Leviathan (punk band)

Leviathan was a hard rock band that formed in New York, New York in 2001. They played with Glenn Danzig, The Exploited, Nuclear Assault, Body Count, Jello Biafra, Clutch, Michale Graves, The Misfits, Hirax, Six Feet Under, and Testament, Agent Orange among others. Before their hiatus, Caustic Truths Magazine named the band alongside Sum 41 and The Hellacopters as one of the fifty "hardest touring bands in the USA" in 2004, and they're listed in the "New Wave Of North American Heavy Metal", published in 2005.[1] By mixing traditional metal distortion and heavy beats with horror punk, funk, and hard rock, the band is very versatile within what are usually very exclusionary micro-genre factions of rock & roll, able to open for many varying headliners.

Leviathan
OriginNew York, New York
GenresHard rock
Horror punk
Post-punk
Years active2002–2005, 2007–2011
Labels7th Level Records
Past membersShane Tierney
Chris Gardiner
Mike Otero
Danny Rivera
Danny Robo
Tommy Stubenvoll
Dan "Chopper" Carillo

Career

Shane Tierney and Chris Gardiner had known each other since kindergarten, and grew up less than a block away from one another, in the county of Westchester, New York. They had a band in high school named "All For Nothing". Leviathan formed after lengthy auditions for a guitarist and drummer beginning in July 2001, and ending in March 2002, since it was especially hard to organize a group after the September 11th attacks in New York. After practicing with Mike Otero and Danny Rivera for three months, the band decided to record a demo at Spike Recording with the help of engineer/producer Matt Chiravalle, who had worked with Kittie and Warren Zevon.[2] This recording was released as their self-titled debut EP in August 2002. The band donated 20% of the money made from this record to benefit the West Memphis Three defence fund, and the liner notes indicate this.

The choice of using "Leviathan" as a band name has caused an amount of debate, since that name had been used before, by many groups over the years, including a band from the UK, a band that opened for Three Dog Night in the 1960s in the US, was the name of Chris Barnes unsigned and unpublished solo demo in 1986-88, and is the name used by various groups today. However, the band members of Leviathan are the US Trademark owners of the name[3]

In late 2003, the band again began the recording process, this time at Smash Studios in New York City, with tensions from touring and monetary pressures running high. This recording was to be the band's only full-length record so far, titled "Internal Inferno", it was released at their performance at the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas in March 2004.

The band lineup seen most often in their shows consisted of Shane Tierney (vocalist), Mike Otero (guitar), along with Chris Gardiner (bass), and Danny Rivera (drums). The band's frequent infighting lead to Danny being fired, replaced, and then rejoining the group on two occasions.

One of the band's main marketing campaigns was done through old school concert posters, and were a very big part of their notoriety. These posters, illustrated by JayJay Jackson (Marvel Comics, Valiant Comics, Broadway Comics), still can be seen on online auction sites like eBay, due to their limited number and collectability.

The band's label was the independent Judas Cradle Productions, founded by Shane Tierney, and later renamed to Seventh Level Records, which has gone on to publish over 22 independent releases since 2005.

Since their breakup, Shane Tierney has gone on to sing for Primer Black and the other members formed a new band named Guileface, each releasing one recording before Shane and Chris reunited in 2007, at first under the name "Tentacle", and then appearing opening for the Misfits, Agent Orange, and other shows as "Leviathan" once again. It was during this time that Leviathan was listed in the book, "The New Wave of North American Heavy Metal" by Gary Sharpe-Young, published in 2005 by Zonda Books. (ISBN 0-9582684-0-1)

According to their various social networking pages, Leviathan have attempted to get back together with new lineups at various times in 2007, 2009 and most recently in 2011, featuring original members Shane Tierney and Chris Gardiner, with Tommy Stubenvoll on guitar and a number of various drummers. The band last recorded an EP of five new songs, titled "Nasty" in 2011, which has been for sale at their shows, but not online. In February 2013, the band posted on their Facebook page that while they will always love the songs they wrote, the shows they played and the friends and musicians they shared great times with, they would not be returning to play as Leviathan in the future, and thanked all their friends and fans over the years for their support. Bassist Chris Gardiner has been working on a solo project rooted in MIDI and analog synth based music called GhostLode,[4] while vocalist Shane Tierney has gone on to work for The Harry Fox Agency, EMI Music, DreamWorks Animation, Sony Music, and most recently Viacom.[5]

Discography
  • Leviathan (2002)
  • Internal Inferno (2004)
  • Nasty (2011)

References
  1. "New Wave Of North American Heavy Metal" by Gary Sharpe-Young, published in 2005 by Zonda Books - ISBN 0-9582684-0-1
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-12-12. Retrieved 2010-06-05.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. US Patent & Trademark Office Registration Number 2823264, Serial number 78199302
  4. http://www.facebook.com/leviathanmusic
  5. http://www.linkedin.com/in/shanetierney/
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