Here we have a split CD for Xasthur
and Leviathan. Ten total tracks, the first seven tracks are Xasthur which
include a nice cover of Katatonia’s “Palace of Frost”
and a well-developed black instrumental. The last three tracks are Leviathan,
the last of which is a respectable Judas Iscariot cover. These tracks seem
to be a little longer that the Xasthur tracks. The music is produced with
a raw production. Fuzz and background noise isn’t overbearing, but
you can still hear the classic guitar buzz. Xasthur has an old school black
metal sound with some modern traits, almost Dark Throne like. A dark unholy
tone. For Leviathan the music is pretty much traditional black sounding
too, but I couldn’t get into it all. They could use a few more well-placed
riffs to make it more vibrant. It’s kinda dull. Some parts seem drawn
out to long, and it makes it seem repetitive. But with each band being made
up of 1 band member each, Malific for Xasthur and Wrest for Leviathan, they
both did a good job. Not many bands achieve what these did with only one
person. They also have other projects including Twilight, SunnO))), Nachtmystium,
and Lurker of Chalice. This split-CD has bonus tracks that weren’t
available on the LP version that came out on Profound Lore Records in 2004
making the length 65 minutes long. This has potential, but I personally
need a little more to really get into this. Not bad for what it is.
Rating: 72
Reviewed By: Jeffrey D. Adkins |
