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Leviathan: Massive conspiracy against all life

15/07/09 || Khlysty

Drama is one of the constituent parts of black metal. The whole history of the genre is choke-full of dramatic stories, small ones and bigger ones (Dead, Euronymus, the whole “inner circle” mythology, y’ know, the works). You can’t have black metal without drama and “Massive Conspiracy Against All Life” (heretoforth to be called “MCAAL”) has its own history of tension and, well, drama. See, Wrest, the mastermind behind Leviathan, Lurker of Chalice, Twilight and many more proponents of USBM, wanted this record to come under the moniker of Lurker of Chalice; it seems that Moribund wanted it to be a Leviathan record. There was tension and delays. Probably, there was bad blood between Wrest and Moribund. Voilá, drama enough.

Which, in my opinion, is a load of crap, as far as “MCAAL” is concerned. Why? Because, regardless of the act’s name, this is one of the best things Wrest has ever recorded and one of the best USBM records ever. Also, it’s so extremely user-unfriendly and scary, that I cannot but feel that Wrest wanted to make a statement of intent with this record. Having listened to a lot of the works of this extremely prolific act, I think that I can say that “MCAAL” finds Wrest at his most strung-out, with the music exuding an almost palpable sense of frayed-nerves, last-straw terror and rage. The structure of the songs is so convoluted and angular as to inflict cuts to the listener.

Of course, all of Leviathan’s trademarks are present: the manic quitars, the fast and furious drumming, the more-howl-and-growl-that-typical-screeching vocals, the cold and imposing ambient parts, everything is here in spades. But, there seems to be a different –at least from his other works- method to Wrest’s madness, a sense of him wanting to cram everything and the kitchen sink into the seven songs comprising “MCAAL”. The most intriguing aspect of this new madness is the almost haphazard way the songs are moving: sometimes tumbling uncontrollably, like spiky tumbleweeds towards the listener and then dropping into majestically desperate ambience, before again raging and raving to another –but equally lethal- direction.

The production here is the best of any other Leviathan record: the drums are crispy, the guitars full-bodied, the bass –oh, joy!- present, the vocals commanding. This aspect takes the record’s sickness to another plane entirely, with the whole sounding less than the musing of a person contemplating self-effacement and more like a guy who’s taken the final step, looked into the abyss and has made his final decisions: decisions concerning hate and bile towards everything surrounding him. “MCAAL” sounds like a cluster-bomb of misanthropy and hatred exploding, so one better look out for the shrapnel and the dismembered bodies flying around.

This is supposed to be that last work of Wrest under the moniker of Leviathan, and if that’s true, well, it’s a fitting ending chapter in the history of one of the most important acts to come under the USBM tag. Harrowing, ugly, jagged, vicious and fragmented to the point of surrealism, “Massive Conspiracy Against All Life” is a landmark record and –I think- a work which, after being dissected and digested by the proper people, will point to the new direction black metal will follow. Oh, yes, and it’s heavy as fuck…

9 spiky bloodied armbands out of 10.

Information
Released: 2008
Label: Moribund Records
Website: Leviathan MySpace (fan page)
Band
Wrest: vocals, guitar, drums, bass, keyboards

Tracklist
01. Vesture dipped in the blood of morning
02. Merging with sword, onto them
03. Made as the stale wine of wrath
04. VI-XI-VI
05. Receive the word
06. Vulgar asceticism
07. Noisome ash crown

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