Style: Black Metal, Symphonic Metal, Death Metal, Progressive Metal (Harsh vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Emperor, Summoning, Sigh
Review by: Christopher
Country: US-CA
Release date: 22 September, 2023
Perhaps no other genre as indelibly evokes a particular terrain as black metal. Every blast beat, wailing scream and evil riff is gripped by the icy terror of the Scandinavian night. The frost-heavy trees with their gnarled clawing branches, the baying of the wolves to the blood moon, the craggy boulders moving in the night like trolls of olde; call it a stereotype, but black metal is inherently frosty, barren, and Scandinavian.
Hailing from the inhospitable, frigid wastes of Temecula, California, Son Ov Leviathan blend symphonic influences with that familiar black metal foundation. Shrill organ toccatas and fugues its way around the fringes of the compositions, and weedly synth frequently spins its threads throughout, notably on “Heralding the Head ov the Shepherd” and “Lvcifugium”, providing an eighties horror movie vibe. Indeed, synth dominates with thick heavy metal chords underpinning more often than tremolo riffs take predominance. Meanwhile, the drumming maintains a constant—sometimes too constant—mid-tempo. All three members provide vocals allowing Lvcifugium to benefit from both blackened gnashes and throatier growls, often playing against one another.
The symphonic influence is very synthetic, coming through mostly in the synthy organ swells and obviously programmed choral additions, which feed into the corrupted, satanic image of the band (the frequent use of “ov” helps, too). I usually prefer a more natural sound—like that of Lamentari who record with a real orchestra and choir, but I understand that not every band can benefit from the wonders of the Danish economy (although Danes don’t have family vineyard money)—and while the choices bands make in regards to their symphonic accompaniment sometimes feel more a product of budgetary constraints than of an attempt to best serve their style, Son ov Leviathan know what best serves their particular brand of hellish black metal, and it’s campy artifice. The layering of synth, organ and strings makes for a lot of elements and they’re mostly treated well by the production, handled by guitarist, Lord Vagrant.
At sixty-six minutes, Lvcifugium’s length is an issue. Son ov Leviathan lack the variety to sustain such a bloated runtime—the calm passage in “Blood ov Pagan Majesty” stands out as one of the album’s best moments purely because it’s such a rare respite from their standard gear and it allows the climactic ending of the song to soar even higher with crescendoness heft and playful guitar licks. While runtime is a problem, pacing is worse: Lvcifugium is very backloaded, all their best ideas being saved for the latter half of the record, such as the banger of a title track, the more intricately structured “Necrospells of the Ebon Magick”, and the epic heavy metal soloing on closer “Deathlike Gnosis” (hey guys, that Gregorian chant nestled in the background is sick, do more of that). Indeed, the final four tracks feel like a major step up from the rest of the record, and I wish Lvcifugium could have sustained that quality from the start.
Additionally, while there isn’t a drum credit for Lvcifugium (main composer Hexorath is credited with “all instruments”) I think the drums are programmed. Certainly, they sound digital, coming across as too precise and without nuance—every hit of the snare sounds identical and also too loud. Human or robot, the drumming is fine, but the repetitive snare bashing of barely changing tempo across much of the record leaves me a bit St Angry. Whereas the artifice of their synth and symphonies plays to their advantage, the artificial sound of the drums simply doesn’t.
Lvcifugium benefits from its hammy, synth-driven, occult vibe and better than average production, both of which allow it to stand out from the crowd, but pacing issues, a bloated runtime, and a lack of variation in the first half of the album hold back this often good, occasionally great third release. Minor tweaks will do a hell of a lot to elevate Son ov Leviathan on future releases, but for now this is a solid soundtrack for your everyday satan summoning, whether in the vineyards of California or the forests of Norway.
Recommended tracks: Lvcifugium, Blood ov Pagan Majesty, Necrospells of the Ebon Magick
You may also like: Hail Spirit Noir, Lamentari, Fjoergyn
Final verdict: 6.5/10
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives page
Label: Independent
Son ov Leviathan is:
– Hexorath (vocals, all instruments, songwriting and lyrics)
– Lord Vagrant (guitars, vocals)
– Svrtvrvs (bass, vocals)
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