''A tyrant is unfit to be the ruler of free people'' - A review of Leviathan's Can't Be Seen by Looking: Blurring the Lines, Clouding the Truth

Where have you read the line of my review title before? You don't remember? Time to offer yourself a history lesson to fully embrace Leviathan's Can't Be Seen by Looking: Blurring the Lines, Clouding the Truth. 

The American progressive metal veterans deliver an album on the pulse of time, offering food for thought about the downfall of the United States of America in terms of corruption, freedom, media, politics and society. The inspired lyrics are supported by excerpts from numerous inspiring speeches, some being angry, others thoughtful. The album cover underlines the ambitious concept and references social uprisings in form of demonstrating people, American politics in form of the Capitol, the ideology and values of said country represented by the great Abraham Lincoln and the Statue of Liberty, the fact that the United States have reached their highest peak of division since the Civil War which is symbolized by the questions marks replacing the stars on the Star-Spangled Banner and the influence of media on peoples' perceptions in form of green code sequences. This is the kind of album one should listen to over and over again to grasp the detailed researches behind it and understand its numerous relevant messages. Leviathan speaks for those who have been left behind by the leaders of their country and such an action seems to be more important than it has been in a very long time.

There are many things to say about the lyrical topics but the music Leviathan offers is just as diversified. The vocals were performed by young Brazilian talent Rafael Gazal who has joined the veteran duo from Colorado consisting of guitarist, keyboardist and backing vocalist John Lutzow as well as bassist and backing vocalist Derek Blake. Drums were played by now sixty-year old veteran Mark Zonder of Fates Warning fame. The skillful vocals sound clean, dramatic and melodic. The guitar play has its ups and downs. The acoustic guitar sounds are brilliant, the guitar solos are performed with passion but some of the main riffs in the middle section of the album sound somewhat simplistic for a skilled progressive metal band like this. The keyboard underline the melodic approach to the progressive metal genre without taking too much space. The bass guitar play is powerful and precise without taking too much space. The drum play is also in the background but delivers some complex rhythm patterns and a short solo section if you listen closely. Overall, I get the impression that the musicians weren't as playful as on previous albums to put the lyrical concept in the foreground. This approach is very unusual for a progressive metal band but it works particularly well in this case. Another review has described this album as a progressive metal record with a punk spirit and that's exactly what it is.

Several bands have attempted to deal with the complex topics that are presented on Can't Be Seen by Looking: Blurring the Lines, Clouding the Truth. Most bands like Ministry have failed because they neglected the musical aspects. Other bands like the brilliant Canadian alternative rock band GrimSkunk chose to offer a handful of songs about serious issues and to mix them with a few more light-hearted tunes and different topics. Leviathan follows a strict but efficient guiding line from start to finish that remains both entertaining and inspiring through six songs with a respectable total running time of more than fifty-three minutes. My favorite songs are the gripping opener ''Life Beyond Meaning'' that introduces the different topics efficiently and gives every single member the occasion to shine for brief moments and the playful ''Turning Lost Boys Into Found Men'' that is probably the most progressive track musically and worth to be discovered over and over again.

If you like progressive metal and intellectual lyrics about the unreason in the age of madness, you should give Leviathan's unique Can't Be Seen by Looking: Blurring the Lines, Clouding the Truth a chance. If you like it, you should support the band and recommend this album to others because its messages deserve to be heard. Leviathan might have released the best progressive metal record of the year with this unfairly overlooked masterpiece.

Final rating: 95%