Label: Lunatic Asylum Records
Review by Tony Cannella
From Italy, the ‘Vampire Gothic’ metal band MandragorA Scream was formed in 1997 by female vocalist Morgan Lacroix. In 2001 they released their debut “Fairy Tales from Hell’s Caves” and have consistently stayed true to their gothic metal roots, whilst still managing to add new wrinkles to the band concept. In 2009 they released their landmark album, “Volturna” and have now followed that up with possibly their most ambitious album to date, “Luciferland”.
The ominous intro “The Chant of Furies” gets things off in a dark, foreboding direction. “Hekate – En Erebos Phos” is next and is strong out of the gates. The duel vocals of Morgan Lacroix and Terry Horn are done pretty well throughout the album. For 14-songs and over 50-minutes, “Luciferland” delivers darkly, mysterious music. Some songs have a definite electronic edge to them and the band creates a dark atmosphere in tune with the vampiric concept. Songs like “Persephone”, “The Illusionist”, “Lucifer’s Ballade” and “Lucifer’s Lullaby” are all fine examples of the strength of the material on “Luciferland”.
For MandragorA Scream it has been a slow build. It certainly hasn’t been an overnight success story, but slowly but surely they are becoming more and more well know and with “Luciferland” the band may have released the album that could push them to the top of their genre. Whether this is or isn’t the case, MandragorA Scream has still released a damn fine album.
Rating – 88/100
Tracklist
- The Chant of Furies
- Hekate – En Erebos Phos
- Persephone
- Anubis
- The Illusionist
- Medusa
- The Veil of Neith
- Six Grains of Pomegranate
- Night’s Master (Ashram & Sivesh)
- Lamia
- Love For Endymion
- Lucifer’s Ballade
- Titan – Extraterrestrial Suicide
- Lucifer’s Lullaby
Line Up
- Morgan Lacroix – Vocals
- Terry Horn – Vocals, Guitars, Keyboards
- Max Rivers – Bass
- Furyo – Drums