Location: Lexington, Kentucky
Country: USA
Genre: Blackened death metal
Full Length: Ecdysis
Format: Digital album, CD
Label: Misanthropik Records, Earache Digital Distribution, Kvlt und Kaos Productions (Austria)
Release date: February 14, 2023
This is yet another shameless overdone session of praise, haha. Just kidding. Erik Leviathan delivers one of his heaviest, rawest, and most extreme releases yet with “Ecdysis”. This may literally implode your brain like the remains of the Titanic falling to crush depth. If you thought his previous work was too much, it feels like being slowly skinned alive with sandpaper soaked in napalm and hot peppers, and that’s the mildest comparison I can offer. Even if you’re hardened and almost desensitized to the kind of songwriting presented here, you may still find yourself unprepared for what’s coming.
Consider old Venom, Sodom, Kreator, Mayhem, and Sarcofago delivered to the nth power and that’s to be expected from “Ecdysis”. This is not only their most sonically abrasive release to date but also their most politically and socially controversial. The lyrics accompanying Jonathan Nesbitt's (Crucible Steel, Reincarnation, Nesbitt) relentlessly brutal music represent an unwillingness to shut up and accept the ways of the world without speaking out against them. Leviathan has never been inclined to shy away from controversy, and his efforts are reinforced. If you’re offended or it pisses you off, that’s the point.
I mentioned that an older release of theirs, “Murder Is My Remedy”, demonstrates what happens to one’s mental capacity when one is pushed too far; this album explores a mind way beyond being pushed too far and is more than ready to strike back. In any case, this does not mean you're mad at the world for its own sake. There's plenty to be mad about, and nothing has changed since bands started calling attention to it. The sickness of humanity continues, as does greed, exploitation, and senseless war-mongering, and with it more educated malcontents who are aware of everything that’s going on around them.
Having more bands like Misanthropik Torment would make the underground virtually unstoppable. To me it’s refreshing to know the true passion for metal doesn’t diminish with age as people “mature” into what they’re expected to become, but as with the greats it grows as their passion and thoughts grow with their determination to reach listeners. It doesn’t matter if you’re “open-minded” or “self-limiting” (which is becoming as much a label as anything else) as long as your sincerity shows. Maybe it’s a cliché but it’s still true.
“Master and Slave”, “Ecdysis”, “False Prophet”, “This Horrid Life” and “Believe in Nothing, Question Everything” need raw heaviness to get their point across. At varying levels, they describe a mind that was once optimistic but was systematically flattened by the vileness they experienced every day, from corporate greed to political motivations to passive-aggressive bullshit from other people out to get what they want. Misanthropik Torment says it’s time for society to take responsibility for what they created. –Dave Wolff
Lineup:
Erik Leviathan: Vocals, lyrics
Jonathan Nesbitt: All instruments
Track list:
1. Master and Slave
2. ECDYSIS
3. Monkey See Monkey Do
4. False prophet
5. Somnium Mortuus Est
6. This Horrid Life
7. Believe In Nothing Question Everything_
8. Karmatic Retribution
Interview with Erik Leviathan of Misanthropik Torment by Dave Wolff
Interview with Erik Leviathan of Misanthropik Torment (second interview) by Dave Wolff
Full Length Review: Misanthropik Torment "Murder Is My Remedy" (Misanthropik Records) by Dave Wolff
Track Review: Misanthropik Torment "The Blueprint Façade" by Corban Skipwith
Full Length Review: Misanthropik Torment "The Black Death" (Misanthropik Records) by Corban Skipwith
Full Length Review: Misanthropik Torment "#KillYourLocalPedophile" (Misanthropik Records) by Dave Wolff
Single Review: Chainsaw Disfigurement "Harvesting Organs" (Misanthropik Records) by Corban Skipwith
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