FEATURED LABEL

Leviathan Records was originally formed in the summer of 1985 by guitarist David T. Chastain and Steve McClure. David had just released a CD ‘Mystery Of Illusion’ in the spring of that year on Shrapnel/Roadrunner and Apollon Records and was looking for an outlet to release an album by his other group CJSS. With the overseas success of ‘Mystery Of Illusion’ many European companies wanted to sign Chastain for his second release, but he was unable to give any of them the album since the band was signed for another record to the aforementioned labels. David said, "Hey, I have another group that needs a deal". He then began the first of his many foreign licensing deals that has made Leviathan one of the foremost companies in its field. Instead of shopping the band to other companies in the USA, David and Steve decided to give it a go with a new label. Through connections gained from the release of ‘Mystery Of Illusion’, Leviathan was able to acquire distribution via Important Record Distributors, a company now known as Relativity.

Leviathan was originally put together just as an outlet for David Chastain to release all of his different projects. In 1986 they released two albums from David's group CJSS - ‘World Gone Mad’ and ‘Praise The Loud’. CJSS played to numerous sold out shows at Bogart's in Cincinnati and still holds the attendance record at the club. The band toured the mid-west and the northeast USA in the mid to late 80's.

In 1987 Leviathan released Chastain’s 3rd album ‘7^th Of Never’ and his first instrumental CD 'Instrumental Variations’. Both were licensed to many different labels throughout the world including Mercury Records in Japan.

In 1988 Leviathan issued the first of its many non-David T. releases in Candlemass’s ‘Epicus, Doomicus, Metallicus’ and Manilla Road’s ‘Out Of The Abyss’. 1988 also saw the release of Chastain’s 4th CD entitled ‘Voice Of The Cult’.

In 1989 Leviathan made a deal with Roadrunner/Roadracer/MCA Records for worldwide distribution of all of its titles in 1989 and 1990. These included: David T. Chastain’s ‘Within The Heat’, Leather’s ‘Shock Waves’ in 1989 and Chastain's 5th CD ‘For Those Who Dare’ in 1990. The title track of the Chastain CD was made into a video.

1991 saw Leviathan release David T. Chastain’s 3rd instrumental CD ‘Elegant Seduction’. Leviathan also released its first regional artist in Michael Harris and his CD ‘Defence Mechanizms’. Other ‘91 releases included Kansas artist Mark Shelton's ‘Courts Of Chaos’, Finland's Lars Eric Mattsson ‘Exciter’ album and a re-release of long time Cincinnati favourites Spike and their first album ‘Price Of Pleasure’.

In 1992 Leviathan first released a live CD – the Chastain/Harris collaboration: ‘Live! Wild And Truly Diminished’ recorded mainly at Bogart's and WVXU's studios in Cincinnati. The same year also saw the release of two albums by Chicago bands Eric Steel and Stygian. The label also released an album by a great guitarist from Pennsylvania – John Hahn’s ‘Out Of The Shadows’. They closed the year with a ‘Best Of’ CD album from David T. Chastain entitled ‘Movements Thru Time’.

In 1993 Leviathan released a CD by local favourites: Simple Aggression called ‘Formulations In Black’. The band received great press worldwide and shot a video that received numerous plays on MTV Europe. This year also marked the release of guitar great Joe Stump’s ‘Guitar Dominance’ album on CD. With the US market becoming increasingly anti-heavy metal/hard rock Leviathan was able to secure deals for local Cincinnati and regional artists such as Mara, Arch Rival, The Mimi’s, Neil Zaza, Edwin Dare and others.

In 1994 Leviathan released David's 4th instrumental, the heavy jazz-fusion CD ‘Next Planet Please’. Next came The Netherlands band Imperium and their ‘Too Short A Season’ album. Closing out the year was Joe Stump’s second release ‘Night Of The Living Shred’. David moved to Atlanta in ’94 and so did Leviathan's headquarters.

In 1995 Leviathan issued an album by local artists Full Circle - the blazing ‘Negative’ album. Chastain, the band, came out with its first release since 1990 with the much heralded ‘Sick Society’ CD.

1996's releases included Simple Aggression's ‘Gravity’, Joe Stump’s ‘Supersonic Shred Machine’, Michael Harris’s ‘Ego Decimation Profile’ and Leviathan's first foray into the world of contemporary jazz, with saxophone/keyboardist Randy Villars and his ‘Levels’ CD.

1997 saw Leviathan domestically release the 7th Chastain album ‘In Dementia’ and it was received very positively on a worldwide scale.

1998 brought David T. Chastain's all-acoustic instrumental album ‘Acoustic Visions’. This release showcased David's amazing versatility with his chosen instrument, and it was quickly followed by Joe Stump’s 4th instrumental album - the very intense ‘Rapid Fire Rondo’. This CD is a must for all lovers of shred guitar! The fall of ‘98 saw the release of Kenziner ‘s ‘Timescape’ album, featuring the very talented Finish master guitarist Jarno Keskinen. An amazing recording!

1999 started with a re-issue for two classic CJSS recordings ‘World Gone Mad’ and ‘Praise the Loud’ on one CD called ‘2*4*1’, and Zanister, a group featuring guitarists David T. Chastain and Michael Harris, which was hailed by some critics "As the best heavy metal album ever released" on their debut recording ‘Symphonica Millennia’.

Leviathan kicked off the new millennium with the debut release from Southern Gentlemen and their heavy blues rock release ‘Exotic Dancer Blues’. This CD received high praise from rock critics around the world. David T. makes his vocal debut on this album and burns up the guitar in another style.

Leviathan produced and licensed the new Kenziner recording ‘Prophecies’ to numerous labels around the world including Metal Blade in the US.

The label has secured releases for its bands on many different labels throughout the world including: Mercury, Polydor, BMG, Roadrunner, IRS, Music For Nations, EMI, Massacre, Apollon, Alfa, Teichiku, SKC and several others, and it hopes to grow with the times and diversify into new areas of music the owners truly believe in.

In what amounts to a completely new face for the master guitarist on one full length CD, here is an absolute exquisite and beautiful set of solo acoustic guitar tracks which are all very melodic, intricate, and emotional. Several pieces have a classical feel to them, and overall a tremendously wide range of moods. It is mostly rhythmic and up-tempo however, with a solid feel throughout each track. For the guitar aficionados amongst you, there is some fantastic playing to savour, and the stand of composing is pretty high too. A great sense of dynamics is exhibited through the entire set, giving a very full sound to most of the pieces. For acoustic music fans, this is both a treat and a revelation, although for a guitarist with the talents of this man, it’s hardly a surprise. An excellent album!

707821
Weight: 150.00 g

One of his finest albums, as the 11 instrumental metal-based compositions will testify. Here, the Chastain power trio give it everything, and the production on the CD shows why Chastain is one of the world's leading rock guitarists, as layer after layer in skilfully added, and solo after solo is performed with an ease and dexterity that few can match. The tracks are dynamic and varied within a predominantly rock structure, taking all sorts of metallic and unexpected twists and turns, whilst remaining flowing and cohesive all the way through. The bass and drums are played and mixed superbly, while the guitars glow red hot throughout what is fundamentally an exhibition of really wide-ranging, essentially rock-metal instrumental compositions that are always melodic and mostly power-based. Just a superb album overall!

518587
Weight: 150.00 g

This is a cohesive, multi-layered instrumental metal album that is dominated by the flying guitar work of the main man himself. From classical jazz-fusion inspired tracks, through to out and out heavy metal, this CD showcases Chastain’s guitar prowess to the max, with dazzling displays of his virtuosity with his axe and probably offers you everything you might need from a rock based instrumental guitar album.

313774
Weight: 150.00 g

An instrumental rock album that shows off the real compositional skills of the this USA based guitarist - A set that emphasizes the real melodic qualities of his music, with material that is decidedly rock-based, only here you’ll hear some of Chastain’s most lyrical guitar work to date. The 10 tracks mix commerciality with metal on a quite supreme scale, and they lose none of the solid structure of his best electric work, but possess a flow and deftness of touch that makes this album so accessible. With some sterling ensemble work all round, this is one excellent album that is probably the best place to start for anyone who’s not familiar with Chastain’s instrumental electric work, but wants something that’s both easy to enjoy and long-lasting.

276976
Weight: 150.00 g

All-instrumental electric album from one of the legendary figures in this field, and the pleasure to report here is that there is something fresh and exciting going on, for our guitar hero has pulled off an album that mixes blues and rock together in one instrumental setting and makes it work a treat. The effect is one of electric blues kept in check with the feel-good factor firmly in the higher register on the enjoyment scale, and easily his finest instrumental album for years. With excellent musicianship from guitarist, drummer and bassist, this CD comes highly recommended.

630927
Weight: 150.00 g

Two top USA rock guitarists with bassist and drummer in tow recorded during a series of live concerts in the late summer of 1991, with tracks selected from both guitarists' repertoire. This album is one big joyous excuse for the pair to blow the gaskets off their electric guitars in ways that will positively scare the crap out of you. This is wild, undiluted instrumental metal at its absolute finest - A guitar fest of staggering proportions is unleashed here, backed and driven by some really wicked rhythm playing from bass and drums, but not at the expense of the form of the compositions, all of which have more than their fair share of melody lines and hooks included. This is a breathtaking display of guitar wizardry on one incendiary CD.

478090
Weight: 150.00 g

NOW HOLD ON... before you start thinking that this is going to be some sort of unlistenable mayhem, let me tell you to think again, and read on… This is a jamming side project trio for guitarist David T Chastain in electric mode, and it really cooks!! The trio of electric guitar, electric bass and drums play a storm and you just won’t believe that this set of fiery instrumental compositions were improvised because they are played with energy, feeling, flow, depth and are really classic rock/metal instrumentals that leave everything smoking in their wake. As an example of rock in its own right, it is just sensational, with pieces that are packed full of melody with brilliant electric guitar playing that is as tight as it comes. As an example of rock jamming, this is both jaw dropping and sensational, and despite the higher priced Jap import tag, it’s still worth every penny and more. If this could get a release outside of Japan, it would be less expensive and therefore sell by the truckload!

707819
Weight: 150.00 g

This is one of the most inventive albums on Leviathan, with some wicked compositions that twist and turn along the way. Each track is full of lead and rhythm guitar layers that burn and scorch, as the rhythm section keeps it tight and powerful. The tunes are dynamic, fresh and wide-ranging, generally heavy but not as over-the-top as some albums in this genre, making for maximum enjoyment effect.

196578
Weight: 150.00 g

Ah yes, the acoustic intro is a wonderful thing! How many of your favourite guitar albums have started with an acoustic intro that lays down a deceptive, gentle opening sequence, and then proceeds to thunder into molten guitar riffing? Well, this one doesn't – not that way anyway! It has a gentle acoustic guitar intro, and then it goes into a sweeping synth passage that is extremely majestic. After that, it goes into metal guitar-riffing overdrive, but here you notice that something is very different - it's not all-out speed or flashy guitar technique - No, this combination of twisting, turning guitar leads, allied to mountainous, dynamic drum work and a thunderous bass undercurrent has the constant presence of a synth-flow in the background, distant at first, but becoming more prominent as the track continues on its course. This opening track reveals a real composer / player at work, as does track 2, where the solos scorch and burn over the solid backing, like some mad ploughman on an out-of-control tractor, and it is just breathtaking. The main reasons why these 2 tracks, plus the 10 that follow, put this fifty-one minute CD at the forefront of the instrumental rock guitar field, are a combination of expressive playing, knowing when to hold back as much as when to detonate, using variation in textures and consistency of melodies and a rock-solid rhythm base that anchors as well as drives the sound forward. The solos are sharp, concise and well-structured, and it’s all allied to a rich, full-sounding production that gives the music that deep feeling that draws you back to experience it’s joys many times over.

919864
Weight: 150.00 g

Instrumental metal guitar music with a huge sound in parts, thanks to use of keyboards, but overall it’s a powerful, muscular display of melodic guitar heroics played with real purpose and variation. Again, bass and drums storm along like a force 10 gale while the guitars just soar out of sight!

459274
Weight: 150.00 g

Do you want instrumental heavy rock from a band using guitars, synthesizers, bass and drums? -  Rock music that simply personifies everything that makes the best instrumental metal music around, with tons of imaginative ideas going into the arrangements and writing? Do you like a vast sound, with more twists and turns than you could ever imagine, combined with a flow of composition that is just out of this world, propelled by an incredible rhythm section, and not forgetting some of the hottest electric guitar work on the planet? How about an album that’s firing on all cylinders and going off at all sort of tangents as it goes? Well, look no further, for this is the album you are looking for - One quality rock album produced to sound as sharp as a needle and one from which you will derive many years of listening pleasure. Apart from all that, this CD confirms Michael Harris as one of the leading rock guitarists around today – a name to be spoken about in the same hallowed tones as Vai, Satriani, Macalpine and the likes.

609416
Weight: 150.00 g

Oh boy – you have just GOT to hear this – it’s fantastic!!!! Right from the opening track (and forgive me for this Dave), you’re immediately plunged into the glories that were ‘Bridge Of Sighs’/’For Earth Below’ – era Robin Trower, only better! With superb and similar sounding vocals, steaming upfront bluesy guitar, excellent, crunchy, crisp sounding drum/cymbal work and a set of smokin’ blues guitar solos, this album will just blow you away, believe me! The opener lasts just under six minutes and the power you have to exert over yourself to avoid forgetting track 2 in favour of an immediate re-run of the opener, would test any grown man to his limits! But you continue, and, luckily, so does the quality of the music, as track 2 surges ahead on a lurching guitar riff, a solid rhythm section and those suitably sounding bluesy vocals, highlighted by another set of brief guitar solos. From there on in, the album never looks back as a storming selection of electric blues tracks puts a smile on your face for sixty-five minute. Unusually, these are all-original compositions, all of which sounds fresh and crisp, as though electric blues and all the passions associated with it, had only just been discovered for the first time. This trio play it straight down the line – no keyboards, no sax, or anything equally intrusive – just vari-paced songs that are delivered with a consistent quality and power-packed production. The rhythms are rock-solid and the incredible riffs and solos electrifying – These are axe tracks that you’ll play and play and play for years to come, making it possibly THE finest electric blues album of the last ten years, with comparisons to, and possibly even eclipsing, the best that the likes of Stevie Ray Vaughan and Kenny Wayne Shepherd have to offer, and no mistake – This is AMAZING!

246862
Weight: 150.00 g

What can you say – the leading figure in instrumental guitar-driven metal that does everything a completely over-the-top manner. Here we have a rhythm section pounding away, with guitars going completely crazy screaming mad on top, with more metal tearing axe work per second than most in this field. It’s wild - It’s pure air guitar - It’s heavy and it’s loud – what more could any rock guitar fan ask for!!!

857753
Weight: 150.00 g

Is this guy wild or what? Using the whole guitar, this is rifferama-a-go-go, with fingers positively flying up and down the fret board like lightning, delivering huge wedges of thunderous metal chords and steaming solos in the process. It’s trio tracks to blow you away as the guitar, bass and drums hit like a hammer!

237405
Weight: 150.00 g

A guitarist who's just totally on fire, with all the controls set on stun and with compositions to match! From the opening barrage of multi-layered metal riffing, you know that this is going to be a roller-coaster ride of mighty proportions, as the guitars riff, soar and surge their way over a stomping rhythm section. The pace actually accelerates on the 2^nd track, so fast if fact, you can almost hear the fret board melt. There’s the obligatory (for an album like this) two minute acoustic section, leading into a fiery passage of riffing and soloing, and then it’s into the album's highlight track ‘The Jimi Stomp’ where at least Stump tries to be dynamic as well as powerful, and he succeeds totally, with a composition of Hendrix-styled power riffing. Overall, a great album if you want another metal riffing, hot soloing, over-the-top type of guitar album.

323099
Weight: 150.00 g

As this trio roar into action with the guitars blazing into the night, it's adrenaline-inducing, air-guitar heaven time folks. Just as you might expect from this guitarist, it’s a metal instrumental album that is just so outrageous, it breaks every code in the metal handbook and comes out with all guns blazing! This is an album where the guitar work is so fast, hot and flashy, that your speakers will be reduced to piles of smouldering rubble by the time the CD is finished. They don't make them like this anymore (well, they do actually but none as blatant than this). Superb!

965711
Weight: 150.00 g