Fall Of Leviathan – In Waves
Swiss Post-Metal Band Fall Of Leviathan Release A Beautiful Gloom Debut Album
Photo: Phillipe Wattenhofer
The hottest metal trends of 2023-2024 tend to fall into one of a few (very general categories) – modern deathcore pushing the boundaries of heavy music, ripping old-school Bolt Thrower-worship, or unhinged hardcore crossover. Swiss quintet Fall of Leviathan, however, doesn’t care about any of that on their debut record, In Waves. While their sound only just barely crosses from post-rock into metal territory, when it does, they channel the crushing weight of every doom riff to precede them into massive, heavy drops, punctuated by ambient cleans and synthesizers. Fans of Mogwai, God is an Astronaut, and Pelican should not overlook this one!
Though this record is all instrumental (save for a handful of spoken passages), it’s not a self-serving shred fest, nor is it washed out shoegaze mess. Every track is carefully arranged, and the lead instruments often come in the form of keys or delicate guitars. This album requires patience, and is best enjoyed in one sitting. The album opener “Nantucket” takes its time building up to a big fuzzy and melodic drop, while the hyper clean bass dances underneath. A narrator occasionally guides you through what is effectively an instrumental post-metal retelling of Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea and other classic ocean themed media.
The third track, “Pacific,” opens like a classic doom metal song, and if the pace didn’t change over the course of it’s 13 minute runtime, you might assume it was a long lost instrumental from one of the genre’s greats. By far the peak of metal on the album, “Pacific” is dark and moody from beginning to end, a reminder that the ocean has no master. Followed by “Spermwhale,” the two tracks back-to-back serve as a reminder that it doesn’t take high gain guitars, death vocals, and blast beats to make something heavy. This album will draw more emotion out of you than most modern metal releases that seem to have only one, very angry tone throughout.
I paused and listened back, over and over again to the spoken word passage in “Akhab,” the album’s closer and strongest song, until I was able to identify it as a conversation between Captain Ahab and Starbuck from Moby Dick. “Akhab” brings the best of the band to the front, across 11 minutes of shifting moods like the shifting sea, and on the first listen through, I was convinced I was listening to the incredible original score to a film I simply hadn’t seen. The energy of the middle passage, and the combination of Loïc Fleury’s ethereal keys and Emma Richon finally letting loose on her perfectly controlled drum performance, are enough to make you forget the world around you.
I find it particularly interesting that all of the performances are incredibly reserved, and the band almost seems to be playing under their skill level, letting the arrangements and brilliant chord voicings speak for themselves. Sure, it just barely makes the cut as “metal,” but I won’t pretend this isn’t a perfect album from front to back, with no weak points. Its simplicity is emotionally overwhelming, the sign of well-crafted songs and expert musicianship.
Overall Score: 10/10
Review by: Tom Mis
