Lurking in the leviathan's shadow
Originally released in 2005 by Total Holocaust Records, Lurker of Chalice's self-titled debut album has been in and out of print in various formats several times over the past few years. Thankfully, the album has once again been unearthed for an unlimited cd release by Southern Lord, for the first time giving a wider audience the chance to experience yet another twisted facet of Leviathan mastermind Wrest's prolific musical output.
Decidedly more mellow and perhaps even more darkly psychedelic than Leviathan, Lurker of Chalice is a hallucinatory fever-dream you can't wake up from. The guitars come swirling out of the speakers like the uncoiling black tentacles of some misshapen elder god, while a wash of droning ambience envelops the listener on all sides. Although Wrest's work with Leviathan is all about the claustrophobic layers of distortion, Lurker of Chalice is a far more spacious sounding affair, relying just as heavily on sparse, clean guitars and murmuring synths to balance out his penchant for blackened riffage. The resulting overall sound is less tumultuous than the bulk of Leviathan's material, taking a more measured approach to creating a sinister and sorrowful atmosphere.
Elements of black metal, doom, dark ambient and even gothic rock make their presence felt over the course of the album and Wrest manages to weave these disparate elements together in a manner that is completely seamless. Free from the strict parameters that bind Leviathan, Wrest is able to create an audial landscape that might be less dense musically, but is far more crushing on an emotional and psychological level. There is a very palpable feeling of total despair emanating from the music of Lurker of Chalice, and one can't help but be mesmerized by the waves of sonic desolation that permeate the album. Tracks like "Piercing Where They Might" and "Vortex Chalice" are forlorn odes to a mind-set of pure misanthropy and the recording as a whole seems more like a journey into the darkest reaches of a withering, embittered soul than a mere collection of songs.
The true horrific beauty of Lurker of Chalice is the manner in which it so completely draws you into Wrest's demented world, a dead planet utterly devoid of light. The album reeks of unmitigated delirium, coming off like the soundtrack to a human psyche slowly unraveling. To paraphrase Dante Alighieri: "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here."
| Reviewer: Josh Haun Added: April 25th 2008 |
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