Under the guidance of death’s spiraling scythe-path and steadily acclimating to the burning light of revelation Athens, Greece-based black metal quartet LUCIFER’S CHILD‘s exit from a period of seven years in the dark for a third full-length album intent on manifesting the unseen. ‘The Illuminant‘ arrives with the atmospheric rhythmus of a storm, willing the skies to turn and splay under their grip as if they’d cut through the bleakness of the celestial with a white-hot torch, easing through the motion of their scorch with increasingly diabolic melodic stride. Though the average listener will have to will themselves patience for the growing intensity of the full listen herein the reward is a scene of spiritual awakening, a sombre celebration as the ruinous downfall of the firmament plays out in glorious, wide angled collapse.

Lucifer’s Child formed circa 2013 by way of George Emmanuel, a former live guitarist for Rotting Christ and studio engineer @ Pentagram Studio, alongside bassist Stathis Ridis (ex-Nightfall) as each member of their respective legacy groups wanted to carve their own creative path. With the addition of vocalist Marios Dupont (ex-Karma Violens) and drummer Nick Vell (Chaostar) they would muster what we could consider black metal inspired music for certain, a rocking form which concerned itself with songwriting more than ultra-specific aesthetics or style outright. The quartet’s debut album (‘The Wiccan‘, 2015) was akin to Hellenic black metal inspired black n’ roll to start. Their work would then focus more intently upon their black metal roots and a still-tuneful and experting sophomore LP (‘The Order‘, 2018) was in hindsight an extremely memorable entrant at a time where a glut of exceptional releases had carpet bombed the last third of the year. Since I’d appreciated that second album after the fact I made a point to cover their split with Mystifier (‘Under Satan’s Wrath‘, 2022) a handful of years later and became more of a fan after taking a closer ear to their discography.

While I’ve suggested this album is a grower where we start begins with sheets of lightning raining down upon us as opener “Antichrist” bursts in and despite the rush into their entrance Lucifer’s Child plant themselves in place for a blustering, dramatic Bathory-esque rhythmic presentation, a deliberate approach which puts chorale and tentative movement in a (relatively speaking) “epic” style that stirs the ear into their cauldron as their movement steadily escalates. This is a brilliant vortex to arrive at the pulpit with but it isn’t until “As Bestias” that I’d feel the direct relation with the sensibilities found on ‘The Order‘. “The Serpent and the Rod” even has a sort of punkish n’ roll startup as it kicks into gear. I’ve clipped through these songs quickly because they go by readily enough, humming and wailing on rock-tinged leads ’til the major stroke of genius ultimately hits Side A with “Ichor“, the glorious peaking high of the first half and probably the strongest song on the album overall. As the chorales stride along, the clean vocals hum within we are reminded that this band is not transfixed on one scene or sound but instead curates a very personal version of black metal, this particular moment is again Quorthonian in its arrangement at the very least.

The second half ‘The Illuminant‘ is no less varied but less focused on the shared atmospheric glow of Side A as we find the gears begin to turn, their attack cycles faster hammering at a ‘Theogonia‘-worthy strike with mid-album pusher “Righteous Flama”. Each of thier albums has at least one moment that feels inspired by Rotting Christ‘s rhythms and in every case it ends up being a standout piece for my own taste. From there we find faster-paced songs much in the style of ‘The Order‘ for the duration of the Side B with “The Heavens Die” being the peak of the album’s action. Closer “And All is Prelude” is probably the most inventive rhythmic piece on the record, a strange dance to end the album with which feels like an experiment with devotional fanfare. It is a bizarre ceremony to end with but an endpoint which stood out as something unexpected when looping back to the bluster of the opener might’ve been a more natural exit.

The full listen of ‘The Illuminant‘ has its ‘epic’ moments often enough to set precedence for a unique, grand entry into Lucifer’s Child‘s discography yet its divergence from the catchier flow of the first album toward a more nuanced state might catch some off guard. There is more ‘heavy metal’ here and less dark melodic metal in that sense and for my own taste this only just emphasizes the voice of the band in a more sonorous, dramatic light. It isn’t the path I’d gone into this album expecting (re: something more melodic) but it also isn’t such a wild turn upstream that they’ll no longer sound like themselves to existing fandom. Otherwise I’d felt like album’s aesthetic was once again curated to an exceptional level of quality with cover artwork from maestro Daniele Valeriani perfectly illustrating the revelation within the albums bounds for a dramatic, fantastical spiritual image. Every aspect of this band’s work has been above average up to this point and I suppose the boon found here is more the consideration for the full listen and their focus on a more personalized style overall. A moderately high recommendation.

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