April 2, 2003

My love affair with local label tUMULt Records fell on hard times sometime last year. I enjoyed those early albums by 7000 Dying Rats, Harvey Milk, and Noisegate, but somewhere along the way, the hyperbole surrounding the label's releases got me shaking my head. Actually, if I spent as much money as tUMULt owner Andee Conners does releasing these cult obscurities, I might wind up making the same sort of over-the-top claims. But after a while, being told that album after album is "absolutely essential" – a favorite adjective at tUMULt HQ – gets alienating.

None of which has much to do with one-man black metal band Leviathan, though. Based on his prolific recording schedule – which includes 15-plus self-released cassettes and CD-Rs since 1998 – he could care less about record labels, me, or anything else besides making the grimmest, most unholy music possible. Verrater, a deluxe-packaged double-disc, collects highlights from previous releases and plays like a love letter to the '90s glory days of Norwegian black metal. Hyperbole aside, this is a very accomplished batch of songs with some really cool bedroom-studio arrangements and lo-fi recording tricks. tUMULt says it "should be heard by anyone into avant-garde, experimental, psychically and physically powerful rock." I wouldn't go that far, but that doesn't mean it's not worth your time, provided you still have the stomach for this level of anguish in your music these days after reading the paper and watching the news. (Will York)

Numbers
Numbers Death (Tigerbeat6)

With everyone from Erase Errata to the Dismemberment Plan planning remix projects, the remix is all the rock 'n' roll rage of the underground lately. Which wouldn't seem so bizarre if indie audiences weren't so damned determined to limit their displays of enthusiasm to the head-bob and/or -bang. Numbers have always been an exception to that no-dancing rule; anyone who's seen them live knows how audiences twitch and twist to their jarring, ADD-ictive robot beats. Last fall's Paws across America comp confirmed Numbers' dance floor-friendliness and featured remixes by Dwayne Sodahberk and Caro.