London’s Lvcifyre have been slowly, murkily climbing towards the top of the local death metal scene for a number of years now and while their inception occurred sometime in 2007, the band didn’t release their debut – The Calling Depths – until 2011. It’s surprising then, that they took much less time to create Svn Eater but when you have music as interesting as Lvcifyre, it seems remiss not to unleash it on the world.
Svn Eater is a record that seeks to push death metal into deeper, darker more unholy territory than its occupied before and it’s bands such as Lvcifyre who are taking the genre further away from the mainstream, god-awful deathcore that seems bizarrely, but nonetheless outrageously popular still. Along with Grave Miasma, Cruciamentum and Corpsessed, Lvcifyre are part of a death metal movement that seeks to drag the listener into the grossest of recesses and Svn Eater certainly dredges the very pits of hell in order to create its dank atmosphere of fear and dread.
“Night Seas Sorcery” starts the record with an unusual temperament – curious, echoing spoken word lines that vibrate with menace clash with odd strikes of guitar and by utilising the vocal talent of Mark of the Devil from Cultes Des Ghoules (check out their 2013 release Henbane), Lvcifyre bring a tangible presence of utter evil to proceedings. When his voice gives way to that of guitarist/vocalist T. Kaos, the song takes on ever more deadly dimensions and in turn the track revels in Mark of the Devil’s sly, serpentine delivery. His vocal is present on a number of other tracks on Svn Eater and the record is lifted to new heights by his inclusion. Lvcifyre have taken on a different guise this time around and it’s one that has given them a fiery, sulphuric edge.
“Liber Lilith” crawls in heavy, bottomless guitar work that drags you closer to the abyss with disgustingly intense lines while title track “The Sun Eater” bursts with a dastardly aggression that reaches out and grabs you with enticingly quick drum blasts and Kaos’ devastatingly guttural growl. The outer limits of atmosphere are reached during the frenetic “The Fiery Spheres of the Seven” which charges along at a furious pace while still maintaining a semblance of structure and it’s here that Lvcifyre completely break out of their proverbial cages. Whereas on other songs there seems to be a modicum of restraint, a desire to keep the beast constrained lest they lose some of their power, here Lvcifyre realise that the malignancy needs to be spilled forth into this world. The song is demonically quick, the solo is gorgeous as well as being fantastically skilled and T. Kaos’ voice once again rounds it all out with echoing command before “Fyre Made Flesh” is launched into being. All flaming guitars and old school vibrations, the song pummels you into total submission with breakneck drums (Menthor) and climbing, wailing solos.
Final track “The Sinister Calling” again makes use of Mark of the Devil to imbue the song with a blacker edge and Lvcifyre’s manifesto of ancient evil comes very much to the fore here. Svn Eater is steeped in the mystery of long forgotten combatants and lore yet Lvcifyre’s approach is modern, precise and palpably believable. Enter if you dare.
