Leviathan and Grimbergen – Of Revisionism and Relinquishment

Two Scottish projects have joined forces on this split cd with three tracks by each artist, which was already released quite some months ago. Both Leviathan (which recently shortened its name to LVTHN) and Grimbergen have delivered solid dark ambient material before, and this new release is no exception. Leviathan’s ‘The Stormwind’s Return’ is a dense and chilling affair, thick layers of sound engulf you, like being trapped in a heavy storm. ‘As the Bell’s die’ is a slower and more minimal affair, with a feeling of loneliness. ‘The Unattainable Object’ is a Grimbergen piece given a dark and mournful treatment by Leviathan.
On ‘Entering the painfields’ it’s Grimbergen’s turn to rework a Leviathan track. It’s a bleak, rather industrial soundscape, with a mechanical rhtyhmic element strongly reminding me of Megaptera’s work. ‘Exit release’ is almost unbearably slow and repetitive and for some reason makes me think of some Krautrock work. The long ‘Is this the place’ has a more experimental approach with all kinds of dark rumblings, deep drones and strange noises. Again a pretty decent release from Monkeyhouse Recordings, who will switch to proper cd’s in the future instead of cd-r’s.

artist: Leviathan and Grimbergen
label: Monkeyhouse Recordings
details: cd-r, 6 tracks, 49 min. {monk006]