December is such a weird time for new music. As someone who writes about it and is bombarded with new releases all the time, this is the time of the year when the spigot is at a drip, and finding stuff to fill these pages gets tough. But there are gems out there if you look for them, and one today might have hit harder during the Halloween times.

Pedestal for Leviathan play death metal splashed with symphonic edges, some black metal, and a darkness that would have sounded great when pumpkins and skeletons still were dotting lawns. Full confession: mine still has both elements. Anyway, the band is helmed solely in the studio by Kendrick Lemke (vocals, guitar in the live setting) which is astonishing when you take on  “Enter: Vampyric Manifestation.” It’s heavy, passionate, emotional, and dripping with strangeness that makes this beast even more imposing. In a live setting, Lemke is joined by guitarist Mathew Meyer, bassist Noah Filthen, and drummer Corbin Echtermeyer, because it surely takes a team effort to get these songs translated live. There is a lot going on here with this eight-track album (11 depending on the version), and it’s a really immersive experience that toggles between elegance and bloodshed, often in the same verse. 

“Chalice Bleeds Intoxicant” starts with spooky synth and icy guitars, opening into a chasm that is swallowed by massive death growls. The playing totally tears apart, speedy vocals spat, the playing charring, and riffs swooping, burning into oblivion. “Summoning Sickness” unloads with snarling death, keys blazing and darting through chaos, the growls mangling and punishing. The drama intensifies as do the vocals, the playing getting tougher and less conventional as we go. “Lycanthropichrist” (say that 5 times really fast … or one time at all) has guitars dive bombing, a mashing force pushing everything to the surface, and beastly growls interacting with stinging keys. The senses activate further as the growls engorge, and the power ruptures completely, blasting with sun-exploding colors. “Sanctity of Retribution” is hazy and dripping, feeling overcast before a storm. Deep growls lurch as strings dance and dash, the guitars rise from the ashes, and the growls maul, leaving a bloody imprint as orchestral waves wash everything away.

“Purgatory Displacement” has the synth diving, growls retching, and downtuned madness making the bottom end even thicker. Bells chime as the ravaging speed takes over, drama spiking along the way, gang shouts exploding, and a tougher push disappearing into whipping winds. “Karmic Recollection Mirror” has keys fluttering, the guitars tangling, and main melodies lines snaking through oil slicks. The howls hammer with deeper tones, the synth soars, and the emotion runs over the rim, ending in choking growls and soot. “Snow Covered Monolith” is a quick instrumental that feels equally like a regal entrance theme and wiry videogame score, all while chilling your bones. “Warlock Blacksmith” is the closer on some versions, erupting with devastating consequences, trudging as the growls punish, and mud cakes the gears. The fury aims to gut, and it does effectively, the growls curdle, and the keys slink and fire in raw horror, blistering to the end. Some versions have three bonus tracks—”Siphoning of the Liege,” the rawer “Beast Rune,” and ghostly mauler “Nightshade Familiar”—that are worth hearing for sure. I do find the eight-track version a little tighter and more urgent.

Pedestal for Leviathan, sadly, is bound to get lost in the glut of December releases, but “Enter: Vampyric Manifestation” is chock full of excitement, gore, and death metal that dabbles in black metal’s deep pools. This record is full of energy and attitude but never at the expense of the violent underpinning the music is selling. This is an album perfect for the dark, cold nights when your spirit wishes to travel elsewhere for a little while.

For more on the band, go here: https://pedestalforleviathan.bandcamp.com/

To buy the album, go here: https://www.personal-records.com/product/pre-order-pedestal-of-leviathan-enter-vampyric-manifestation/

For more on the label, go here: https://www.personal-records.com/