Until their current album, Satanic Age, out on April 14th on The Sign Records, Lucifer Star Machine had never been on my radar and with a name like Lucifer Star Machine, it’s hard not to have preconceived notions on how a band might sound.
Luckily, Lucifer Star Machine sounds exactly what I thought they were going to sound like. Good old fashion rock and roll with a dash of horror and a few demons thrown in for good measure.
Satanic Age is filled with 13 tracks, don’t come at me, I’m counting the intro, of pure rock and roll fun.
Lucifer Star Machine was founded in London in 2002 and has been spreading the word of the Underworld by sharing the stage with Peter Pan Speedrock, Nashville Pussy and Demented Are Go to name a few and in 2019 they played the world’s largest metal festival, Wacken Open Air. Live shows aside, having The Damned’s Rat Scabies produce their first single “Death Baby” is a sure fire sign you’re doing the right thing within the punk and rock world. Now based in Hamburg, the boys are back with a vengeance after and penning and recording their latest album Satanic Age during the pandemic.
Vocalist Tor Abyss has wonderful grit to his voice that occasionally gives me Gene Louis vibes of Bullets and Octane and M. Shadows of Avenged Sevenfold and during his cleaner vocals I get the likes of Josh Homme and Mike Ness vibes. If Tor were to be the fabled Goldilocks, his vocals aren’t too gritty and aren’t too clean, but a perfect mix of both that is pleasing to the ear. That perfect mix can be heard in the title track that is a bopper of tune that Ramones and Misfits fans would appreciate.
Guitarists Mikey Necro and Mighty Ramon are a wonderful team and their talent shines on the stand out track “Black Axe”. The duo are fast, furious, and make their guitars wail and cry under their speed. Since there are no truly down tempo tracks on Satanic Age, how they keep up this insane speed song after song is beyond me.
Bassist Benny Zin absolutely steals the spotlight on “I Wanted Everything”, “Censorshipped”, and “Live Another Day”. His bass is low, dirty, and sticks to your skin like salty air on a humid day and Captain Fettsau on drums keeps the crew in time with his wrathful and unapologetic assault on the drums. The rhythm section duo lay down succulent groove after succulent groove.
The band shows their lyrical softer side on the track “Hard Luck Mary” featuring Kit Swift of Seven Days And Doesn’t Die but that’s the only thing soft about the song.
Lucifer Star Machine raises hell and dances with the devil in the pale moonlight with each nitro fueled sing-along anthem that is jam packed with angst, swagger, and confidence.
MUST LISTEN TRACKS: “Satanic Age”, “Black Axe”, “I Wanted Everything”, “The Life You Dread”, “Cunt of Destruction”
FAVOURITE TRACKS: “Black Axe”, “Censorshipped” “Till Death”
Watch the videos for the following singles below
