Label: Svart Records
Review by Warren Mayocchi
The 70’s saw popular culture delve into the occult. Stephen King began his career writing about the supernatural, horror movies like “The Exorcist” and “The Omen” were released, rock bands echoed the mood with Black Sabbath the clear classic, though Alice Cooper and others developed a flair for exploiting the trend. Gene Simmons from KISS spat blood, and wore “demon” makeup. Satanic messages were heard in the reverse playing of Led Zeppelin‘s “Stairway to Heaven”, the Eagles visited the “Hotel California”, AC/DC took the “Highway to Hell” and Meat Loaf left like a “Bat Out of Hell”. The popularity of the occult in the 70’s was probably helped by the early thrill of listening to the “devil’s music” – 50’s rock and roll, Elvis, and so on – then psychedelic rock in the late 60’s gave it some momentum with statements like the misinterpreted “bigger than Jesus” from The Beatles, and The Rolling Stones album, “Their Satanic Majesties’ Second Request”, and then their later single “Sympathy For the Devil”. Luciferian Light Orchestra was formed by Christofer Johnsson (Therion) to record songs specifically styled around the 70’s era occult. It could be called retro, however occult like themes have continued with bands over the intervening decades, and with a variety of recent bands releasing new material inspired by the 70’s era – Lucifer, Blood Ceremony, Ghost, Demon Lung, and so on – it could be said the occult/doom rock genre is in a renaissance. The “Black” EP is 20 minutes of music in 4 songs. “Evil Masquerade” leads with a funky beat and settles into an ominous “dance with the devil” vibe quickly. “Where the Lilies Grow” has a crawling menace – you could almost imagine the band wickedly beckoning when the vocal starts with, “We are the serpent’s children / Playing the devil’s music”. “Serpent Messiah” has some excellent musical riffs, and a spoken word vocal approach infected with malevolence. “Thunder Perfect Mind” closes the EP with a relatively straightforward affair which is not as powerful as the other material. Occult metal renaissance music requires high thematic creativity to be fully successful (Black Sabbath moved onto entirely different themes quickly). Luciferian Light Orchestra may be a little too close to parody with some lyrics, but the “Black” EP is an entertaining walk on the dark side.
Rating – 82/100
Tracklist
- Evil Masquerade
- Where the Lilies Grow
- Serpent Messiah
- Thunder Perfect Mind