Style: Prog Metal/Heavy Metal (clean vocals)
Review by: Sam
Country: US-CO
Release date: 27th November, 2020
One of the rarest types of progressive metal these days is the sound that was propagated by Fates Warning and Queensryche. It had no keyboards, and despite not being heavy metal anymore, it still had strong semblance of the genre. In the 90s this style was quite prevalent with acts like Psychotic Waltz, or the not-so-skillfully-named Holocaust. Often these bands also mixed in thrash metal elements into the sound. It was progressive metal yes, but also very much a metal genre still. After the 90s this style, which, admittedly, was already quite underground, died a quick death in favor of acts like Dream Theater who made progressive metal with a capital P and used the metal more as a supplement. Fast forward two decades later and this style is nearly extinct, aside from a few of the old guard who are still making music. One of these bands is Leviathan. I am quite fond of this style, so I was happy to find out they put out a new one.
Back in 2018, when this blog still consisted of me posting noted to Reddit, I reviewed their (ridiculously long titled) album Can’t Be Seen By Looking, Blurring the Lines, Clouding the Truth, or CBSBLBTLCTT in “short”. Lyrics aside, it was a pretty good album with solid vocals, and good riffs. It also had Mark Zonder on drums (Fates Warning 1989-2004) who I adore, so the album got a solid plus from me. This time around, they cut down on the song lengths, and instead went for a large amount of shorter songs. This album is 13 songs and 67 minutes. For reference, CBSBLBTLCTT was only 6 songs and 56 minutes. It’s again a concept album, but the lyrics aren’t available online, so I couldn’t tell you about it (not that I would if they were, but ok). Initially this approach seems like a solid choice. The opener is a great track. The vocals sound fresh and inspired, the guitar work sounds solid, and it’s full of progressive chops similar to Fates Warning’s recent work. The chorus is a bit weak, but otherwise a great song.
After that though, the record quickly deteriorates. Basically Words Waging War is like a more heavy metal version of modern Fates Warning, but worse in every aspect. It’s overlong, lacks good choruses, the guitar work is mediocre, the vocals often go to places where they shouldn’t go, is awfully unambitious in its songwriting, and the production is highly uneven. The only aspect of this record I would say is great is the drumming. But even that feels like a watered down version of Bobby Jarzombek’s work with Fates if I’m honest. And on top of all that mediocrity, they put these god-awful spoken word interludes. For example there’s this horrifying bit:
So, who am I you ask? If I knew the answer to that, I wouldn’t be wearing a fucking mask.
I don’t know if it’s an anti-mask Covid statement, or just bad poetry. In either case, it’s grating. GOD this album annoys me.
Some further explanation is needed on why this record is bad, believe it or not. The key problem with this record is just lame-ass songwriting. For example, I mentioned the choruses being bad. The vocal lines are uninteresting, and they did a very bad job making them stand out production-wise. Often I didn’t even notice they went into the chorus as the synths are buried in the background, and the vocal harmonies lack presence. Did I mention the lyrics yet? For example “Someone Else’s Art” goes on this rant of how only musicians have the right to criticize and catalogue other’s art, but it mostly just comes off as condescending gatekeeper bullshit. Music is for the fans, and they have every right to criticize. And cataloging is just necessary with the overabundance of things we have these days.
But bad choruses can be forgiven if the songs go somewhere. There are a few exceptions (like the bridge “Strength and Limitations”), but this band seems afraid to go overboard with the prog. It’s as if they’re so afraid of being called wankers that their bridges end up going nowhere out of (in my eyes, very misplaced) restraint. The result is that the songs just barely (if at all) reach any worthwhile climax. And when the album is 67 minutes long, that makes for a horrifying experience, even if there are worthwhile parts.
So there you have it. This record shows some promise in spots, but overall it’s just awful. Even as someone who’s a fan of this style, this record bored me to tears. I had decently high hopes for this, but man, I cannot for the life of me give this a positive grade. Disappointment of the year (and that’s counting Maladie!).
Recommended tracks: Compromised by Need, Picture Perfect, Strength and Limitations
Recommended for fans of: Fates Warning, Queensryche, 90s Savatage
Final verdict: 3/10
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Official Website | Facebook | Metal-Archives page
Label: Stonefellowship Recordings (no links available??)
Leviathan is:
– Raphael Gazal (vocals)
– John Lutzow (guitars, keyboards, vocals)
– Kyle Brian Abbot (drums)
– Derek Blake (bass)
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