Dawohl – Leviathan (Review)

As soon as new Dawohl material was announced, I must say I was kinda torn after I looked up what music they were playing. On the one hand I wasnt really looking forward to it because I found their 2014 released EP called Potestas​.​Ratio​.​Iustitia to be not really my cup of tea. Though it basically has everything I like about my Death Metal, brutality, speed, pretty high technicality, I still found it a little fad or stale. Sometimes it just doesn’t click I guess.. On the other hand I definitely recognized the talent and potential so that made me hope. As an extra, I knew it will feature Eloi Nicod from The Scalar Process, a pretty damn cool Technical / Progressive Death Metal band I have been supporting since the very first demo songs they released in 2017 (I think) which is a huge plus in my books! The Scalar Process released Coagulative Matter in 2021 via Transcending Obscurity Records by the way, go listen to that if you like technical and progressive stuff, similar to Fallujah, The Zenith Passage or Inanimate Existence, its amazing!

Now, back to Dawohl and Leviathan. First I noticed the updated logo which is really cool. Absolutely a standout logo with unique elements, perfectly fitting to the new artwork! That’s exactly the way I, as a Metal designer, like it. It pretty much encompasses everything that the band embodies: a little obscure, brutal-ish Death Metal that has a strong blackened feel to it. Being released on Dolorem Records (Slave One, Nephren-Ka, Storm Upon the Masses, Towering) is also a plus. A cool French label I like to support. The music… That’s why we are actually here, right?

The music is, especially compared to the previous EP, really dense and tight sounding! At times it’s kind of a “wall of sound”-like sounding but not in a negative way, it just sometimes feels as if they are about to roll everything down. So yeah, melted faces are granted with this one! Stupidly fast songs and technical riffs are pretty much the base of Leviathan, that’s a clear thing, but without the drums it all would be worth nothing. Those insane drums, wow! Think of Origin, Aeon, Belphegor, that’s the league we are talking about here. And that’s definitely no joke! Blastbeats for ages. Some songs though, like “Telos – Immanent Orthogenesis” are more riff-driven and groovy, those songs give you a minute or 2 to relax, before they beat your ass up again!

The overall production is genre – fitting pretty clean, without being overpolished. If i had to complain about anything, it would be, as always for me: there is not enough bass. Period! That, and the vocals maybe. Nothing bad about them, but I for one would prefer them a little bit more prominent in the mix (same goes for bass) and maybe a little cleaner. But that’s clearly my taste and preference! The howls and growls are on point though. So yeah, to wrap this up, I’d say: if you like relentless Death Metal played by a bunch of talented and skilled musicians, go and buy Leviathan, it is worth every penny. But beware, this record was created to beat you up, let you catch your breath and then beat you up again! Enjoy!