Chris Barnes Before the Cough Drops
May 22, 2007
Amazing revelation time at Bang! Bang! — I wanted to post this great 1987 deathly thrash demo by Leviathan, but the sparse packaging offered no details about the band. I did a little digging, and it turns out this is one of Chris Barnes’ bands in New York before forming Cannibal Corpse and heading to Florida. With the sharp, vicious vocal delivery, I never would have guessed. Jeff Juszkiewicz of Malevolent Creation also appears on guitar, according to Metal Archives, but, really, don’t get the wrong idea…
Leviathan are into darkness and violence, but they sound infinitely more like early Kreator or Dark Angel than anything resembling Cannibal Corpse or Malevolent Creation. In fact, they sound more like Municipal Waste! Fast hectic speed reigns throughout four songs, featuring lots of light vocal stabs by Mr. Barnes and amazing drumming by Angelo Lococo. This is great stuff — see for yourself:
LEVIATHAN * “Legions of the Undead” demo 1987 [29MB .rar]
(Oh what? You thought the SF-based psychedelic black metal guy thought up this well-worn band name?)
May 23, 2007 at 2:48 pm
isnt this one of the song from six feet unders box set that barnes put on it to pay tribute to leviathan
May 23, 2007 at 3:45 pm
Mike, you’re right — so the Barnes connection was revelation to me, but 50,000 6FU fans already knew the score. Their 5-CD box set, A Decade in the Grave, includes these songs, as well as a Leviathan rehearsal.
May 23, 2007 at 4:43 pm
Ian is the man! Thanks bro!
May 23, 2007 at 7:55 pm
Hey man - thanks for this!
May 24, 2007 at 11:01 am
Holy shit, this is EXCELLENT! Thanks so much for posting this for those of us who can’t stand Six Feet Under and would never in a million years buy a 5-CD box set full of crap just to get these gems!
May 24, 2007 at 2:47 pm
I have a Leviathan video from when I used to trade videos I forgot about the band until now.
June 1, 2007 at 1:26 am
Thanks so much for posting this. Its a real find for any Cannibal Corpse fan. Though I don’t think much of the music, its still interesting to have in the collection.
Thanks again!