Lucifer: Memento Mori
The term ‘don’t fix what ain’t broken’ is multi-faceted; it can be used in many areas of life and, indeed, has been. Music isn’t exempt from this, and those who have been rock and metal fans for a while are no doubt aware that AC/DC have carved out a career spanning over half a century on that ethos alone. They are, of course, not the only act to live by this – many have, like Berlin-formed and Stockholm-based LUCIFER.
The occult rockers, now a decade on from their founding, have been tantalising listeners with their riff-laden songs about dark magic, graveyards, rituals and the like across five studio releases, all following a pattern of ‘Band Name + Album Number in Roman Numerals’ for their titles. And whilst this latest album is indeed called Lucifer V, singer and founding member Johanna Sadonis confirms that there was every chance that chain would be broken.
“I said to Nicke (Andersson, LUCIFER instrumentalist and live drummer) that maybe it was time to change the path, but he said ‘no’,” she laughs. “I mean, at the end of the day I’m the boss and I make the decision, but I agree that if we don’t have a title that’s better than what we have going right now, why change it?”
By numbering their albums, it also provides LUCIFER a checkpoint as to who they are at a certain moment in time; in 2024, it feels like they’re ready to go darker and bigger than ever before. Whilst not a concept album as such, death is a central motif to the record, with songs like A Coffin Has No Silver Lining, The Dead Don’t Speak and the excellent SABBATH-esque At The Mortuary all standing out in both name and feel. There’s a fair number of inspirations for Johanna’s words that make up the tracks, and not all are as morbid as one may think.
“I’m still a cemetery rat!” she jokes. “I’m a romantic, I like taking walks in cemeteries and that conjures images which help make up the lyrics. But also, death is forever present; on December 26th, the drummer of THE OATH (Johanna’s former band, a man by the name of Vincent Wager) passed away and he was only 47. I’m turning 45 soon and it shouldn’t be that so many people are dying around this age, but somehow it’s like that. Death remains constant and continues to puzzle me.”
The prominence of mortality aside, there’s also plenty, as ever, that discusses the darker side of the supernatural – Johanes describes LUCIFER as ‘a hard rock band with a lot of sympathy for the devil’. Yet, when compared even to Lucifer IV, released in October 2021, the step up is noticeable, to the point that the vocalist even says it’s her favourite of the releases up to this point.
“I know you’re not supposed to love any of your children more than the others, and I’m not saying it because it’s the album we’re promoting, but this really is my favourite LUCIFER album. We still have that organic, 70s sound, but this time it’s much punchier, which is down to the brilliant mixing by Robert Pehrsson. We usually do it ourselves but we didn’t have time, and he did it really well.”
As much a part of LUCIFER as their music is their album artwork, which this time features Johanna lying in a coffin, her eyes piercing whoever should meet her gaze. It’s incredibly striking, but she shouldn’t have been alone. “After I was selfish and alone on the last cover, I wanted everyone to be on this one; somehow nobody else was thrilled with the idea, but they didn’t come up with alternatives. I have a friend with an old funeral carriage and 100-year-old transport coffin inside, so we used that and everyone took a turn in it, with only myself having my eyes open in the photos. But Nicke said it had to just be me in the image, that it would pop out more. But those who buy a physical copy will see the full photo in the gatefold.”
To celebrate the release at the end of January, the band are holding (appropriately) a funeral service in Stockholm with guest DJ’s including Erik Danielsson from black metal titans WATAIN, before they set off on the European leg of the Satanic Panic tour the following month. No UK dates are in place, but Johanna says she’s going to try her best to get them locked in, although admits it’ll have to be more than a couple of dates to make it financially feasible. As and when they do make it to these shores, though, they’re worth seeing. So many music fans literally worship it; LUCIFER will welcome you to their congregation with open arms.
Lucifer V is out now via Nuclear Blast Records.
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