Lucifer is the new band formed by vocalist Johanna Sadonis after the break up of her previous outfit The Oath in 2014. After one single release earlier in the year (the Black Sabbath-fan baiting ‘Anubis’), the first full-length album comes courtesy of Rise Above Records.
‘Lucifer I’ is yet more occult rock, and because it’s on Rise Above, you can be sure of a few things…It’s gonna sound retro…It’ll have its fair share of groovy riffs…and, it automatically becomes tainted with a certain “hip” factor. (Even the logo is a little reminiscent of Ghost).
But if you choose to call your band Lucifer, then surely your music will prove provocative on some level?
Well no…not really, this is all a little bit on the bland side to be honest.
The first thing you’ll notice is that “Abracadabra” is a pretty unconvincing word to use in the chorus of a rock song (unless you happen to be The Steve Miller Band). The second thing, is that while pleasant enough, Johanna Sadonis’ voice lacks a certain amount of depth and grit to suit the slightly doomy, 70’s riffs provided by Cathedral’s Garry Jennings. Things pretty much plod along in a mid-paced fashion while sadly offering a few trite lyrics along the way. However things get more interesting round about track 5, with ‘White Mountain’ and ‘Morning Star’ picking up the pace with some cracking riffs and better vocal melodies. ‘Morning Star’ in particular packs a rather scorching lead solo. There’s some nice Ozzy-inspired vocal touches in ‘Total Eclipse’, and ‘A Grave For Each Of Us’ provides some chugging groove. But half an album worth of good material ultimately fails to save the overall experience, which is strangely uninvolving.
So, despite expectations, Lucifer do not (at this stage) seem destined to fill the massive gap left behind from the sad demise of The Devil’s Blood.
(4.5/10 Stuart Carroll)
22/05/2015 at 8:37 am
Ooh, harsh! It does go to show that Ave Noctum is composed of reviewers willing to say it how they find it.