LUCIFER: Lucifer V (HEAVY METAL): review / opinion to read on Music Waves

Despite their undiminished appeal and charm, Lucifer had no room for error after their fourth offering, which was certainly masterful but didn't add anything new to the seductive landscape of their Victorian proto-doom with a feminine touch. Is the band led by priestess Johanna Sadonis and the legendary Nicke Andersson (Entombed, The Hellacopters) still capable of surprising us?

The answer lies in this fifth effort, whose appearance (the usual numbering as a title and the female singer featured on the cover) doesn't at first glance suggest that they're taking any obvious risks. But it doesn't take long for 'Lucifer V' to win you over. The musicians have always been accustomed to unfailing efficiency and an unstoppable sense of catchiness, which they demonstrate once again, but with more force and sparkle than on their previous album. In this register, 'Fallen Angel' is an ideal start to the listening experience, a sort of cross between Blue Öyster Cult and Coven, whose heir Lucifer has always seemed to be. Classic and sensual. Irresistible above all.

With the colours of the most gleaming inspiration held high, nothing stands in the band's way, whether it's tried and tested but nonetheless tasty recipes, all with an incisive riff and a heady chorus ('Riding Reaper', 'A Coffin Has No Silver Living'), or more surprising escapades. It's these that make this album so special. With its gloomy ambience and typically doomy intro, 'At The Mortuary' has a Black Sabbath feel to it, but Queen-like guitars. At over six minutes, it's Lucifer's longest composition since their debut, and also their most sinuous and complex.

There's also 'Slow Dance In A Crypt', a ballad that's both sinister and carnal, and 'The Dead Don't Speak', with its bizarre disco overtones. 'Nothing Left To Loose But My Life' closes the opus with its reptilian lasciviousness, the six-string knotting black cables against a back of voluble drums that would not be denied by the master Tony Iommi.

This compact fifth album has nothing superfluous about it, a collection of nine skilfully crafted pieces ('Maculate Heart'), an incandescent blend of swaying energy and sepulchral atmospheres in which the charismatic Johanna finds a setting more bewitching than ever. In tune with their dark art, Lucifer returns to the macabre, desirable lustre of his debut, with even greater charm and inventiveness. - Official website

LUCIFER

LUCIFER V

NUCLEAR BLAST

HEAVY METAL