Dasein confirmed through purposeful task Santiago, Chile-based heavy metal quartet LUCIFER’S HAMMER exist for the sake of classic early 80’s heavy metal anthems on this most enthusiastic fourth full-length album. ‘Be and Exist‘ is the now fairly well-known groups most complete, varied and heavily referential record to date yet its major goal is simply stated as ever as they aim for the old and tuneful spectrum of their craft with some modern melodic sensibilities applied. No longer listless and resigned after well over a decade at work on their craft these folks now begin to take command of a much bigger personality, an intensity which builds to a peak over the course of the full listen.

Lucifer’s Hammer formed as a duo circa 2012 somewhere in the mid-period of what folks now consider the New Wave of Traditional Heavy Metal during a period of idealization centered around United States 80’s heavy/power metal and epic heavy metal wherein you could feel a bit of that ranting exuberance and faster pacing in their brilliant ‘Night Sacrifice‘ (2013) demo. Between the two of them they could play, as in carry a tune, write memorable songs with some Maiden-esque flair to their strike right off the bat and definitely didn’t sound like a green group one year down the road. Though their debut full-length (‘Beyond the Omens‘, 2016) as a trio lived up to some of that first demo’s promise it reached for a decidedly more 80’s heavy rock feeling, something a bit more Enforcer-esque than expected and wasn’t to my own taste enough to remain interested at the time though the follow-up (‘Time is Death‘, 2018) made up for that quickly with an excellent throwback drum sound, extensive use of leads and a less laid back approach. Both of those first two records were recorded at DM6 Studios and as a result felt like a natural part of the Chilean heavy metal underground at the time. That said, I could sense their interest in more accessible form of 80’s heavy metal shining through from the start and this’d come to a head on the far more refined, and for my own taste fairly predictably writ, presentation of their more recent ‘The Trip‘ (2021) which’d served as their leap onto High Roller.

The general reputation the band’d earned over the course of three albums was that of dark fantasy themed traditional heavy metal crew on the lighter side of things, rarely edging into speed metal beyond their first demo drifting and galloping through most of their pieces with ease. I wasn’t the biggest fan of Lucifer’s Hammer‘s evolution beyond the undeniable staple qualities of their second album though it was clear they’d had the right sensibilities when it’d come to writing late 70’s/early 80’s revisionist fare and the general aesthetic of earl 80’s heavy metal. Each record felt like an improvement over the last ’til they’d stagnated a bit in terms of songcraft on that third album, again, per my own taste. Heading into ‘Be and Exist‘ with the same line-up as the previous album meant I’d felt it was reasonable to expect them to simply make the same album all over again. Though they still sound like themselves this isn’t necessarily the result as we find a bigger, more urgent affront from the emboldened face of the band this time around.

In simplest possible language? They’ve written catchier songs and they’re singing them a bit harder, hitting a mid-80’s standard with some extra hits of speed and more life behind their eyes. — Straight out of the tentative build of intro piece “Cosmovision” the main lead guitar melody of “Real Nightmares” strikes hot, the first and arguably most memorable ear-grabber within a steady stream to come. The more recent addition to the group bassist Tyr ensures the Maiden-type roll of the band is stated up front though his playing only becomes more virtuosic this time around, carrying interest through this song to the point of basically dual-soloing with the guitarists. The more time I’d spent letting this album rip and spin on repeat I could feel the energy resonating off the opener as it’d caught my attention every spin-through thanks to its ripping run-on leads and brisk pace. The shot of vigor that opening number outshines a lot of Lucifer’s Hammer‘s past work by sheer energy alone and it goes deeper than picking up the pace as we continue down the line, edging up towards Priest inspired speed metal without stepping away from NWOBHM-level melodicism.

On that same note but from a different angle “Antagony” might be one of the more memorable pieces the band’ve written to date otherwise, particularly the walking bassline that develops and very close resemblance of the the main verse guitar hook and rhythms from “With Your Life” from Tank‘s self-titled 1987 record. Of course they’ve applied a more brisk pace to their work, employing a similarly dramatic tone to their work but punching at it while vocalist/guitarist Hades continues to style all over the record both in terms of shredding out era apropos leads an shrieking it up more often a la a more reserved Brian Ross; Four or five songs into the typical Lucifer’s Hammer record we’d likely hit the slow part, the ballad or walking pace bop and deflate a bit but the alternative here is a song like “Son of Earth” where we’re at a hard jog and wailing through Slough Feg-esque verses and early Iron Maiden inspired transitions which speak to the best of the early-to-mid 80’s end of days for NWOBHM.

From there we step into at least a few more moments we can reference to the well-listened fan such as the Running Wild-alike guitar runs of “The Fear of Anubis” and the Lizzy-style dual lead guitar harmonies of “Medusa Spell“. The former is probably my overall favorite song on the album in terms of its guitar work where I’d greatly appreciated that this signature 80’s heavy metal/heavy rock element, the strong focus on a big instrumental ride in the second half of the record, features as a wide open door to an equally strong Side B. The expected sound of Lucifer’s Hammer shows up in the latter moreso than anywhere else on the album but at not point do we get the same feeling from the same two songs back to back, lending ‘Be and Exist‘ a classic and complete character which probably should be considered their most representative release to date considering how much more ground it covers than any one release in their past discography.

Solid as the ride through ‘Be and Exist‘ is front to back, with each of its core seven songs managing some type of memorable statement or hook, I wouldn’t go as far as to suggest Lucifer’s Hammer have transcended beyond sub-genre music or “retro” heavy metal standing, their goal is still very much a throwback sound done right and in that sense this fourth album is a meaningful success. The layered presence of the vocals, more active bass guitar performances, and catchier songwriting all amount to a bigger personality with some good push behind its rhythms but I’m not sure any of its anthemic mastery will make converts out of tentative fans just yet. I’d found this album decent on the first pass, well above average five spins deep, and brilliant by the twentieth once it’d had a chance to really sing and stick in mind beyond a handful of concerted listens. It isn’t the most original record or whatever but I’d had a great time getting to know it, finding each listen more enjoyable than the last. A high recommendation.

Note: Can’t confirm or deny that this album art is AI generated. Upon close inspection there are many textural and anatomical choices a human collage or visual artist wouldn’t typically make, or which simply don’t make sense, and several points of inconsistency that indicate at least partial computer generation. I reviewed and rated the album before I recognized these details. I would normally -not- review an album that used AI generated art. In the future I will do better to take a closer eye to these types of inconsistencies.

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