Lucifer - V (2024)

The first few singles I had heard of Lucifer V before its release were alright, but didn't leave me quite so excited as I was for its predecessors. Turns out that was the usual smoke & mirrors of maybe a label or band members choosing material that wasn't quite the best, because nearly every other track on this album is absolutely the nut. It might lack some degree of surprise and progression that I'd felt for prior entries, and a lot of the writing here seems like it's hanging out on the plateau with Lucifer IV, but still snooping about for points of ascent, higher grounds to scale of pools of diabolic lava to dip its toes into, and in the end I've even come around to some of those advance tracks as cogs in a very consistent, grooving occult hard rock machine.

The moody "Slow Dance in a Crypt" and "At the Mortuary" were the two I had encountered, and the former has its place as something bluesier, but a little too predictable in its progressions. Still, if you're at the prom, with someone missing most of their flesh, I think this is the exact sort of song you'd hear playing in the end credits of that particular Carrie sequel, and it does have a nice twist in the end with the pianos and elevating vocal line. But when you've got so many other scorchers here like the Priest-y "Fallen Angel", or "Riding Reaper" which I could hear ending up on an old 70s Scorpions album, everything really balances out. Lucifer revels in taking the familiar and then giving it a little spin here, a chord change there that makes it freshly memorable and unique to their own legacy. A few of my favorites here are tucked away near the end like the rocking "Strange Sister", or another bluesy piece, the creeping "Nothing Left to Lose but My Life", but by this point I've listened through the whole album and don't find any compulsion to skip past anything.

Production is steller, the band pulls off one of those cleaner 70s-style atmospheres and yet it can go toe to toe with modern rock, and helps translate the darker vibes to the guitars. It's just a perfect tone for everything...organs, acoustics, drums, and especially Johanna's voice, which is still one of the best out there, she might not have the craziest range, but there's a wicked smoothness to her pitch that hangs tight even when she becomes a little more desperate and shrill, and again it adds to the sense that this is an unearthed relic. But that's not to take away from the other players here, like Nicke who's fills and thundering totally moor "Maculate Heart" so that it kicks even further ass, and the sweet guitars of Martin and Linus which knock out the harder punching chords and burn bluesy through the airbrushed muscle car nightscape this album once again created for the Swedes. Another excellent Lucifer album, I'd probably place it on par with III, I had a slightly stronger connection to IV; though at this rate I hope they can keep this up to X.

Verdict: Epic Win [9/10]

https://www.facebook.com/luciferofficial

Lucifer IV (2021)

I would have been content if Lucifer could keep putting out equivalents to Lucifer II and III for the rest of my years, but they had to go and do one better, with an album that continues their descent into a slightly darker territory, but still fully within the envelope of sound they had been developing over their first three. 70s cult hard rock and blues swathed in a blanket of doom and modern occult rock, from a band of musicians that simply do not make any wrong choices when they're picking which riff to sear out into the listeners' consciences, or up against Johanna's addictive vocal style. The reliance on simple but often subtly menacing title and lyrics also helps round out the aesthetic, and sure, the band's name might preclude them from the international stardom I think they deserve, but only because so much of humanity are a bunch of fucking squares.

The material here isn't outside the wheelhouse of the previous album, but notice right away that the tones are a bit heavier, some of her vocal effects a little more raw, and they waste no time introducing this to you with "Archangel of Death" or "Wild Hearses", both beautiful and ponderous pieces that slosh around in the bluesy murk until its time to enchant you with a chorus. And then they have to go and unleash my single favorite riff of 2021 with "Crucifix (I Burn for You)"...imagine Slayer wrote that one on an album just after Seasons in the Abyss? This track and "Bring Me His Head" are the 'fun' and arguably most radio rock ready tracks on the album, but by no means is this the end of its depth of riches. "Mausoleum" frights and delights with its funereal organ intro and spacious, almost Moody Blues atmosphere, while "Cold as a Tombstone" creeps along like a proto-metal spider across the covers you hide under at night, and "Phobos" makes for a surging, epic, climax to the whole affair. This definitely feels like Lucifer III with an added layer of grime and muscle to it, the poppy 70s inflections still intact, and still plenty of adventure as they field a number of guitar and bass lines that feel fresh for their catalogue.

It's simply unbelievable how good this is, and I remember getting the album right in the depths of my beloved Halloween season and instantly confused how they could have gotten better yet again! It just seems like such a simple curve that they'd lock it all in and produce their masterpiece within an album or two, and yet with each new record you get a little more weight and depth, songs that resonate even longer than the previous, and yet you can still trace even the extremes of Lucifer IV straight back to the toe-dipping on the first album. To me, that is the mark of a fantastic hard rock or heavy metal band, and Lucifer are easily one of the best to arrive in this past decade. Catchy and yet never cheap or cheesy, thoughtful even when they're clubbing you over the head with one of their harder rocking rhythms, and sometimes as beautiful as the light of the morning star. A delicate terror. May they reign under the tree of forbidden fruit forever.

Verdict: Epic Win [9.5/10]

https://www.facebook.com/luciferofficial

Kadavar & Lucifer - Split EP (2021)

This split combining the talents of two of our better 70s-flavored retro hard rocking doom bands was sure to be a treat, with the caveat that they weren't performing material of their own, or even covering each others' songs, but instead diving back into the 60s and 70s to highlight some of their influences. So this one isn't quite like the later collaboration between Kadaver and Elder, where they literally make a record together, but more of an aesthetic coupling, and it actually works quite well. As a fan of both these bands, I thought they did a good job at taking the tunes and molding them into their own sounds, and would not be opposed to hearing them both dive deeper into those record bins of olde and infusing a lot more lost classics with their contemporary energy.

Okay, I don't know that "The Green Manalishi (With the Two Prong Crown)" qualifies as a 'lost' classic, but Germans Kadavar give it a slightly doomier spin to distance their version from other popular covers, the obvious being Judas Priest. So this one probably sounds a more earthy and '1969' in tone, with these rich, raw guitars that vibrate and resonate in a wonderful tone, and it's also got a real looseness to it, with lots of space in there to just vibe on you. It's pretty cool and sounds like it could be pulled off live in this same configuration at a 1:1 ratio. For Lucifer's contribution, they revisit "Pull Away/So Many Times" off of unsung New York heroes Dust's sophomore album Hard Attack. This is really brought into the fold of their own sound, and with a tweak or two would have fit snugly in any any of their four Roman numerated albums. Joanna sounds enchanting as always, but I liked too that they had her exchange with a male vocals, and both the acoustics and the rocking electric parts here sound really great. 

The one downside is that this is here and gone in 10 minutes, while the covers are so tasteful and cool that I wish I could hear about an hour's worth of them from each band, not only to hear interpretations of songs I might already know diving through my own hard rock, prog and metal memories of that period, but possibly even to discover some new stuff I never explored. It probably isn't too costly to splurge for the 7" of this, and that seems the most fitting way to experience, but you can also check it out digitally, so do so, and then if you haven't already, check out all of Lucifer's albums, which are fucking ace (in ascending order of quality), and Kadavar records like Berlin, Rough Times, and especially for the Dead Travel Fast, which are also damn worthy. I think such influences really rub off on their own sounds and it's so great to hear this sort of heavy rock alive in the 2020s.

Verdict: Win [7/10]

https://www.kadavar.com/

https://www.facebook.com/luciferofficial

Lucifer III (2020)

I like to imagine that the ascending Roman numerals Lucifer sticks on their successive albums are a 'leveling up' system, because within just the first few tracks, Lucifer III has already dominated the rock-solid earlier entries in their catalogue. A beefier tone, and a tendency towards some doomier riffs really helps round out their sound, making them feel, ironically, more true to their Rise Above Records roots than ever. The performances also seem to be a bit sharper, I mean we expect good things from all of these guys and gal, but it's down to the details here, such as leads, percussion choices and so forth that are just a lot catchier and better considered. That's not to knock the first two Lucifer albums, both of quality, but III is just jamming with memorable hooks, and it's not one I ever really want to skip through, even if I do have favorites.

"Ghosts" and the eternally groovy "Midnight Phantom" are just an awesome opening combo, the latter one of my choice cuts in their discography, but both have these doom breakdowns, the first some deep, evil riffs and a lead that cultivates a bit of Middle Easter mystique, and the latter just smoking with the clap percussion, the little howl that disappears into its nightscape, a smoking chorus and killer bridge groove which preludes a great little lead. And then, the hits keep coming as they stretch the net and welcome a lot of warmer 70s tones in "Leather Demon", "Pacific Blues" and "Flanked by Snakes". Or how about that "Coffin Fever", to which I could almost hear Lee Dorian laying vocals over...no wonder he originally signed this band! There is really nothing even bordering on a weak track here...it's a burning, soulful, bluesy and when it needs to be, heavy record in which every measure seems to have been well plotted. Lucifer is deceptively simple, but not as much as they could be, and so a lot of the little one-off bluesy licks, effects, pianos, or whatever you'll hear accompanying the central riffs are beautiful.

Johanna continues to dazzle, and I am continuously impressed by how much she pulls off with a range some might consider rather limited in scope. She's humble and emotive, like a lot of the 70s folk or female hard rock singers, and it's just a hypnotic contrast when paired up against the heavier, drubbing guitars or the wailing, bluesy solos. I love the clean tone they get, it's not terribly fuzzy, but super smooth and still feels just as 'stoner' as the messier psyche metal bands. The bass sounds perfect, locking in a fill or groove where it needs to stand out, and I don't think Nick's drumming requires any more praise than it's already gotten, but what is this, the fifth style the guy has excelled at in his long and illustrious career? Well I've gotta thank Nick and Johanna personally one of these days (maybe I just did), because they've put together one of the most bewitching, mellow and sneakily heavy retro hard rock bands I've heard in decades, and Lucifer III has gotten many plays over the last year. Bonus points for something my wife can listen to with me.

Verdict: Epic Win [9/10]

https://www.facebook.com/luciferofficial

Lucifer II (2018)

Lucifer II does mark a partial change of direction from the debut, but it does so without neglecting the bands roots and initial premise to catapult the qualifies of 70s hard rock and proto doom metal into contemporary times. Immediately more accessible, rockin' and shufflin' than the doomier gloom of its older sibling, its a memorable and inspirational introduction to what would become the more stable Lucifer line-up. And that would of course involve the legendary Nicke Andersson of Entombed, The Hellacopters, Imperial State Electric and Death Breath fame, a musician that excels in numerous genres and instruments, the now-husband of Johanna, and an addition whose presence is felt in the excellent craftsmanship of these tunes. Add another one-shot member in Robin Tidebrink, and they're off to the races, because while I was IMPRESSED with the first album, as I am with a lot of quality doom and retro metal, it was Lucifer II that really transformed me into the slobbering fan I am today. This one went into regular rotation when I was doing landscaping in the summer of 2018, and it hasn't left.

Lucifer II is a hit generator. Tracks like "California Son", "Before the Sun" and "Reaper On Your Heels" jab you with all the right grooves, a blend of Sabbath, Heart, maybe even a little Cream or Zeppelin in the riffage, but not limited to that, and Johanna's creamy crooning just dripping all over the smooth punch of the guitars. This is where they really started to load in the small atmospherics like pianos, bells, organs (as in "Reaper...") that only serve to enhance the songs without taking them over, and unlike the debut, there are no points where I felt there was an abrupt transition or a tune that needs further polish. This is all so well written and makes perfect sense, from the opening licks, to the escalating bridges where they'll burst into a more controlled freak-out groove. And those who think the doom is no longer strong with them, guess again, because half the tracks here have some notable, darker passage or underpinning groove that lets you know just what direction they've come from, and it ain't heaven. Nick is a phenomenon here, every tone carefully chosen, every bluesy swagger perfectly inserted, every beat so organic and fresh and interesting that you could almost listen to that alone.

There are no tracks here I dislike, but perhaps one or two that I'll skip from time to time (usually "Dancing with Mr. D" and its slide guitars and cooing backup vocals), so this one doesn't reach the ranks of the two after it, but what a goddamn set you could create from all three, and maybe add a couple in from the debut for good measure. When they get down and dirty as on "Faux Pharaoh" it just feels so badass, that contrast between the ditch-digging rhythm guitar and the melody of her voice feels so unique even when compared to similar groups. Not to dump on popular groups like Witch Mountain, Brume, Windhand  or Sabbath Assembly, all of whom put out some good stuff, but Lucifer just tramples it all. There is so much more to this, and it brings together so many influences that were formative also to my own metal history, that I cannot resist. It's like a spell being cast every time they put out an album, and I keep failing my fucking saving throw.

Verdict: Win [8.75/10]

https://www.facebook.com/luciferofficial

Lucifer I (2015)

It's nothing novel to hear some new Sabbath sounding upstart arrive on a label like Rise Above Records, but when the simply dubbed Lucifer dropped its debut in 2015, it was obvious to me immediately that this was something special, something slightly different. Granted, this album is the one we would most correlate with traditional doom metal, there are a lot of riffs here that feel as if Tony Iommi is playing along with a new singer, but other 70s hard rock influences like Heart do enter the picture in a few of the songs, foreshadowing the band's future. The band was formed by German vocalist Johanna Sadonis, and then most notably, the debut featured 'Gaz' Jennings, axeman doomlord extraordinaire via Cathedral, and a mix of other British and German musicians, all of whom, with the except of Johanna, lasted for just this one debut album...

And that might explain why this has a slightly different focus than the subsequent releases, but it's a great record all the same. Bright, catchy, and yet unmistakably evil when it wants to be, Lucifer I plays out like a more vintage rock Cathedral, replacing Lee's divisive grumblings with a voice both melodic and angelic. Jennings' guitars are great, whether he's flexing the doom muscles of his alma mater, or some dirtier riff patterns redolent of American groups like Pentagram and The Obsessed, or earlier influences, there's always something catchy to support Johanna's wailing, which is a lot more atmospheric than on the later records. Granted, there are occasions where the riffs go into some abrupt changes, and the material doesn't always feel the most fleshed-out, but for a debut it was already head and shoulders above a lot of the other 'mama' doom that had been coming out around the same time. Dino Gollnick and Andrew Prestridge round out the rhythm section really well, and the sparse synths and ghostly vocal layering and effects add another, ethereal dimension to the drudging darkness.

No tunes I'd consider weak here, but I most often crave the doomy triad of "Abracadabra", "Sabbath" (lol) and "Morning Star". That said, the acoustics in "Grave" are nice, and it has a nice metallic build-up, and it's all quality enough that the full 44 experience is rewarding. I admit that I do spin this one less than the three to follow it, but if you're most in tune with traditional doom metal, and not so much interested in the higher accessibility of the later albums, do not skip out on Lucifer I because it just might prove your favorite. And it's a testament to Lucifer that, no matter which lineup, the band is just so damned good that I can't argue with anyone's love of any of their output. The hours of enjoyment I've gotten listening to them in the last 6-7 years vastly outweigh the praise and thanks I could ever give them.

Verdict: Win [8.25/10]

https://www.facebook.com/luciferofficial

Hexed #1 (2009)

I saw this over at io9 earlier.

Michael Alan Wilson has unleashed Hexed #1 along with the capable Emma Rios, starring a female "occult" thief named Lucifer. Seriously. I love thieving main characters almost as much as I love the occult, so it's hard for me to be wholly objective here. Good thing I don't have to be. The first issue of Hexed kicks a lot of ass, and Lucifer seems poised to become another one of my growing list of beloved cutpurses.

The art is crisp and haunting, with a rather unique color scheme provided by Cris Peter that is both vibrant and spectral in turn. I have only read it in digital form, but once I pick it up on paper I have no doubts that it will be far better than the washed out LCD display of my laptop can show. Lucifer is an instantly likable character, surrounded by a surprisingly memorable and vivid cast. I would be hard pressed to tell you the last time I had a good picture in my head of every character I met in the first issue of a comic. Hexed imprinted it's denizens on me effortlessly.


Hexed does everything that the first issue of a comic should. It introduces solid characters, throws you into a subtly deep universe you'll want to keep exploring, and gets it's hooks in before letting you go on with your life. Wilson gives just enough hints about the mythos of his world to make it interesting without blowing his wad, and what little we see is dynamic, if not wholly unique. Interestingly enough, I am reminded on more than one occasion of Vertigo's Lucifer series, one of my all-time favorites. If Wilson manages to keep that up, only good things will follow.

Hexed also has a rather unique distribution model, with every issue being released both in comic stores and free online. If you're interested, you can grab the first issue from Myspace Comics (ugh) here. Once you've read it, I highly recommend picking it up from your local comic book store. I'm going to have to give some of Mr. Wilson and Ms. Rios' other work a look.


Verdict: Epic Win [9/10]

http://www.boom-studios.net/hexed-1-cover-a.html