I’m pretty sure I’m one of the few metal journalists that think Angelcorpse were a tad over-rated. Sure, albums like Exterminate and The Inexorable were good black/death metal albums, but I think most folks were caught up in the fact that a US band were going toe to toe with their Scandinavian counterparts in the late 1990’s and the members they produced (Tony Laureano, John Longstreth) rather than the actual quality of the albums.

So now, after 8 years we have the surprisingly unheralded return of Angelcorpse and their fourth studio album, and despite the tantalizing cover art, man this is one let down of a reunion album.

Sure-it’s tight, blistering, fast and blasphemic, but it’s also, soulless, clinical, and uninspired. Not one of the 9 tracks left any kind of indelible mark on me other than appreciation for the surgical musicianship of Pete Helmkamp and Gene Palubicki. The bassless, lifeless production renders any of the seething guitarwork as almost robotically mechanical as tracks like “Hexensabbat”, “Saints of Blasphemy”, “Shining One (Rex Luciferi)” and “Lustmord” blast and squeal with a seemingly focusless aggression while the piecemeal (barely) slower track “Thrall” is just that; piecemeal. However I did enjoy Helmkamp’s occasional deeper, almost spoken word vocal injections (“Credo Decimatus”) to the listless rasps.

Of Lucifer and Lightning is one of the more underwhelming ‘comeback’ albums of the last few years (and there’s plenty of competition) and personally, the new Hacavitz album Katun , absolutely smokes this album, but if you are one for a band living off the past, this is for you.

[Visit the band's website]

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