Tentacles of Whorror

Tentacles of Whorror

Editorial Reviews
Product Description
Following last year's definitive black metal highlight, Leviathan returns and your Whorror is about to begin! Prolific madman Wrest again challenges both his creative capabilities and the conventional trappings of "black metal". Witness what happens when the "rules" of black metal are thrown out, yet its true artistic essence is upheld. Witness what it's like within the Tentacles of Whorror.

"The Future of Black Metal." - ANVIL MAGAZINE "Simply, the most mesmerizing, transcendental Black Metal ever put to tape."- TERRORIZER

Tracks:

What Fresh Hell
Heir To The Noose Of Ghoul
Cut, With The Night, Into Mine Heart
A Bouquet Of Blood For Skull
Deciphering Legend Within The Serpents Briar
A Necessary Mutilation
Vexed And Vomit Hexed
Tentacles Of Whorror (Revel The Tyrant)
Requiem For A Turd World
Blood Red And True P.3 (Plummeting Obscurity)
Mouth Orifice Bizarre
The History Of Rape

Album Description

Following last year's definitive black metal highlight, Leviathan returns and your Whorror is about to begin! Prolific madman Wrest again challenges both his creative capabilities and the conventional trappings of "black metal". Witness what happens when the "rules" of black metal are thrown out, yet its true artistic essence is upheld. Witness what it's like within the Tentacles of Whorror.

"The Future of Black Metal." - ANVIL MAGAZINE "Simply, the most mesmerizing, transcendental Black Metal ever put to tape."- TERRORIZER

Customer Reviews:

Four and a half stars for this sick and scary soundtrack.......2006-11-21

This album may be part of a series of albums I am developing as part of an Amazon.com Listmania entitled "Soundtracks to the scariest Halloween haunted houses". There are black metal albums that could be deemed the soundtracks to hell, i.e. 1349's "Hellfire" or any of Dark Funeral's albums, but Leviathan, as well as Xasthur, Emperor's "In the Nightside" and "Anthems...", a few of Cradle of Filth albums (yes, to the uninitiated, the average Cradle of Filth album prior to "Damnation..." sounds scary indeed), to name a few, could be ideally used as the soundtracks to something you would hear in a nice, creepy Halloween haunt.

That said, I have found there are two ways to listen to this album: either in a Halloween haunted house over loud speakers (perhaps a real haunted house, if you believe in such), or through your headphones in a darkened room or walking through a forest at nighttime. To borrow a cliché about a lot of Burzum-inspired black metal music, atmosphere is key here. If you commit yourself and all of your auditory as well as visual sensibilities to playing this album in dark surroundings, as opposed to listening to it on your car stereo in the middle of the day, then the phrase "transcendental black metal" will be quite fitting. You will feel the dark mood of the album affect you as each track goes through multiple layers of composition; the combination of grinding blast beats, buzzing riffs, and even uncanny guitar picking at the beginning and end of on "What Fresh Hell"; the slow rhythm and buzzing guitar riffs on "Deciphering Legend Within The Serpent's Briar", which develops near the end of the track into a turbulent windstorm of ambient noise and chants by Wrest, leading into the soft and melancholy drone of "A Necessary Mutilation" (my favorite part of the album is the transition between these two phenomenal tracks).

I could go on about all the other tracks, but you should get the idea from both the aforementioned descriptions on my part as well as the other Amazon.com reviewers that this is a multi-layered, multi-dimensional album that sets the mood for everything that is grim and macabre. Wrest appears to have gone through pain-staking production efforts to create the atmosphere and echoes of an individual screaming and moaning in a dark forest or even at the bottom of a well somewhere in a deserted town, and again, I believe the experience comes down to where and how you listen to this album.

There are some weak points at the tail end , namely, the bland drum hook that introduces "Mouth Orifice Bizarre", and the even more bland and redundant atmospheric drone of "The History of Rape". Both songs will probably have their respective defenders, but these tracks do the rest of "Tentacles..." no justice in my humble opinion. As a result, I docked the album half a star, which may seem somewhat marginal but I cannot say "Tentacles..." is flawless. I can say that the album, after repeated listens, has exceeded my expectations for low-fi, atmospheric, bleak, and "Halloween-haunted-house-soundtrack" black metal.

Post-Black-Metal.......2006-02-20

To be perfectly blunt, I don't listen to all that much Black Metal. There are still a number of really great bands out there, and Leviathan is one of the best. This album is pretty different from their last (well, his last, since it's just one guy), as it's got quite a bit better production and is less purist, with something of a post-rock flavor to it at times. This will potentially upset a few utter diehards, but most rational individuals can tell that this doesn't even the slightest hint of commercialism. And the better production is still far from sharp and professional. Basically, it means that they turned the white noise generator down to low and actually miced the drums. Personally I like this approach, because as much as I like 'The Tenth Sub-Level of Suicide' I get the impression that the impact would wear off eventually if Wrest didn't change things up a little. And, despite the different approach, 'Tentacles of Whorror' has much the same tone as that album, though it is perhaps not quite as dark.

The album starts out a bit more straight forward for the first 4 or so tracks, mostly just lotsa speedy, raw black metal riffs with a few interludes and a couple slightly thrashier riffs thrown in at a few points. (Rather reminds me of Sepultura's 'Schizophrenia' at a few points.) There's quite a bit more slow, atmospheric stuff in the second half of the album, particularly the haunting and low-key second half of 'Vexed and Vomit Hexed' and the endless droning title track. There is also some ambient electronic flavoring as well, which works pretty nicely. (Particularly note the bizarre, minimalist closing track, 'The History of Rape') Overall I'd say the slower, more ambient stuff is probably more memorable, though the more purely BM material is still very good. Some of the best I've heard, as a matter of fact. Also, Wrest remains one of the most powerful black metal shriekers around, with great distorted howling and croaking. Very eerie stuff.

Yeah, I like it.

All Hail.......2005-11-10

One of the most trance inducing black metal I have heard since 'Transylvanian Hunger'. An absolute must have.

a whole new level of black metal.......2005-10-30

California has been the surprise breeding ground for some excellent black metal in recent years. with Xasthur, Ludicra, Crebain, and the prolific one man black metal assault that is Wrest, the mastermind behind Leviathan. i got my first taste of Leviathan's dark, art-damaged music on the Verrater release; which was a double disc set of old demos released on the excellent Tumult record label. i was blown away by that cd...and that was only a collection of demos; how good could a real full-length be? well, the supremely-titled Tentacles Of Whorror does not dissapoint. in fact, it only goes deeper into the underlit dank cavern of Leviathan's twisted and bleak audio devilry. his vocals are truly chilling, laced with distortion almost to the point of being overblown, it adds a tremendous paranoid and frenzied feeling to the music. this is a one man black metal band, and like most one man bands of this ilk (Burzum, Benighted Leams, etc.) the music adheres to a distinct and tightly executed vision. Wrest is in total control over every single element to this music and it's grip on the listener is overwhelming and impressive. this is dirty, filthy, black metal; filled with buzzsaw guitars, fast drumming, howling agonizing vocals, and hateful sentiments. but along with all of these grim BM traditions, there's plenty of forward thinking as well. the compositions involve multiple time changes, spooky ambient interludes, and a tasteful sense of artiness that makes me think that Wrest is influenced as much by progressive rock, thrash, drone, and experimental music as much as metal made by his fellow blackened bretheren. this is not to say that this isn't "true" black metal; because it is. there are no rap cameos or funky beats littering up this harsh landscape; but there are plenty of subtle touches that enforce the quality and power of this unique and essential black metal thunder (from sunny California, of all places!). hail!

Perfect SDBM.......2005-10-05

I will be minimalist about writing this. There is not one flaw on this record. I could go on for years about every aspect ov this record. But screw that. If you want depressive black metal, look no further than this californian SDBM. Suicidal, cold grim. Just a few ov the adjectives i could use describing this. Not for the weak, or Posour Fan.

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Raw Recordings: 1997-2005