One-man project Leviathan rolls on to yet another
release with the self-intuitively named Ten. If you haven't read
about Leviathan, please check out our previous issues section to see the
reviews we've written about this phenomenal black metal project.
Ten is by far the most heavy metal work that
sole band member Wrest has done to date. Ever since Leviathan's seventh
album, Wrest's material has been getting less atmospheric and more musical.
Second track "Shrapnel" is made up entirely of infectious traditional
chugging metal riffs. The high processed vocal rasp that was largely absent
from previous record Nine (Inclement Derision) is back to our delight.
The manipulation and inclusion of new sounds continues
to be explored, as on the intro to opening track "Heiress of Worms," which
includes bells and big, booming toms. The dark, mellow intro makes way
to a blistering blast beat attack and flesh ripping black metal call.
The direction of the riffs then goes again in a bouncy and more traditional
Black Sabbath meets Metallica direction. Elsewhere on the album, Wrest's
admiration for heavy math rockers The Fucking Champs is made clear.
Although the material is overall less straight-up
black metal, Ten sees the heaviest inclusion of blast beats of
any album in the Leviathan library to date. Wrest is starting to feel
quite comfortable with this rhythmic staple of black metal.
On the mathy instrumental track "Somnolent," Wrest
plays with his vault of drum sounds to include some electronic beats with
excellent results. In another new development, the last track, "Descent
through the Womb of the Moon," is a noisy, ambient industrial piece filled
with ambulating screams that are unique to the variety of vocal ranges
that have been used in Leviathan thus far. This is the first such total
ambient track Wrest has released under the Leviathan name since the project's
third album. As with all the other material this man puts together, you
can't go wrong with Ten.
