Know Wrest [for the wicked]

Immediately after Massive..., I scored a copy of Howl Mockery at the Cross, a collection of demo material that sounds well superior to the piles of "produced" BM out there and was a great start for me, the semi-uninitiated and comes recommended not just for fans of Leviathan, but of great one-man, USBM and to fans of Black Metal in general.

Realizing that I was far past obtaining the back catalog in any kind of order, (I usually like to move backwards through it if I've started with the latest release), I then picked up The Tenth Sub Level of Suicide, the first full-length from back in 2003. Whew! EXTREMELY bad ass for a debut! With most bands, by the time I get to the debut, I'm losing interest and will "meh" my way through a listen, but let me say...I'm was FAR from disappointed in this album and was looking forward to hearing more.
The next step in this underworld journey was to check out Wrest's other project Lurker of Chalice. Luckily, Southern Lord has just re-released this self-titled album and I was able to obtain it quite quickly. While this project maintains much of the cold, darkness of Levithan, it's but a short distance from gothic ala Fields of the Nephilim in many ways, making it a unique and interesting listen. I've still not absorbed it completely, but what I've heard so far, it's brilliant and as recommended as any Leviathan release.

Incidentally, I have a copy of his previous full-length, Tentacles of Whorror on the way and now have to start thinking of how to get a hold of the harder to find stuff.
Wrest (aka Jef Whitehead) is a renowned tattoo artist in San Fransisco and has contributed his own paintings to some the the releases. He has also stated that his preferred instrument is drums as is quite obvious with each of his releases and projects. He has collaborated with SUNN 0))) and was part of the now defunct Twilight project.
While he went through many hardships to release Massive Conspiracy Against All Life, (it was initially going to come out as a Lurker of Chalice release on Battle Kommand) he's managed to give us his strongest offering to date and make a die-hard fan out of me.
(((03)))