The most shocking thing to happen in metal so far this year is also the cutest; Leviathan’s Jef Whitehead’s Decibel cover. This would raise eyebrows under almost any circumstance, but Whitehead’s unsavoury past makes it all the more of a mindfuck. The last we heard of Whitehead and Leviathan was 2011’s True Traitor, True Whore, an exceptionally problematic album title that gets worse once you realize it was based on actual events which lead to Whitehead being arrested for sexual assault and domestic violence. I’m a firm believer in the ‘gotta hear both sides’ ethos, but with the arrest and an album title like that, Whitehead made it pretty hard to lay on any leeway. Coupled with the fact that True Traitor, True Whore was Leviathan’s worst release yet, the music world turned its back on him. Apart from appearances in a few side projects over the years, that was the last we heard of Whitehead…until he popped up on the cover of Decibel back in January, with a smile(?) on his face, and a fucking baby in his hand. Extreme music has always been about the shock factor, but holy shit did this ever come out of nowhere. The intent was clear: Whitehead was seeking redemption.
Cute babies or not, Whitehead will never be able to redeem himself on a personal level. What he did was inexcusable. But to not allow the man an attempt at redemption on an artistic level simply would not be fair. Varg Vikernes, the man behind Leviathan’s closest spiritual ally Burzum, is a flagrant anti-Semitic; Euronymous of Mayhem who murdered one of his bandmates in cold blood; the vile character traits of these artists is unavoidable, yet the importance of both these acts to the black metal scene is universally accepted and documented. Separating the artists from the art is one of the most difficult things a music lover has to do, and in some instances, it is impossible. There’s a reason why you’d be extremely hard pressed to find any Lostprophets albums on record store shelves these days. But that’s the exception to the rule. Also Lostprophets were shitty. In Leviathan’s case, what he did was pretty fucked up, but you can’t deny that he is arguably the most important person in American black metal. He may not be able to redeem himself, but with Scar Sighted, his fifth record and first since True Traitor, True Whore, he has successfully redeemed Leviathan.
Pain has always been the omnipresent force in Leviathan’s music. Most of Whitehead’s lyrics are about suicide. Listening to a Leviathan record feels like listening to an exorcism, and on Scar Sighted we hear Whitehead fighting off some of the most devastating personal demons yet. Leviathan has always used black metal as more of a foundation than a rule to live by, and Scar Sighted is most impressionistic work. Screeching guitars and blast beats are used functionally, as an outlet to the angrier parts of the record. In between these outbursts, Whitehead wallows in the gloom of dark ambient and plodding doom. There is no semblance of structure and the record is produced in such a murky, claustrophobic manner that it immediately submerges you in Whitehead’s syrupy anguish, not letting you come up for air until the record is over. Half of the time Whitehead isn’t even screaming, instead letting out bleary, torturous cries that echo out into nowhere. As a one man band and auteur, Whitehead has never sounded this alone.
Scar Sighted is so gutwrenching and obviously sociopathic that after a while, you forget the context of the man behind it and start genuinely feeling sorry for him. The man very clearly has issues, and could use all the help he can get. Leviathan’s artistic redemption is a success; Scar Sighted is a powerful comeback and the best work of Leviathan’s career. As for Whitehead himself, it’s gonna take a lot more than a picture of him with a baby to redeem his actions. But although it may be a minimal dose at most, Scar Sighted offers Whitehead something that may have seemed impossible even a year ago: empathy.
Ridiculous Made Up Genre of the Day: suicide metal
Rating: 4/5