by Mely Duong
I, Leviathan, a deathcore band from Maryland, is not for the faint of heart with their ferocious vocals and merciless rifts being slung down on the unseeing masses. As a united front, the band believes that “Society has created a stigma against feeling the way you feel and expressing it. We break the barrier and influence people to express their feelings through violent downtempo deathcore.”
It is only through their music that they are able to express their frustrations concerning the distorted perceptions of society. Although their lyrics and melodies are deep, they are also simultaneously emotionally disturbing. They are not meant to lure the audience into a false lull of comfort. Rather I, Leviathan masses an assault upon the auditory senses and upon the psyche, cleverly destroying facades and misconceptions. They are able to project their feelings through feeding off the negativity of the crowd, communicating it through their music, and unleashing bottled up feelings back upon the crowd tenfold. Feeding off the crowd is a beautiful aspect of their music. “Society tells them it’s not okay to feel this way…but you do, and we want to see it come out. It’s an amazing release. People get hurt at our shows constantly, but at the end of the night everyone gets along and feels a lot better than they did coming in.”
This attitude aligns with the origin of their name perfectly. Leviathan refers to one of the seven princes of hell and the gatekeeper of Hellmouth, prior to the creation of Cerebrus, who feeds upon all life and light. Therefore, I, Leviathan reflects this myth and in short, portrays themselves as the devil incarnate wherein they destroy what needs to be destroyed such as principles that the masses adhere to for comfort rather than understanding or concepts that society has conformed. They do not allow other bands to influence their music though they all love a variety of genres ranging from jazz to grindcore. Their chemistry shines in that they all entwine these divergent sounds around the central deathcore genre, allowing them to produce the heaviest of sounds that reverberates through your soul. As the vocalist, Ryan lends his personal experiences to provide the audience with an understanding of the raw emotions through his solid screams and growls as well as with his lyrical writing. Other members include Eron on guitar, Cameron on guitar, Ridz on guitar, Frank on drums, and Garrett on bass. With three guitarists, they can play more intricate melodies and are able to convey a discordant and aggressive sound.
Typically, the melody is written first prior to selecting the perfect set of lyrics that Ryan has accumulated over the years to match the melody. Through this method, I, Leviathan was able to release their single, “The Hollow One,” which received a strong response. Though the band admits that, at the time, they were only experimenting and that the song fell short of their own personal expectations for themselves. However, the band will be re-releasing it on their upcoming eight song EP (no release date announced yet).
Fans are left to console themselves with the demo I, Leviathan released in early 2014. Heartless Abomination, featuring Jamie Hanks, gives fans just a small taste of how the band has evolved and the direction in which they will continue to progress as their new material has more energy and is even darker than before. This song truly marks the beginning of a new journey for the band because it was able to successfully transform rage into music, allowing the audience to thrive off of it and express the rage back at live shows. From that segue, the band has continued to rain down aggressive songs such as “Deadweight”, their personal favorite. This song will be released on their eight song EP, but can also be seen below.
Over the next few months, fans can expect merch for the band as well as the band saving up to produce their EP. Despite the financial problems, they are dedicated young adults and are truly passionate about their music, refusing to conform. Failure is not an option and they will be playing many shows in the Maryland area over the next few months. Check out their Facebook page and Reverbnation page for more info!
