Review: “Leviathan Carcass” by Chairmaker

Mixed, mastered, co-produced and partially recorded by Kevin Hare (Ancient of Days, Sunsmasher, Blasphemer) at Deep Storm studios, “Leviathan Carcass” is both a debut album and a labour of love from Chairmaker. The brainchild of former Chronocide multi-instrumentalist Neil Erskine, who was also heavily involved in the booking and organizing of the prestigious Damnation Festival from 2009-2016, the Grindcore project is one that began life in 2023 with a self titled demo. Two years on, fueled by the perils of the capitalist society we inhabit, he chooses to steer away from fictional horrors and focus instead on the ones that are an everyday reality for some.

We’ve all seen 1987’s Full Metal Jacket by Stanley Kubrick at this point, so you should be able to imagine being a US soldier in Vietnam. You’re in a fox hole, boots in the mud, bullets zipping past your ears, mortars and hand grenades exploding as if at random in the background, senses heightened from the constant bombardment. When that settles, just for a moment, there is the acrid smell of napalm in the air. That is very much what listening to “Leviathan Carcass” by Chairmaker is like. A post-traumatic stress disorder inducing collection of tunes to help you breathe more easily in this modern day warfare we call life that become more cathartic with each repeated listen.

The record begins with a forty eight second burst of machine gun fire tears the ear drums of the discerning listener to shreds as “Ratlicker” offers up feral screams in both death growls and shriller counterpart. That’s accompanied by an artillery shelling of percussive battery laying to waste the ear canal while a quirky repeating riff is as addictive as the latest designer drug. Those patterns repeat in “Powdered Nostalgia” as Erskine demonstrates his prowess, his ability to create short bursts of violent turbulence second to none. What’s interesting about it is rather than being something that encourages you to rage against the system like Korrupto or Public Execution instead this is actually far more thought provoking. A battery acid nausea inducing bass solo at the heart of “Making Nails” might make you want to get off this white knuckle roller coaster ride but its conjoined twin and title track “Leviathan Carcass” will make you second guess yourself. A laser guided missile of a track with enough razor sharp riffs to start a barber shop, its a stone cold winner with the energy of a live performance captured.

A hundred and sixty two seconds might be a record for a Grindcore track but “Dead Optimists” is a savage beating down a back alley with a baseball bat that slows in midsection to introduce some Noise Metal riffs and expose a few other influences. That might lure you into a false sense of security when really it shouldn’t, the Death Metal riffs and Grindcore speed of “Pigf**ker” a blood lust fueled rampage through the back woods with a chainsaw. “Micron-Thick Skin” has the same violent tendencies, Erskine’s caustic screams enough to trigger a brain hemorrhage in those weak of mind or faint of heart. Let’s be honest for a moment. Naming no names, we all know of an artist or two capable of producing some seriously impressive work, who later turn out to be the worst kind of people. That makes perfect sense as a venomous tirade in a Grindcore song and Erskine puts the subject to bed with “Good Art by S**t People“, a track that gallops out of hell’s gate like one of Satan’s hell hounds in search of rabbit blood. It also has an earworm main riff which then is evolved in “Hagiographers” to great effect, making the pair sound like conjoined twins.

There is no escaping the truth that “Loud, Confident, and Wrong” sums up a number of politicians in seats of power to perfection as they spread propaganda with ease. They need to be named and shamed and Erskine does so at a hundred miles an hour with this breakneck tune which feels as abrasive as a bed made of sandpaper. “Others’ Interests” does likewise in breathless fashion before the sample “I think we’re all feeling some tension” leads in grand finale “Half a Puppy“. A masterclass in Grindcore that feels like a nail bomb going off at close quarters, the sentiment very much feels like a return to the Cold War… [7.5/10]

Track Listing

1. Ratlicker
2. Powdered Nostalgia
3. Making Nails
4. Leviathan Carcass
5. Dead Optimists
6. Pigf**ker
7. Micron-Thick Skin
8. Good Art by S**t People
9. Hagiographers
10. Loud, Confident, and Wrong
11. Others’ Interests
12. Half a Puppy

“Leviathan Carcass” by Chairmaker is out 14th November 2025 and is available over at bandcamp