Leitmotif was originally self-funded and released by Dredg on May 30, 1999. The album was released by Universal, with different artwork, on September 11, 2001.
Leitmotif is a concept album, and the songs are related to (or possibly inspired by) a small story booklet included with the album. It should be noted that the lyrics to the songs are not identical to the words in the booklet, although some passages are quoted word for word. The story of Leitmotif is about a man with a "spiritual disease" who must seek out different cultures of the world to find a cure for his affliction.
The inside of the newer case is the same uniform brown color with white font as the outside, with only the phrase "We live like penguins in the desert. Why can't we live like tribes?" written on the left side.
The lyrics for this album have never been published; the lyrics to parts of several verses (and most of one whole song) are unknown outside the band.