted". Most often, however, in the form of typical depressive black metal vocals – harsh, in a tearful manner, filled with despair, but not with a high-pitched shrieking hysterics at all. In fact, this is the only alternative to the "death metal-ish" vocals on the album. This refers to the songs such as "Gardens of Coprolite", "Wicked Fields of Calm", "Scar Sighted", and "Aphōnos".

Now is the turn of the weirdest thing on the album. In "Gardens of Coprolite" at 4:35 the most heart-piercing solo from Leviathan begins – with its distinct melody it sounds even unexpectedly after the wild chaos of chords, tempos, and genres. Oh, no, most riffs on the album contain rather good melodies, but because of the insane variety they don't remain memorable, while this melody nothing less than sticks to the memory. This tuneful dose is the "schtick" of "Scar Sighted". At first such a lick is perceived as a surprise, but you immediately get used to it, even get hooked, and begin to wait for it, as an addict waits for the next dose of his drug. But next time, such a heart-stirring majestic solo appears only in the seventh song "A Veil Is Lifted" at 3:30, and it does not last very long. In addition this lick breaks surface of a confusing mess – ah, there are such moments on the album, when, to be honest, a hopeless tangle sounds. These are some kind of "black holes".

A similar solo, full of despair, but beautiful, runs like a keynote through the chaos of "Scar Sighted". When this celestial melody appears for the first time, bass is spinning anxiously around it, and a kind of half-dead murmur goes up: in fact, this episode is a classic of depressive black metal, but Wrest disfigures it in full compliance with his crazy genre. Anyway, thanks to this ambrosial tune, "Scar Sighted" sounds like a sentence to live his life for someone who does not want to live. In "All Tongues Toward" at 3:16 a next in turn "branded" soul-taking melody sounds on top over all the chaos, and at 3:53 it appears in a new incarnation, and further, as the song progresses, its melody varies.

In "Aphōnos", a lick, based on the same principle, appears at 2:18. This is a hopeless and funeral melody, it turns the last song into a real epitaph. It is worth noting that in the last songs this method is not perceived as unexpected – firstly, it already fits into the arrangement, and secondly, in the last quarter of the album there is no such madness as before. So, what's the use of this scanning? Well, one way or another, such a lick is created in a very black metal way.

Summary. The "creative minds" are so strange, very often "they know not what they do." Maybe Wrest really does not want to create black metal, but he creates it. If the song does not sound like "Transilvanian Hunger", then this does not mean at all that it is not black metal.

This release from the American black metal godhead has new influences and expands a lot on different musical genres while maintaining the iconic darkness in Wrests music. On this album he explores dark ambient while maintaining the raw black metal sounds that signify him as an artist, which gives a strange and exaggerated blend of black metal and darker ambient or atmospheric interludes. On top of that, Wrest (being a talented artist) painted quite the collection for this album, taking lighter pale blue tones with a darker red to create images that really are telling about the album.

The blast beats and overbearing volume of the stringed instruments is present as with most of his other work, as well as the strangulated screams and howls that are so unique to Leviathan. There are some tracks where he goes really low however, pushing a low register death growl that rattles you. The best example of this is on the track: “A Veil Is Lifted” where the deep unnerving growl is paired with some slow beat and the hum of a guitar. Then the vocals quickly shoot up to a high register alongside a blast beat for a howl with more wet reverb then you can shake a stick at, which was fucking awesome.

There are yet tracks to diversify the experience, the opening track “-“ and “Within Thrall” are both really good examples of this. The opening track is short and sweet, with a soft ambient feeling to it. The introduction to “Within Thrall” sounds like some low voiced dudes doing some singing together, only to be swiftly replaced by a fast and heavy as hell black metal riff with a blast beat. The song calms down a little bit then comes back full force with Wrest belting out these mid-high range vocals that, again, rattle you.

The production on this album is as kvlt as ever, the only difference being the seemingly high produced ambient portions, or the synths that sometimes bleed into the guitar riffs at points. The overall instrumentation holds true to the low production value, a lot of lovely overbearing distortion and “thick” sound to the drums at points.

The title track: “Scar Sighted” is really powerful, imagine Burzum’s “Dunkelheit” with Leviathans pained moans in the back, slowly fading in and out of being those iconic black metal howls. The slow riff is just overbearing, at points it dies down and you can really hear the bass and the hi-hats. The song then goes back to being as kvlt as you can get. Its dark, its foreboding, its Leviathan.

Overall this is a great album from Leviathan. I really don’t have a single gripe about it. I am usually not a fan of the death metal type vocals in my black metal, or rather what I expect to be black metal. But it honestly sounds closer to Mayhems “De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas” in terms of vocals which I don’t mind as much, kinda nostalgic. They definitely fit the tone of the lyrics as well. So again, great fucking album, its heavy like you expect from Leviathan just with some ambient twists and turns.

Wrest can definitely claim that he has been through some serious shit in his life. Life has given him too many lemons to count and recently he had to overcome the horrid accusations (all false) of an ex partner. However his life has been going well lately. Why am I telling you all this? Because it's all here of course! The pain, the anguish, the anger... The catharsis. Scar Sighted is a test for the mind and the soul. It will make you think of bizarre and horrible stuff, it will make you depressed and it will drive you damn near insanity. And in the end; it will reward you.

The eerie yet calming chord progression of the opening track will lead you straight into 'The Smoke of the Torment' and that's where the roller coaster ride begins. You will find the fierce, spastic power chords of the early days, the sparse ambient breaks of 'A Silhouette in Splinters' era as well as some new elements like death metal grooves. If you want a reference point check out Dead Congregation's sophomore album to get an idea. And finally with great pleasure you will discover that Lurker of Chalice's legacy has not been forgotten. You will encounter dissonant/consonant melodies intertwining with each other, experimental structuring and spine chilling crescendos where Wrest's performance is so damn amazing it should be taught in high school music classes.

The instrumentation doesn't vary from previous Leviathan efforts, however the execution makes the difference. Way more technical than any other Leviathan or Lurker of Chalice album it stands out as one of the most amazing of 2015. The tempo is altered multiple times and none of them feels awkward, whereas there are moments that would normally sound horrible BUT when Wrest decides to do a weird acoustic break with maniacal vocals all over it, you just remain silent and listen in awe.

Another great thing here is that Wrest uses his goth rock influences extensively. Everyone who has listened his 'V (Demo Five)' demo knows that he is a big fan of goth rock, death rock and post punk. For the first time I listened to Leviathan and said: "Hey that reminds me of Christian Death and Bauhaus". And it's a good feature, I mean it really works for the album. And when those softer emotional moments are in contrast with the more straightforward metal moments the result is monumental.

If one wants to be fair, then one must give props to Billy Anderson for his exquisite work on the production and mixing. It is the best ever in any album in which Wrest is involved. The bass is audible, the guitars are constantly piercing your eardrums not in the old fashioned, lo-fi demo production but in a more skull crushing sense which has been first demonstrated during the 00's and established in the current decade. Now about the sound of the drums... Actually you know what? Fuck it I'm going to have a paragraph only for them.

Drums are Wrest's prime instrument. The one he has practiced long before his solo projects, since he was in Gift Horse (his first band). He knows how to do some tasty fills and great rolls on the toms. His skills are quite underrated to be honest but I'm sure that Scar Sighted will fix this at first chance, showing to everyone what a great drummer Wrest is. It's not that you will hear insane blast beats but there's something way, way larger here. It is his elegant, thoughtful style that wins the game. If he has to, he will apply a less-is-more approach to his playing. If he feels he needs to crush the damn instrument to dust he will do so. So yes in some peculiar way the drums are the highlight here.

But on the other hand every instrument highlights the album's aesthetic, which is both suffocating and beautiful (some times simultaneously) and that is quite hard to come across in these days. Be it the guitars that create melodies that make your hair stand, the bass that provides the needed dose of heaviness even in the most ethereal passages, of course the drums and the synths and last but not least Wrest's voice which is just magnificent. Listen to the title track to get an idea. Those screams are achieved only once in a lifetime.

On a final note, I often listen to Scar Sighted as if it is the soundtrack to the life of a man that has gone through horrible situations (such as those in the first paragraph). The depressing atmosphere which leads to the relieving finale is the perfect score for every hardship you've been through. And you can follow an imaginary timeline for each one of those. Scar Sighted is a work of ART (in capitals). A total milestone bound to become an absolute reference point for the next generations of black metal bands and listeners alike. Scar Sighted can make you stand on your feet when you're down therefore it is essential.

Favorite tracks: I cannot pick but if I had to I'd say 'Wicked Fields of Calm', 'A Veil is Lifted' and 'All Tongues Toward'.

96/100.

I've always seen Leviathan as a black metal project. More precisely, as an ambient black metal project. But when Jef Whitehead (a.k.a. Wrest) said he isn't making black metal anymore, after hearing this album, I must agree with the man. Scar Sighted, as whole, sounds more like death metal. Of course, tracks like "Gardens of Corprolite" are still black metal as hell. But if you hear the whole thing, this sounds more like a death metal album with elements of doom, drone and noise, which is quite a shift from Leviathan's usual style.

Brutal low-end riffs, low-pitched growls and dissonant passages are just some of the chaos this album provides, and it shows exactly how it is more focused on death metal, and not purely on black metal. The thing Leviathan has that no other project caused in me, is making me, actually, afraid to hear a record and, also, the sense of despair and sadness its albums bring up. For example, in this record we have "Dawn Vibration", which is the perfect example of how Leviathan can scare you to death, but also bring up some emotions you don't think could be brought up by any type pf music. The song is full of excelent riffs and drumming, but the cherry on top of the cake is in the middle of the song, when Wrest starts strumming these chords in the background and screaming his lungs out. You can feel exactly what that tormented soul is feeling through that part of the song. All the pain, agony and despair. Its so clear that you can almost see it. This is one of the main elements that makes this project so exciting and different from the others. Its emotions are not forced. It's almost as Wrest was really hurting himself to record those vocals, because it all sounds so natural and organic. It's a really desperating experience for the listener, in a good way.

As I've said before, black metal is still present, but not alone, and less apparent. Wrest gives us other elements that, wisely, uses the black metal as a tool to create an even more terrifying atmosphere. It's not like usual. It's not black metal using other genres and different elements to create an ambience, it's the other way around. Whitehead is experimenting with other genres, and making them the main meal, while using black metal to make this whole thing creepy as hell. One of Jef Whitehead's greatest traits is his ability to take these slow moments to put the listener in pure agony and despair, in the most primitive way possible. Like in the title-track, for example, "Scar Sighted". While I was listening to this track, I constantly kept looking behind to see if anyone was there, just like on "Dawn Vibration". The first 7 minutes of this track made me kind of paranoid. It's so distressful to hear this soul screaming in my pain directly into my ears, but then, the despair is finished, and we're once again brutalized by supersonic riffs and the track turns into a blasting black metal song and a fades away. The difference in this album from the previous Leviathan material, is that black metal, now, is just a side-kick. There are many other things in this album to freak us out, and that's what makes it so special and unique.

Overall, this is the kind of album that deserves multiple listens. Not only to admire this dark, twisted and terrifying piece of pure art, but to also absorb all its content. This is a very, very dense record and Jef Whitehead managed to compile every great thing he has ever done into a single record. This is arguably the best album Leviathan has ever put out, and is one of my favorite releases of this year in music, in general. This record rises to the most brutal session of torture, then is left to agonize in a clautrophobic chamber and then, finally, slowly, perishes into the a river of tortured souls, writhing eternally.

Best tracks: "The Smoke Of Their Torment", "Dawn Vibration", "Within Thrall", "Scar Sighted", "All Tongues Towards" and "Aphonos"

Wrest originally said he was done with Leviathan, then he came back with True Traitor True Whore, which many considered to be his weakest full length release up to that point. While that of course is debatable, one thing is sure - there was a buzz about this release and whether or not Leviathan would see a universally agreed upon return to prominence or a further plummet from his earlier works that are held in such high esteem. Luckily for the music community and especially fans of black metal, Wrest said to hell with your expectations and delivered an absolutely crushing CD that not only would quality as a "return to form" but also dabbles in a lot of new things.

The first thing that people are going to notice without a doubt is the death metal influence which hits you in the face right away after the atmospheric intro. As opposed to having a typical Leviathan style in the first part of the CD and getting into some experimental stuff later, he just blasts you in the face with it instantly. The first 2 tracks, The Smoke of Their Torment and Dawn Vibration seem to be the most death metallish on the CD, but it also incorporates some sound that will make you think of Deathspell Omega and such. Damn good songs even though they aren't typical Leviathan in nature. And even with the change in pace on these songs you still get the typical Leviathan pace changes and atmospheric interludes in the songs.

From this point going forward the release goes deeper and deeper into blackness and typical Leviathan. While there are still the occasional cookie monsterish death metal vocal parts that come up occasionally, it is mostly limited to the first couple tracks. The rest of the CD sees a consistent descent into more and more tortured raspy vocals, crushing depressive atmospheres, and just an overall blackness that feels like it's going to suck your soul away from you. Any longtime fan that may listen to the first few tracks and be put off by their different style need not fret, you will get your fill of soul crushing torture and evil.

As is typical with Leviathan, the layers are endless and you will notice new things for a long time as you listen to the songs over and over. And how many times do I need to say this - the atmosphere on this release is palpable and soul destroying.

While I'm hesitant in saying this is Leviathan's best release, I can say with confidence that, at least in this reviewer's opinion, there isn't a throw away track on the release. Some people may see it lazy that track 5 (Wicked Fields of Calm) is a redo of his song Pondering the Wealth of the Stars from The Speed of Darkness EP, but that song was so damn good and likely unheard by many anyway it's hard to fault Jeff for adding it. For me it's hard to pick a best track on this release since it's so solid overall - but if I had to the title track Scar Sighted would be it. So dark, so black, so crushing in it's pain and torture.

This is easily AOTY material, and hopefully the start of another onslaught of new music from Leviathan. If all of his future work is going to be the quality of this release, damn we've got a lot to look forward to.

Far removed from the days of the dsbm essential, Tenth Sub Level of Suicide, comes Jef Whitehead's latest album under Leviathan, Scar Sighted. Nearly four years since the last album, Jef seems to have spawned something that has the usual dissonance and atmosphere you'd expect from a Leviathan, yet creates something new and writes rather weird music, yet still accessible to fans of his black metal and ambient works.

In all honesty, I was somewhat skeptical of how good this album would turn out since "The Smoke of Their Torment" had too much dissonance during the choruses for my taste, but the rest album from then on surprised me greatly with how truly fantastic this album really is. Jef's vocals are insanely eerie and haunting, to the point of almost being disturbing and painful to listen to. To the chants, howls, growls, etc, the singing is such an amazing aspect of Scar Sighted and is what kept me keenly interested in this album. The ambient tracks on here are splendid and create even more of an atmosphere on previous Leviathan's LP's, to the point of creating a painful landscape of baroness, yet can still be evilly aggressive. This album's similarities to Jef's Lurker of Chalice work is grand and I'd highly recommend it to any fans of Lurker of Chalice. His musicianship across all instruments are fantastic on here, from the dissonance of the riffs, the hammering of the drums, and rather audible bass (audible bass in black metal is always a plus with me, since the bass is usually washed out in the mixing a majority of the times.) The album length itself is pretty much perfect, just spanning over an hour of play time. Not too short, and it doesn't feel dragged out whatsoever.


All in all, Jef has made another very good album that any black metal fan should definitely check out, and I'm sure this will be on plenty of peoples album of the year lists.

Jef Whitehead’s last album was an oddity. Like many, I was disappointed in True Traitor, True Whore. As a testament to Wrest’s rage against his criminal charges, it succeeded, creating an air of palpable spite in its dark, punkish ferocity; as a Leviathan album, though, it fell flat. The riffs and arrangements had been grossly simplified. The deep complexity that had made Wrest’s previous albums like Massive Conspiracy Against All Life so richly compelling had been sacrificed for pure primal rage.

All wrongs are righted with the release of Scar Sighted, Leviathan’s newest full-length release and first since True Traitor, True Whore. In fact, Scar Sighted puts forth some of the most consistent yet diverse material in all of Whitehead’s considerable discography.

The release of a new Leviathan album post-2011 is an occasion for critics to wet themselves with glee as they analyze not just the music contained therein but all the extra-musical circumstances that may have factored in to the album’s songwriting. The conversation of separating art from its creator is one that has long been discussed even just in the tiny sphere of the metal world. I have nothing to add that has not already been said a million times before, so for this review I’d like to focus solely on the music (what a concept). As a musician, Whitehead exists in the pantheon of Great Artists willing to reinvent themselves over and over in pursuit of perfection. With Scar Sighted, he is one step closer. This album proves Whitehead is unafraid to draw from his own unique, immediately identifiable style and recreate it in a way unlike any of his past works.

After a brief introductory track, the album proper begins with “The Smoke of Their Torment,” a roaring black metal mini-epic reminiscent at times of The Ruins of Beverast at their darkest. “Dawn Vibration” follows with a flurry of metallic hammer-on riffs and a soaring tremolo picked coda, and the album is on its way.

Much of Scar Sighted feels slower and perhaps even groovier than any of Wrest’s past material, other than perhaps his work in Twilight. But this is far from a problem: the serpentine guitars weave uroboric tapestries of putrefaction, lending a sense of claustrophobic frenzy to the album’s downbeat riffs. This review would be remiss were it not to make mention of Billy Anderson’s absolutely stellar production. The recording is crystal clear and each element of the mix is given ample room while still maintaining an overwhelmingly powerful atmosphere. The drum sound in particular is fantastic, full of body with ample room for splashing cymbals.

“Within Thrall” signals the start of the second half of the album, and this is where things pick up. The song opens with nylon string guitars and Wrest mourning “the death of the gloaming” before being overtaken by a storm of tremolo riffs that segue into a ringing, seasick bridge. Where the first five tracks do in their own ways expand on the core Leviathan sound, it’s the choirs, ropey guitar parts and mechanical ambiance so present on the next five that make the album shine. Songs like “A Veil is Lifted” are more in line with Whitehead’s work in Lurker of Chalice, with vocals vomited forth over a simple drum beat and layers of dark noise.

The title track opens with layered chanting dominated shortly thereafter by doomy riffage and haunting clean guitar melodies before transitioning into the martial drums and volume swells of “All Tongues Toward,” a tack which offers the listener a brief reprieve before breaking into the curious brand of perplexingly raging yet somber black metal one has come to expect from Leviathan.

Unfortunately, the one-two punch of these tracks (undoubtedly two of the strongest on the album) is supplanted by “Aphōnos,” a meandering seven minutes of directionless rock riffs and shouting. It is its lopsidedness that prevents Scar Sighted from being the perfect album it could be; the album’s most memorable songs are relegated to the back half, but even their most powerful moments are cut short by a weak closer.

This is not enough to ruin the album, though. While its structure may be odd and still requiring of fine tuning, Wrest has long demonstrated his willingness to continue doing just that. Scar Sighted may be Leviathan’s finest outing in years and represents Whitehead’s latest middle finger to convention.

Originally published on the Toilet ov Hell
http://www.toiletovhell.com/review-leviathan-scar-sighted/

Accursed, deaf and blind are those who continue to deny the new wave of black metal! As I'm aware anyone with at least a cursory interest in Leviathan's latest opus needs no proselytizing in this regard, I will keep my comment on genre brief; isn't it amazing where black metal (specifically USBM) has gone in the past decade? Granted, there remain a cabal of acts who (successfully, or otherwise) still create art as if the scene had never extended a few city blocks beyond Helvete or Ross Bay Cemetery, but it's the sense that I can hear a black metal album today that may not have been possible to make even ten years ago that keeps me excited. Scar Sighted is one such record, an ambitious 'something old, something new' statement, the likes of which critics and genre-elitists tend to speak of as were it the stuff of legend. Indeed, the album would be well-deserving of praise from both. Wrest's latest monument is a swirling expression of negativity, channelling a life of misanthropy through an impressive frame of ambition and technical precision. I have no doubts about it; Scar Sighted is the first truly great black metal output of the year.

Falling back on my first point a bit, it is quite impressive how much Leviathan has evolved as years have passed. I remember being introduced to the work of Wrest in the late '00s (either with Tentacles of Whorror or his split with Xasthur- I'm unclear which) and hearing music revelling in its own misery and self-imposed limitations. Jef Whitehead's talent (and, even more importantly, his sincerity) were clear early on, but it didn't quite sound like Leviathan were distinguishing themselves from their atmospheric predecessors across the Atlantic, much less establishing a new and vital scene.

Fast-forward to Scar Sighted, and I am hearing a smorgasbord of modern techniques and inventiveness I've come to associate with the best in 'current' black metal, particularly in the United States. Atop Leviathan's longstanding depressive essence, I'm hearing the disharmonic experimentation of a band like Deathspell Omega, the oppressive toneshapes of Blut aus Nord, even some of the quasi-Wagnerian pomp of The Ruins of Beverast. I'm sure other listeners will draw their own varying comparisons; individual perspectives may point a certain technique as the innovation of one band or another, but no single influence is strong enough to say Wrest has reinvented his modern incarnation based on that of someone else. Yes, most of the tricks on Scar Sighted probably aren't original to the album or Leviathan specifically, but the way in which all of the pieces have fallen together is passionate and uncompromising. If ever you wanted to hear what ambitious (but not outlandish) black metal should sound like in 2015, this is your ticket.

The biggest initial indicator as to Scar Sighted's quality only occurred to me after I'd heard it at least once. From the first experience, each song felt fully-fleshed and distinct from the others; it was only after listening - when I took a look at the formal track listing - that I realized it was over an hour long. Regardless of era or genre, an album that manages to stay engaging and fresh for so long is an impressive feat, indicative of mastery and inspiration. This is arguably doubly so in black metal, which often limits itself to the malefic corner of human expression. There are no entirely unexpected turns on Scar Sighted, but Wrest keeps the music on its toes nonetheless. "The Smoke of Their Torment" is a howling murk of variety and weird Deathspellisms. Compare that to the 'death metal meets atmospheric black metal' "Dawn Vibration", the depressive "Wicked Fields of Calm", the despondent pace of Scar Sighted's dirge-like title track, or the ambient ruin its closer "Aphōnos". Wrest's inspirations may come in varying shades of darkness-- misanthropy, hatred (of others and self), human filth and biblical orthodoxy-- but with that limited range he's still managed to create the impression of an emotional roller coaster.

I also couldn't go without paying respects to the album's production, helmed by the legendary Billy Anderson, who delivered one of the best-sounding metal productions I've ever heard last year with Agalloch's The Serpent & the Sphere. Scar Sighted is a punishing, treacherous album, and while it remains thoughtfully mired at times in the lo-fi aesthetic, there's the unyielding sense that every note, every sonic frame has been attentively looked after. I think that, regardless what genre of music we're talking about, that's just as well a definition of a masterpiece as any other. Scar Sighted may very well be the most powerful thing Wrest has crafted, with Leviathan or otherwise. It is at once cathartic and challenging, and regardless whether your tastes veer towards the traditional or experimental, the depth and substance it offers boldly demands acknowledgement.

Originally written for Heathen Harvest Periodical

I’m not quite part of the inner-circle when it comes to Wrest. People have recommended plenty Leviathan to me and I have always walked away fairly indifferent. Sure, I think he is talented, but he also just fails to fully engage me. However, I do feel that Scar Sighted has managed to take me at least a step further down the rabbit hole. Between the solid production, stellar atmosphere, and gritty guitar-work; Scar Sighted is a monster to be reckoned with.

It’s funny that I’m listening to a black metal album and the best comparison I can often make is Skinny Puppy. Sure, there are plenty of minor chords and tremolos with heavy distortion, but the overall aesthetic and use of samples just screams early 90’s industrial. Good thing Too Dark Park is one of my favorite albums. Aside from the general creepiness, I also dig the weird, bendy discordant guitar work and bipolar nature of the a-melodic and melodic. Songs like “Wicked Fields” display utter chaos and abandonment of convention, while others like “Within Thrall” are filled with Mayhem-like hooks straight out of early second wave.

These switches are known to happen within the same songs well. Consider the crushing opener, “The Smoke of Their Torment” or bipolar “Gardens of Corprolite,” which ends with a very moody, effects-laden guitar lead. Moments throughout the album remind me of everything from Cultes des Ghoules’ Henbane to Deathspell Omega and Lunar Aurora. Yet Wrest manages to drag these sounds violently into strangely accessible territories with earworm hooks and morbidly fascinating dirges. Despite the plethora of indiscernible, cavernous howls and bizarre song structures, it never felt so artsy as to detract from my enjoyment. In fact, the palpable sorrow is extremely personal.

Never predictable, surprisingly enjoyable, Scar Sighted is another album not to miss in 2015. The dense, progressive fabric and obsessively ordered madness sets the bar for aspiring black metallers ever higher as the genre continues to expand and evolve. But be forewarned, it’s going to take time to truly digest this. It’s kind of like watching a David Lynch film: you know it’s something profound, but it’s not something you could come back to every day. Thankfully, Wrest has just enough handle on convention to be perhaps a bit more inviting than Polanski.

Enjoyability=8
Musicianship=9
Innovation=9