I sometimes wonder about the lives of the dreary American black metal scene. In all honesty, the music is so dark and so bleak you can’t help but wonder what madness brings people to create such horrid images put to music. At best, the music of Xasthur and Leviathan both conjure up the epitome of human insanity manifested in the scarred minds of mental mutes in psychiatric wards. Despite being a rational, seemingly secure and happy individual, this music gives me the biggest shit eating grin when I listen to it.

This is the cd re-issue of the original vinyl split between the two monsters of American black metal. The cd reprinting comes packed with a great deal of extras, including some sweet covers that both bands manage to do justice. Xasthur is the strongest on the bunch, dealing out slow, protruding tunes of utter contempt, hatred, and melancholy at a drugged paced speed. There are even some atmospheric touches here or there with "Achieve Emptiness". Xasthur, at best, is the full realization of what bands like Burzum should have evolved into at the end of their lifespan, and it is mind-numbingly bleak yet enticing. The Katatonia cover works great with the overall sound of loneliness that the earlier low-fi black metal established.

Leviathan gets skimped out on the material in terms of number of songs, but the quantity of material within each song makes up for it, going far longer than Xasthur’s tracks. Leviathan here flexes a similar sense of low-fi, isolated black metal but there’s a bit more dedication to melody here than what Xasthur works with. The overall sound though is still in the same vein as Xasthur’s. The Judas Iscariot cover here is well executed, doing the original track justice (and I think personally one upping the vocal performance) but it is nowhere near as haunting as the Katatonia cover that Xasthur throws up. Still, the cover is an excellent piece of black metal and deals a nice contrast to the bleaker material on the rest of the cd.

God, these fuckers have some bleak visions in their music. It’s nothing but the cesspool of humanity’s own failings and, by Jove, it’s some of the most invigorating black metal out there.

Written By: Necro-tron