Leviathan

Taking cues from solitary Scandinavian black metal figures such as Quorthon of Bathory, Count Grishnackh from Burzum, and the widely known Mortiis, San Francisco native Jef Whitehead assumed the alias Wrest in 1998 and promptly launched into solo recording and distribution of material under the Leviathan name. More than a dozen such recordings emerged inside five years and received partial assembly on the 2002 anthology Verräter, yet Leviathan persisted in prioritizing concise demos, EPs, and split releases with partners including Crebain, Xasthur, and Sapthuran before issuing its first complete albums, 2003’s The Tenth Sub-Level of Suicide and 2004’s Tentacles of Whorror. Wrest additionally supplied his characteristically spectral vocals to releases by Sunn 0))). The same year he assembled the black metal supergroup Twilight alongside participants from Xasthur, Krieg, Isis, Nachtmystium, and Sonic Youth, resulting in three albums—the self-titled debut in 2005, Monument to Time End in 2010, and III: Beneath Trident's Tomb in 2014. Concurrent with Twilight’s formation, Wrest issued the Leviathan demo compilation Howl Mockery at the Cross. The following year brought the paired EPs Speed of Darkness and The Blind Wound, the latter a reissue of an earlier split with Sapthuran. Massive Conspiracy Against All Life appeared as the fourth full-length in 2008. Events tied to a sexual assault and domestic violence charge prompted the 2011 release True Traitor, True Whore. Afterward Whitehead relocated to Portland, Oregon, where he established the Profound Lore label, opened a tattoo studio, and started a family. Four years later the sixth Leviathan album, the widely praised Scar Sighted, introduced a further wave of gloom to the musical landscape. In 2016 the Dutch imprint Hammerheart issued deluxe reissues of Leviathan’s initial four albums together with the 2005 collection A Silhouette in Splinters.