Leviathan is an American black metal solo project that started in 1998 by Jef Whitehead under the pseudonym Wrest. On all Leviathan albums, Wrest records all instruments and performs vocals on his own.
Wrest is a tattoo artist and is also known for his other project Lurker of Chalice, which released two demos and one full-length album in 2005 released before it dissolved.
Despite having early problems with the release of the fourth album Massive Conspiracy Against All Life, it was released March 24, 2008 in Europe and on March 25, 2008 in North America. Whitehead briefly ended Leviathan after its release, allegedly due to a legal struggle between himself and Moribund Records. Due to these issues, Wrest felt as though the project had no future and described feeling "raped by a label." During this time period, Wrest was known to refuse all interview requests.[2]
A second Lurker of Chalice album, Perverse Calculus, was planned for release on Blake Judd's Battle Kommand label, but Moribund's contract with Whitehead stated that he could not release music on other labels. As a result, Massive Conspiracy Against All Life had to be released through Moribund, and Wrest was legally prohibited from releasing new Leviathan material for six months.[3]
On January 9, 2011, Whitehead was arrested and charged with one count of aggravated domestic battery and one count of criminal sexual assault after allegedly choking his girlfriend unconscious and penetrating her with a tattoo machine.[4] Whitehead initially faced a 34-count indictment which carried a 60-year sentence, but the state dropped 28 of the counts before the trial.[5] In 2012, he was ultimately found not guilty on all except one count of aggravated domestic battery, which court documents indicated referred to the strangulation. Whitehead was sentenced to two years of probation.[6]
Whitehead's legal issues influenced his fifth album True Traitor, True Whore, which was released in 2011. However, four years later, Whitehead said that "True Traitor sucks. That record is fucking terrible."[5] In 2023, Whitehead claimed that the album "is not about my Jane Doe" but moreso the Whore of Babylon, Lilith and Eve.[3]
Leviathan's sixth album, Scar Sighted, was released on 3rd March 2015 through Profound Lore Records. In 2018, Whitehead revealed that he was working on a seventh Leviathan record titled Die to This, but the recording of the album was postponed as a result of issues surrounding Whitehead's record store.[7]
