RSS Feed


LVCIFYRE
Svn Eater

Dark Descent (2014)
Rating: 8/10

When I first heard the foetid rumblings of Lvcifyre, I assumed that their unholy brand of blackened death metal had been carved from the same unholy slab of molten metal as Marduk and the likes.

Imagine my shock, only to discover that this quartet is based in London, England! This really is evil-sounding and fiery extreme metal taking its influences from all manner of genres, such as the Swedish death metal scene, the Norwegian black metal tribe and of course the vast, deep tracts of hell!

To say that Svn Eater is a frightening record is an understatement. It’s the second platter of pain and anguish, following on from 2011’s The Calling Depths which, to be honest, I’ve never heard. However, I’m so glad I stumbled upon this macabre nine-track composition because these guys really are a force. From start to finish Svn Eater is a punishing listen that sounds as if it’s been recorded in a cavern full of flames and demons, such is its anguish and horror.

I don’t really know where to start, except to say that this is very heavy, bludgeoning metal with a strong satanic lean projected forth from Satan’s mouth by the waterfalls of T. Kaos’ horrendous drools of death. For some nine minutes the album opener ‘Night Sea Sorcery’ maintains an ungodly stranglehold akin to the despair experienced by Gandalf as Balrog lassoed the wizard with its hellish whip.

Images of burning, lapping flames are conjured as the guitars rage at pace throughout; walls are charred and flesh is scorched as the tumult echoes through the brain, hinting at the most despicable hymns of Morbid Angel before the technicality of ‘Calicem Obscurum’ reverberates through the soul like some demon desperate to come up for air through every orifice.

‘Liber Lilith’ begins with stormy ghoulish gales and then a chorus of undead anguish as the percussion slams into the skull and T. Kaos belches “Hag of night, Descend, descend into that vessel of cold flesh, Your sacred oil flows down the corpse’s throat, Where the seal with menstrual ink remains”. This is a guttural golem of a tune that barks orders across the appalling pits of Hades; it batters with its cavernous vocals and seethes with Dictator’s arrogant guitar sound. Suddenly, fellow British goblins Grave Miasma don’t seem so alone in their arrogance.

The title track is the soundtrack to accompany a million strong army of orcs through the fires of Mordor, such is its hostile temperature. Bones are cast out from the pit as Menthor’s vicious drums collide with the bass of Cvltvs, the result being that the fires of Svn Eater can surely get no hotter, but as the likes of ‘Nekuomanteion’, ‘Fyre Made Flesh’ and ‘The Sinister Calling’ lumber into view like serpents from the sea, I’m reminded as to why us Brits can be so unpredictably brilliant when it comes to music.

Lvcifyre are a truly deathly experience who take the most potent ingredients of black and death metal and mould them into a sound that is never kind on the ears, let alone the soul. I warn you not to ignore this vile piece of demonic metal, because a life without such extremity is surely one not fulfilled. Svn Eater is gloriously evil and over-baked, but what do you expect from a band who has spent their entire career holed up in a hellish cave beneath the city of London?

Neil Arnold

<< Back to Album & EP Reviews



Related Posts via Categories
Share