25 november 2022
Lucifericon has been around since 2009. The blackened death metal band front the South of the Netherlands released their first EP ‘The Occult Waters’ in 2012. In 2016 they followed that up with Brimstone Altar and in 2018 they released an official album, Al-Khem-Me. During covid, the band released a single, and to keep in line with the schedule of releasing something substantial every 4 years, the band released their second full-length, ‘The Warlock of Da’ath’ in November last year. They played an official album release show only one week ago, so it’s not too late to dive into this album!
The Warlock of Da’ath is a short 8-track album, with just under 39 minutes of blackened death metal. Until now, I had never heard any of their tracks, but compared to their previous album there seems to be a bit of a shift. Where Al-Khem-Me has more old-school death and maybe some thrash vibes, The Warlock of Da’ath resides more on the black end of the spectrum. That being said; those lines between genres aren’t strict anyways. Lucifericon creates a really dark sound, with room for instrumental parts and buildups as well as fast blast-beat riffs. Sound-wise this album sounds more balanced and less gritty than the previous album, and that certainly doesn’t take away from the dark vibes.
Sigillum Azoetia: The Map of Possibility is a good example of the black influences on this album. Especially the middle part with the slow riff and the blast beats. The track starts off with a slow buildup to get us excited for the almost choir-like chants that follow.
The final track to the album is actually the title track, Warlock of Da’ath. The heavy drums make this track a little too chaotic for me, but kudos to the drummer for being so tight all the time. The track has a good variety of riffs and tempos and even at this length it never gets boring. The vocalist has a nice, audible raspy grunt that compliments the dark guitars very well. I always applaud audible grunts so at least we can follow the lyrics to some extent. As expected, most of the lyrics are about the occult and magic.
Final Thoughts
Lucifericon doesn’t sound too original, but you don’t always have to be innovative to make good music. I enjoyed this album and it will definitely appear in one of my playlists again. It’s a decent playthrough for anyone who’s into death or black metal.
Check out the band on their bandcamp page or visit their bandpage in our database.
