LUCIFER – Lucifer V (2024) *HQ*
You catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar. A lesson to which LUCIFER himself has apparently taken heed when inspiring his charges in the German/Swedish rock’n’roll diabolists who’ve taken his name. While all manner of ungodly, sinister noise has been made in his honor, the vibey retro metal and effortless cool at play on the band’s fifth album “Lucifer V” is just as good and seductive a vehicle for getting the listener to have a good sin.
The heaviness is of the ’70s school, built of flashes of Sabbathian dread (listen ‘At The Mortuary’), Judas Priest’s muscular strut (opener ‘Fallen Angel’ revving main riff) and flights of mystical fancy from the book of Blue Öyster Cult (basically every chorus).
Atop it all, Johanna Sadonis’ vocals add a witchy mystery to the slick, wicked riffs and greasy solos. Together, it’s a cauldron of oh-so wicked abandon and fun – the very essence of what rock music at its most (appropriately) Devil-may-care is meant to make you feel.
But apart from really strong catchy rock songs, Lucifer can also do it slowly. ‘Slow Dance In A Crypt’ (what a macabre title) is a strong, bluesy-oriented ballad with a fantastic vocal performance, a very rousing chorus and some amazing piano notes.
Another song that still got the blues in its core is ‘The Dead Don’t Speak’ with another pretty slow pace but the song lives from this atmosphere between the instruments and again Johanna’s fantastic vocal performance. With ‘Maculate Heart’, ‘A Coffin Has No Silver Lining’ and ‘Strange Sister’ they have some potential hit-singles on board, too.
‘Maculate Heart’ is highly melodic, catchy as the reaper himself and with a fantastic pace to rock to. Again, you get a lot of influences presented, apart from the above mentioned ones it is clearly Blue Öyster Cult.
Same goes for ‘A Coffin Has No Silver Lining’ but here you also get some more stadium rock from the 80s like Europe did. ‘Strange Sister’ is more kind of hard-rock with a lot of heavy guitar riffs and probably one of the heaviest tracks on “V” and reminds me pretty much of the new Alice Cooper album. But beware, in the middle-part, there are some really creepy piano tunes with some more doomy parts that send shivers down your spine.
Closing with ‘Nothing To Left But My Mind’ the lady and the gentlemen unleash a very powerful, contemplative semi-ballad with many dark riffs that remind of Tony Iommi a lot. The track is kept very slow and creates a feeling between comfort and the feeling of sadness and loss (‘Farewell To My Friends…’). This is really a fantastic end for an album.
So let me summarize – “Lucifer V” is a really strong hard rock / occult / classic metal album with all killers and not a single song that shows some weaker aspects. The production is well-balanced between some more retro stuff and a modern touch so that you get a nostalgic feeling for sure.
Musically ”Lucifer V” is really top notch album stuffed with fantastic melodies, hooks and chorus lines. And most of all the vocals are amazing. So if you like classic hard rock this is an unavoidable album in 2024 for you.
While Lucifer sports many influences, on “Lucifer V” everything shines brilliantly with their very own, expertly applied sheen. Just as Lucifer himself was actually something of a handsome angel, rather than a snarling beast, this is music that attracts and tempts. On this occasion, the dark side sounds like a bright place, indeed.
Highly Recommneded
01 – Fallen Angel
02 – At The Mortuary
03 – Riding Reaper
04 – Slow Dance In A Crypt
05 – Maculate Heart
06 – A Coffin Has No Silver Lining
07 – The Dead Don’t Speak
08 – Strange Sister
09 – Nothing Left To Lose But My Life
10 – At The Mortuary (Halloween Edit)
11 – Maculate Heart (Radio Edit)
Johanna Platow Andersson – Lead Vocals
Nicke Andersson Platow – Guitars, Drums, Bass, Keyboards, Vocals
Martin Nordin – Guitars
Linus Björklund – Guitars
Harald Göthblad – Bass
BUY
www.amazon.co.uk/V-Lucifer/dp/B0CLT6S8X2
