LVL (band)
| lvl (formerly Level) | |
|---|---|
| Origin | New York City, New York |
| Genres | Industrial rock, industrial metal, Christian rock, Christian metal |
| Years active | 1996-present |
| Labels | Flaming Fish, FiXT |
| Associated acts | Klayton |
| Members | Dan Levler |
LVL (stylized as "lvl") is both the solo music project and personal moniker for New York City musician Dan Levler. lvl was formerly called Level but changed the name to avoid confusion with a handful of other bands with the same name. lvl's musical output ranges from fast-paced industrial metal to mellow electronica. Levler is the younger brother of musician Klayton.
Dan Levler first appeared in the late 1980s as a member of Immortal, a New York thrash metal band fronted by Klayton. Immortal broke up and Klayton went on to found Circle of Dust, an industrial metal band that gained a strong cult following throughout the 1990s. In 1995 Levler performed as part of Argyle Park, another of Klayton's bands, for their first and only live show. Levler appeared on the last Circle of Dust album, Disengage, in 1998 with two remixes credited to his name.
In 1997 Levler signed to Flaming Fish Music and released his first song on a compilation, followed two years later by the debut full length album Devil's Advocate, which was composed of songs Levler had written from 1992 to 1996. The album has been described as mixing drum'n'bass, trance, and industrial metal. Only 1,000 copies of the album were pressed and it is now out of print. There were plans to send purchasers of Devil's Advocate a limited edition EP consisting of remixes and outtakes, but this fell through and only one remix of the song "She:Backslide", done by Klayton, ever surfaced.
While releasing Devil's Advocate, Levler also took part in the resurrection of Argyle Park, called AP2. Level was the primary songwriter on the reformed band's only album,Suspension of Disbelief, which was released in 2000. Two years later, Level worked on the fourth Criss Angel album, the soundtrack to Mindfreak, remixing material from the preceding Criss Angel Trilogy that had been written by Klayton while also contributing four of his own compositions.
Level's second solo album, Denial, was released by Flaming Fish in 2003 and almost entirely lacked the driving guitars of the debut album, featuring instead lush, moody synths and electronics; "the new album is mellow, although the tempos are up". Buka of Argyle Park contributed lyrics and vocals to the song "What Free Is".Denial was long delayed in being released, with six of the ten songs eventually being put online as mp3s to sate fans before the full album finally went on sale. Denial is also now out of print.
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