Leviathan

Inspired by Scandinavian one-man black metal entrepreneurs like <a href="spotify:artist:6rBvjnvdsRxFRSrq1StGOM">Bathory</a>'s <a href="spotify:artist:2nu5yyNEqWmz3TjWYZMA8E">Quorthon</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7L6u6TyhjuwubrcojPeNgf">Burzum</a>'s Count Grishnackh, and the ubiquitous <a href="spotify:artist:4jlxvaggBp7wVV02U6YYRQ">Mortiis</a>, San Francisco native Jef Whitehead adopted the nom de guerre Wrest in 1998 and soon began self-recording and releasing demos under the Leviathan heading. Within five years, these already numbered more than a dozen and were partly compiled on 2002's Verräter collection; but Leviathan continued to favor short-form demos, EPs, and split releases (with the likes of Crebain, <a href="spotify:artist:0nH9qzKJMfrJNnF37nDaVj">Xasthur</a>, and Sapthuran) in the years that followed, only committing to full-length efforts with 2003's The Tenth Sub-Level of Suicide and 2004's Tentacles of Whorror. Wrest has also contributed his undead vocal talents to albums by <a href="spotify:artist:2e7hYqRjL82c1nIoREHc4J">Sunn 0)))</a>. In 2005, Wrest formed Twilight, a black metal supergroup, with members of other iconic bands (<a href="spotify:artist:0nH9qzKJMfrJNnF37nDaVj">Xasthur</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:71Ay2oOlp4FJvnnbhuT3j4">Krieg</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2vsXeWGC8rILp3rpSN2Fyk">Isis</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5Cz18ETgjR6kcVMUK0YOqD">Nachtmystium</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:5UqTO8smerMvxHYA5xsXb6">Sonic Youth</a>), releasing three albums (2005's self-titled, 2010's Monument to Time End, and III: Beneath Trident's Tomb in 2014). At the same time Twilight was formed, Wrest released an album under the Leviathan moniker: the collection of demos Howl Mockery at the Cross. The next year, he released a two-EP combo -- Speed of Darkness and The Blind Wound -- the latter of which was a re-release of a split album with Sapthuran. Fourth album Massive Conspiracy Against All Life came in 2008. In 2011, inspired by events surrounding a sexual assault and domestic violence charge, Wrest released True Traitor, True Whore. Afterward, he moved to Portland, Oregon, started his own label (<a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Profound+Lore%22">Profound Lore</a>), a tattoo business, and a family. Four years later, his critically acclaimed sixth album, Scar Sighted, birthed another dose of darkness into the music world. In 2016, Dutch label <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Hammerheart%22">Hammerheart</a> offered deluxe reissues of Leviathan's first four albums along with the 2005 compilation A Silhouette in Splinters. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia & Neil Z. Yeung, Rovi