Megaton Leviathan to Release Instrumental LP Magick Helmet Dec. 8
Posted in Whathaveyou on October 26th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Remaining reliably too weird for the planet, Megaton Leviathan will issue an all-instrumental LP called Magick Helmet on Dec. 8. The band, if it wasn’t always, seems at this point to be a solo outlet at least in terms of composition for founding frontman Andrew James Costa Reuscher, below mentioned only by his surname, though the PR wire notes a live trio in the sentence before listing Reuscher as the only person in the lineup, so maybe one needs to be less uptight in definitions of things like ‘who’s in the band’ and ‘what are songs anyhow.’
The latter I’d count among the most essential questions Megaton Leviathan have been asking since their groundbreaking 2010 debut, Water Wealth Hell on Earth (review here), and that Reuscher and various others haven’t found a definitive answer is only to their credit. I’d expect Magick Helmet to be cosmic, ritualistic in its making, and expansive in its reach if perhaps raw in presentation, but those are broad generalizations on purpose, because this is a band who’ve pushed themselves into an individualistic exploratory place and have made it plain they can and will do whatever the hell they want. Right on.
Info from the PR wire:
MEGATON LEVIATHAN Announces Instrumental Album ‘Magick Helmet’
The Magick Helmet is demanding of the listener pushing them to their limits. Armed to the teeth with face-melting fuzz and Godzilla delays courtesy of the Doomgazer Pedal (a collaboration between Emmergy FX UK and MEGATON LEVIATHAN). It’s an album that you don’t just listen too in enjoyment but endure. Begging the question who is this rhythm section extemporaneously pulsing deep within the thrall of the MEGATON LEVIATHAN. The Magick Helmet will be unleashed on December 8th, 2023.
Reuscher comments:
“Outside inside, dawn the Magick Helmet and take her for a ride. It is available free on the band website and band camp, for the friends, fans and supporters of MEGATON LEVIATHAN. Thank you.”
Succumb to the immersive soundscapes of The Magick Helmet. “The Final Form Of Nothing Is Final” exudes wailing guitars, driving percussion and rumbling bass melodies. The unceasing momentum keeps you hooked – it’s a constant, while soaring, banshee-like wails freely spiral above. Taking a haunting and twisting turn, “The Final form Of Nothing Is Final (A Slight Return)” makes for an eerie sequel as the familiar returns feeling not quite so familiar. Harsher, darker, the sound begins to warp at times feeling sharp like a razor’s edge. Dissonance, noise, screeching shrills, all lay waiting in “The Belly Of The Beast”. The discordant textures take prominence, while dynamic percussion and bass add depth in the instrumental layers beneath. The final offering is the epic “Helios Creeds Magick Helmet”, the track emerges with a touch of the theatrical through enticing rhythms and dramatic gong hits. The music gradually builds with subtle hints of dissonance intermittently revealed, and soon wailing leads return. “Helios Creeds Magick Helmet” traverses through different realms each with their own atmospheres, styles and moods; it ebbs and flows.
About MEGATON LEVIATHAN:
Creating a sound that would stump critics and come to be described as Doomgaze. In the late 2000s, Reuscher, in a gritty Gateway basement of Portland, OR, committed the shoegaze of MY BLOODY VALENTINE, SPACEMEN 3, LOOP, and SLOWDIVE, to the heavy prodigiousness of SUNN O))), GODFLESH/JESU, SWANS, and CORRUPTED in a chemical wedding. Reuscher further mutated the genome of the Mega-Beast by coalescing the industrial experimentations of CHROME and THROBBING GRISTLE into the Kosmische minimalism of TANGERINE DREAM, FAUST, and CLUSTER. All made indelible in the DNA of the narcotic, primal, cinematic vibe of MEGATON LEVIATHAN.
In the 5 years plus since MEGATON LEVIATHAN’s critically acclaimed album Mage, the band has undergone an overhaul. From being signed to Outrun and label Blood Music and having a wrecking crew of musicians, MEGATON LEVIATHAN is now completely independent on Reuschers own Volatile Rock Recordings, with a maximum Doomgaze and minimalist approach embracing change and employing his love for things gritty, CVLT and mind-altering. With a new line up, in a new town (Astoria Or.) consisting of a power trio, pounding out primitive, subversive, and psychedelic Doompop hooks before re-committing to the ecstasy of becoming once again, half machine.
MEGATON LEVIATHAN is:
Reuscher
Credits:
Recorded by Reuscher in his Psychedelic Inner Fortress Studios
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