The pairing of Rotting Christ’s George Emmanuel and Nighfall’s Stathis Ridis, Lucifer’s Child channels the spirit of early Hellenic black metal, which, to those not in the know, was the exotic, but close cousin to what was coming out of Norway over two decades ago. With Greek black metal, the melodies have a bit more flair to the them, the blast-beats aren’t thrust to the back, but rather, staked out front to keep the pace moving and instead of standard-rate Scandinavian rasps, the vocals have more fire to go along with spiritual and thought-provoking lyrics, So, obviously, the band’s sophomore album The Order is dead-on.
Naturally, there is some spillover from both Rotting Christ and Nightfall, perhaps more on the Rotting Christ side from the band’s vastly underrated early ’00s era. Lucifer’s Child, though, often gets to the point much faster than Rotting Christ normally does, as evidenced by the firebrand offerings of opener “Viva Morte” and the burning “Fall of the Rebel Angels.” The album’s high point is “Through Fire We Burn,” a cut embellished by crisp acoustic guitars and a pointed flow of melodic guitars that falls right into “epic” territory. Elsewhere, the ominous hum of “Black Heart” is foreboding to the nth degree, while the proto-black metal runs of “Haraya” and “Siste Farvel” are emblematic of a band who not only recognizes its past, but channels prime BM for the future.
Superior to its 2015 The Wiccan debut, The Order is a shining example of the immense capabilities of Greek black metal. It would take quite a while to leaf through the scene’s glorious, but often overlooked annals, but, here in the now, there is no greater representation than Lucifer’s Child.