Hydrogen Helium Lithium Leviathan
Running time	4:44
Appears on	Inferno (2026)
Next	Age Of Capricorn
Prev	Prophecy At 1420 MHz

"Hydrogen Helium Lithium Leviathan" is the third track on Boards of Canada's fifth studio album, Inferno.

Comments

• Hydrogen, helium, and lithium are the first three elements of the periodic table.
• Unlike the others, Leviathan refers to a massive sea monster found in Jewish mythology.
• Hydrogen, helium, and lithium were the first elements to be "produced" during, and shortly after, the Big Bang. All further elements are created during the formation, evolution and death of stars, potentially the "Leviathan" the track title is referring to.
• The title of the track can be abbreviated/initialised as "H He Li L", which bears resemblance to the word Hell, the abode of the dead in various cultures and religions. Boards of Canada have used this title trick before - "Satellite Anthem Icarus" can be abbreviated as "SAT AN IC".
• Interestingly the title Hydrogen Helium Lithium Leviathan may be connected to the four books of The Satanic Bible, which contains four books (Satan, Lucifer, Beilal, and Leviathan), and the name of the third track contains four words (Hydrogen, Helium, Lithium, and Leviathan), meanwhile each of the four books is given are element an element to go with them (in order they are fire, air, earth, and water), interestingly Beilal is earth and lithium can mainly be found inside the crust of the Earth, Lucifer is air and helium is famously known to be lighter than air, hydrogen isn’t exactly connected to fire but it is highly combustible and is one of the primary elements of stars (which are often thought of as balls of fire) and one of the primary symbolisms used in connection with the occult is a pentagram, which is a five pointed star.

Samples / Lyrics

• Starting at 2:58, buried chanting can be heard.
• At 2:58, what sounds like shattered glass being moved can be heard along side the bongos.

Trivia

• The chords and sound of the violin like lead synth are reminiscent of "Aquarius" from Boards of Canada’s 1998 album Music Has The Right To Children.
• The bongos starting at 2:57 are the same bongos that can be heard in the track "Alpha And Omega".