Rating: 7.9

Country: Ukraine

Release Date: 2005

Track list:
1. Poperechye Ih Nachala
2. Linchevanie Zhizni
3. Triumf Ploti
4. Maskarad Skorbi
5. Prelomlenie Sveta
6. Na Smert

Lucifugum - The Supreme Art of Genocide

Stabaath - Infernal Invocation, Frantic Attack
Khlyst - Anticreation, Black Propaganda

Lucifugum's umpteenth album – I'm fairly sure it's their 10th, not counting demo, split and EP releases – is certainly an uncomprisingly harsh piece of work. Right off the bat, the opening track pierces the listener's ears with a rusty spear of dissonant guitar, then rolls out of the gates in a blur of abusive drumming and even more flying spears of guitaer. Seriously, the riffs on this thing are some of the sharpest, yet least catchy I've ever heard. There's a hint of folkishness hiding in a lot of them, but they all have this bizarre structural “wrongness” which brings to mind Abigor's later works and a sped up, much cleaner Xasthur in places. Of course these are only nebulous comparisons.

The easy way out would simply be to compare this to Nokturnal Mortum circa 'NeChrist', but while there's a vague similarity, Lucifugum is an entirely different beast. For one thing, the songs have much more locked-in structure, rather than flying all over the place and interjecting random traditional folk-music breaks, each one stays focused on the goal at hand – that being, total fucking genocide. Seriously, this album has no nice hooks to keep simple minds amused, and the sound is universally harsh despite the oddly clear mix. There's lots of midrange in the guitars, and the drums have quite a thin, hollow sound dominated by the cymbals and a very brittle snare, which equates to a sound which is extremely unsettling at times. There's definitely low end here, but it's a mostly subsonic springboard for those nasty midrange-riddled guitars to bounce off and scrape at your brain.

Not that it's anywhere near unlistenable, mind you. It just takes a few listens to adjust to the unusual sound, and hone in on the intent behind the seemingly random musical structures. At first these songs seem rather directionless, but subsequent spins reveal a definite order behind the chaos. Despite the flurry of the opening track, much of the album proceeds at a relaxed midpaced canter, rather than remaining a hyper-blasting maelstrom. I'm not entirely sure if the drums are acoustic or programmed, since they're very much buried in the mix and serve more as a subliminal rhythm agent rather than a sonic focal point, but it hardly matters, as they serve their purpose without being intrusive, which is all drums should ever do in this sort of black metal.

This album won't appeal to fans of ultra-technical blackened death metal or catchy, melancholic emo-black, but it's a great listen when one is in the mood for something uniquely distressing, yet oddly soothing. As an added bonus, the densely illustrated artwork mirrors the albums contents by initially appearing rather messy, yet revealing multiple images of hellish Satanic sickness upon further inspection. The effect is oddly calm and hypnotic despite the overall harshness and evil intent, much like the music it contains. Excellent work all around.

May 22nd, 2006