Levendleed - Demo

Not much is known about Levendleed but the one-man project is coming from the north-western part of The Netherlands. The project is producing an unorthodox style of depressive black metal. Released on the 31st of January, the demo has been a first release of Levendleed through Back From The Grave.

You can’t really expect much with a genre like depressive black metal, however there are some examples that will keep you interested in the long songs that are usually used in depressive black metal. The demo of Levendleed it right in the middle. It has long and dragging riffs but that doesn’t guarantee that you will make good black metal.

The first track ‘Laat Mij Maar Achter’ (Leave me behind) has got a lot of repetitive elements in it. The song clocks in around 5 minutes but the song has got pretty much the same riffs and noises throughout the whole 5 minutes. Halfway through the song we are getting a small ‘pause’ but after that the song continues where we left off.

‘De Leegte Overschaduwt Elke Stap’. That is the next song on the demo. Clocking in at 9.21 minutes, the length of the song should be more versatile than the previous song ‘Laat Mij Maar Achter’. This song features more of a drone-type riff style and the unknown entity behind this project use more interesting vocals for ‘De Leegte Overschaduwt Elke Stap’. The ambient add-ons are placed at the right moments during the 9-minute beast. It gives a more grizzly atmosphere rather than a depressive void you can’t escape.

‘Het Leven Ver Gezocht’. The song has got pretty much the same song structure as the previous songs. Depressive black metal type of riffage and halfway a small ‘pause’ with ambient bits and pieces. However on the start and end of the song, the song has got some spoken words in it. They’re in Dutch however I can’t quite make out what they’re saying. It has got some unique type of vocals in it which is pretty cool in my opinion.

‘Klaar’. Klaar means ‘Done’ in Dutch so you know why this is the last track on the demo. Well it is more of an outro rather than a song. It has gotten some industrial elements at the end of the song which remind me a bit of KFR. This song has got more of a melodic aspect to it. And by the way, there is no raspy black metal music found in this song. It was probably made as an outro instead of a black metal song.

The project called ‘Levendleed’ has got a firm base to start as a depressive black metal project but it has got the feeling that ‘Levendleed’ has more in its locker. The possibilities of variety in depressive black metal are pretty much endless. ‘Levendleed’ is ready to jump into the endless void filled with melodic depressiveness. I will try to follow ‘Levendleed’ throughout it’s journey and I hope to see more improvements to the quality of the production of the music. Even though it is a demo, the production could’ve been better.

Review done by:

Bonno Zwaan