Leviticus – mer än ett kapitel i den heliga skrift.
En av Sveriges största hårdrocksgrupper snart tillbaka på scenen igen.
I slutet av 80-talet ansågs Leviticus vara en av landets största hårdrocksgrupper,
detta i konkurrens med Europe vilka då toppade all världens hitlistor. Ändå kanske
föremålet för denna artikel inte är så kända hos den breda publiken. Förklaringen
är säkert att Leviticus verkade inom genren kristen hårdrock. En musikalisk företeelse
som popularitetsmässigt var gigantisk internationellt men kanske inte lika stor på våra breddgrader.
Gruppens popularitet tog fart och under 80-talets andra halva turnerade Leviticus på de stora scenerna
i USA, Australien, England och det övriga Europa. Leviticus turnerade till och med i det gamla Sovjetunionen,
något helt unikt för en grupp som spelade den sortens musik.
Under den här tidsperioden gav Leviticus ut albumen ”The Strongest Power” ”Setting Fire To The Earth”
och ”Knights Of Heaven”. Hårdrockentusiasternas husorgan, tidningen “Kerrang” utnämnde albumet
“The Strongest Power” till “årets album” och på hemmaplan skrev Göteborgs Posten att Leviticus nu
tillhörde topp positionen internationellt när det gällde svenska hårdrockband, detta tillsammans med
Europe.
Mellan åren 1985 och det tidiga 90-talet befann sig Leviticus närmast konstant på turné.
Lennart Wrigholm
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Sweden Rock Magazine #15 2003
This seems to be the century of reunions. One of Sweden’s
first international appreciated christian metalband has now rised again.
Leviticus is now making a new studioalbum but they’re starting their
retreat with a livealbum, recorded in 2003. In this record you will find
songs like, for instance ”Flames of Fire”, ”On the Rock”, ”Born Again”
and the heavy ”Deborah and Barak”. I’m very impressed of the quality,
concerning both musicaly and in sound. It’s a damn good record and
if they continue like this, the studioalbum will be great! In addition to that,
the boys and the phenomenal Peo Pettersson on vocals are really tight
and great. I strongly recommend this CD!
Review by Janne Stark, October 2003
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Strutter Magazine
The legendary Swedish Christian/White-Metalband LEVITICUS released 4
studio-albums in the 1980s before giving up the ghost. However we are now
13 years later and the band is back with a hot new CD release. The band
features main members PEO PETTERSSON on vocals and BJORN STIGSSON
on guitar, and the CD they have released is a live album, recorded at the Bobfest
in Sweden earlier this year. The performance was excellent and showcased
LEVITICUS’ high quality Melodic Hardrock from the 1980s which still sounds
very fresh and catchy. Highlights were the melodic rockers “Flames of fire”,
“Messiah”, “On the rock” and “Born again”, all classic material from a band
that sometimes sounded as good as their American collegeas in White Metal,
such as ANGELICA, STRYPER, BLOODGOOD etc. Concluded, a must for
fans of the band, and anyone who is into classy melodic rock/80s christian/white-metal!
Grade: Points: 8.5 out of 10
http://www.strutter.8m.com
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Fishcomcollective.net
Leviticus is pretty quick to show that while it embraces almost completely a love
of the 80s side of heavy metal, it does not submit to the screamopera vox of much
80s metal (not that that is bad, it just isn’t how Leviticus does things). Taking the bull
by the horns with mid-tempo vocals that have, perhaps, as much strength as melody,
and grooves that are retro but strong and grabbing, not to mention liveliness and …
whoah … guitar solos. Leviticus got 100 percent of its 80s test and even scored bonus
points. Those of us who do remember with some longing the strains of the metal past
will find enjoyment in Leviticus. The lyrics are of a Christian variety, but even non-Christian
old school heavy metal folks will enjoy this. I did, after all.
Review by: Upchuck Undergrind
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Planeta Rock
Leviticus es otra de tantas bandas que luego de un largo silencio vuelven al ruedo
con ganas de seguir rockeando para sus antiguos fans, y con el anhelo de sumar
nuevos seguidores a sus filas. Podemos nombrar cientos de agrupaciones que en
estos años han vuelto a grabar un álbum de estudio, o simplemente registran en CD
o DVD su nueva gira. Y éste es el caso de los suecos Leviticus, quienes recientemente
han editado “Live at the Bobfest 2003”, y el cual resume los mejores temas de su carrera.
Con cuatro discos en su haber, y luego de un fugaz éxito por los Estados Unidos, Rusia y
Japón a principios de los ´90, los encabezados por el cantante Peo Petterson decidieron
disolverse pasando a silencio por más de doce años. Por ello, su nuevo trabajo en vivo no
solo revitaliza a quienes ya los conocían, sino que además quienes tengan acceso a éste
CD seguramente comenzarán a prestarle mayor atención.
El grupo se asemeja muchísimo al Rainbow de los `80, con Joe Lynn Turner en las voces,
etapa “comercial” de los excelentísimos ingleses dirigidos por el eterno Richie Blackmore.
Y en esa línea encontramos a la gran mayoría de las canciones, como por ejemplo
“Flames of Fire”, “Saved”, “Messiah” y “Oh Lord”, todas de connotaciones religiosas,
con letras que hacen del grupo también una banda de rock cristiano. Pero también adoptan
a su estilo, el hard rock de la vieja y extrañada escuela, la de Deep Purple, que en temas
como “Born Again” y I’m Gonna Rock” homenajean a la perfección aquellos años.
En resumen una agrupación que realmente vale la pena conocer y satisfagará al extremo
a fanáticos de Rainbow y Purple, entre los cuales me incluyo y ya les reclamo un nuevo trabajo en estudio.
Por Alexis L. Berman / Planeta Rock Argentina
Grade: 85%
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After thirteen years of silence… Leviticus is finally back together again… praise the lord
and pass the ammunition. Their first comeback gig was recorded ”Live At BobFest 2003”
here in Sweden on the 14th of March by Swedish Radio P4. Which stands for quality I may
add, there’s absolutely no need to worry about this being yet another crappy live recording.
Bjorn Stigsson (guitar) produced, mixed, and mastered it by himself at the BTS Studios.
Something which he has done for Pop artists such as E-Type, A-Teens, Fame
(Eurovision Song Contest contender) etc, lately. Tierd of being ’just a producer’ Stigsson
decided to reunite one of the best hardrock acts ever from Sweden. Sadly underrated
by many and truly loved by those who appreciate music with a uplifting message.
They are back with their ”Knights Of Heaven” line-up from 1989, which of course include Peo Pettersson (vocals), Stigsson (guitars), Niklas Franklin (bass), and drummer Kjell Andersson. Add to this Niklas Edberger (keyboards), Petra Stigsson & Allis Brorsson on backing vocals and you’re in for a rocking good time. The main problem is perhaps the fact that only eleven tracks are included here. Way too many good songs have been left out and you wish ”Live At Bobfest 2003” could have been a 2-CD release instead. Opener ”Flames Of Fire” taken from the 1987 release ”Setting Fire To The Earth”, sets the pace and energy of the album. The whole band is on fire and you can tell that they’re having fun on stage again. They are going through melodic rockers such as ”Messiah”, Born Again”, The Suffering Servent” as swiftly as the heavier stuff, with ”On The Rock” and ”Deborah And Barak” upfront. You can’t help to grin along with the ’frisky’ person in the audicence who keeps shouting for ”Deborah And Barak” throughout the show. Not to mention his disappointment when Peo announces ”The Suffering Servent” instead. The lovely ballads ”Oh Lord” and ”All Is Calm”, especially the latter (taken from their debut album – I Shall Conquer 1983/84) are also nice to hear once again. Leviticus are working on a new studio album for release in 2004. Welcome back lads… you rock… for the rock! (PS. You can order this directly from Leviticus official site, if you’re having problem finding it elsewhere).
Grade: 8 out of 10 Points
Review by: Urban ”Wally” Wallstrom 20 October 2003
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SLA
This group is probably the most successful band, in their genre, from this part of the world.
After thirteen years they’re back in the game again. During the 1980’s, Leviticus toured in
Europe. They went to USA, USSR and Australia and Kerrang (worldwide rockmagazine)
declared their album, ” The Strongest Power”, to one of the best records that year. In an
era when colleagues like Deep Purple are releasing a new record and Led Zeppelin are
making the top-ten in the american charts with songs from the historybook. They’ve got
the talent, the ability to write excellent songs and they’ve got the foundation for the traditional
heavy-metal music. Leviticus are still a power the count on.
Review by: Lennart Wrigholm
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Metalforjesus.org
After 13 years of silence Leviticus is back! They played at Europes biggest Christian Metal
Festival Bobfest this year and got a fantastic response! The tunes sounded better than ever
and they ripped through the classics Deborah & Barak, Saved, Messiah, All is Calm,
Flames of Fire, Majestic In Power, The Suffering Servant, Oh Lord,On The Rock, Born Again
and I’m Gonna Rock. Eventhough they hadn’t played together for many years they are still
surprisingly tight. Peo Pettersson vocals on this cd are amazing, he can still hit the high notes
like he used to. Björn Stigsson shreds solo after solo and shows what a great guitarplayer he is.
Kjell Andersson’s drumming has never been so loud and powerful as it is on this cd. The whole
band sounds great and it’s like they never had a break. The soundquality of the cd is outstanding,
it’s almost like a studioalbum. The setting now is Peo Pettersson on vocals, Björn Stigsson on
guitars, Kjell Andersson on drums, Niklas Edberger on keyboards and Niklas Franklin on bass.
On this cd they also got help with the backing vocals by Petra Stigsson and Allis Brorsson.
Old fans will be delighted to once again hear Leviticus’ classic tunes. If you ever considered
yourself as a fan to Leviticus this is truly a must have. In fact I think it’s the best album, ever
with Leviticus! For new fans this cd is a great opportunity to check out one of the groundbreaking
bands in christian metal that is still one of the top bands in melodic metal. This release is not only
a great comeback but also one of the best metal releases in 2003. Leviticus are back, heavier than
ever and they are back to stay!
References: A must have if you are into classic 80s melodic metal! Recommended to fans of
Stryper, Bloodgood, Narnia etc. Any fan of melodic metal will enjoy this cd.
Johannes Jonsson metalforjesus.org
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Let me start with the only minor aspect of this album. There’s no background information
about this band’s past. So, let me give you that. As Leviticus broke up in 1990, it’s likely many
never heard of this band. Leviticus is a Swedish metal/hard rock band that got started in 1981,
with guitarist Björn Stigsson and drummer Kjell Andersson. The first album was released in 1984
(Jag Skall Segra, aka I Shall Conquer). Three more records were released, and a best-of in 1995.
Björn Stigsson did one solo album and continued with XT, a band that released three albums in the
early nineties. Now Leviticus is reformed and getting ready for a new studio album. This live disc is
a real interesting piece of history reviving. The sound quality is really good. Songs included are
Messiah, The Suffering Servant, Deborah And Barak and several others. Leviticus had various singers,
but on this disc you can hear Peo Pettersson doing a great job. This is Leviticus at its best!
artfortheears.freeservers.com