Know Wrest [for the wicked]

I've not been able to get enough of Leviathan as of late and considering what a phenomenal opus Massive Conspiracy Against All Life is, it is small wonder that I don't yet have everything that's ever been released. But having gotten into Wrest and his various projects and splits so late in the game, would I be as impressed with his back catalog? The answer is a overwhelming and resounding, "INDEED!"

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.

Next I was able to score a double deal via eBay of the Xasthur/Leviathan and the Leviathan/Sapthuran splits. Xasthur of course I'd been a fan of for some time, so that side of the split was a given. I must say Wrest's contribution to this split sees him trying new things a little more along the Xasthur route that frankly works quite well, so this split was a score. The Leviathan/Saphthuran split was great also...the latter offers up cold, grim, harsh BM...the former, much the same. A total score to be sure as I relish the cold, grim and harsh.

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.

I was also luckily able to get a hold of the 2xCD compilation release of Verräter.I say lucky because according to some sources, it's limited to 666 copies (Although I'm seeing it around quite a lot). This release compiles previously recorded and self-released demo material, one release called "Schadenfreude" and the other "Krankheit". Both of the discs in this collection are top notch an nothing short of brutal when you consider the great amount of material that Wrest not only comes up with, but puts out.

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)))