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Band: Chanid
Album title: Lucifer
Release date: 15 May 2018
Label: Beverina Productions/Casus Belli Musica
Tracklist:
01. Introit Lucifer
02. Evocation Of Lucifer
03. Misterium II
04. Consummatum Est!
05. Pamiec Swiatlosci
06. Under The sign Of Lucifer
07. Ancient Forces
08. Stagnant Hours
Chanid is a black metal band from Poland that initially caught my attention due to the lyrical themes of their album. I confess that I was drawn to the concept that is based on the story of Lucifer told from his point of view. The band was born in Warsaw in 2011 and the current line-up consists of Shadar on vocals, Forest (Diabolus Sanctus, Empheris) on guitars, Necrofilip (God Said No, Gortal, Licorea, former Druzgotor, ex-Teratosis, ex-Strain) on bass and Burner of the Cross (Morbosus, ex-Empheris) on drums. Although Chanid exists for almost seven years, they have released so far only one demo, Misterium, in 2015. During all this time the band members dedicated their time to rehearsals and gigs.
This concept album is the continuation of Misterium demo that approaches the fall of Lucifer, a well-known theme to all of us. The cover art and album design were created by Vladimir Prokofiev (Paint-It-Black) and captures very well the concept. This debut album consists of eight tracks with running time around 29 minutes offering pure extremely fast old school black metal with some tiny thrash and death metal insertions.
The intro is quite typical and introduces us to a mysterious and obscure atmosphere, by the way, the intros of that time were very characteristic in this regard. From the second track, "Evocation Of Lucifer", onwards is nothing else but what you would expect from an old school black metal band. You'll be confronted with mad and rabid vocals, macabre guitars and an aggressive, well-featured drum set. Special attention goes to the track "Consummatum Est!" which almost takes a different path, is a track that presents a more melodic and painful sound without leaving aside the typical aggression. I liked this song because the instruments seem cleaner and more audible, the vocals are still the same, but I think they are here a just a bit more "emotional", which pleased me a lot in some moments.
As I said before, the tracks are very typical, nothing really special and without any really special approaches. But just like in "Consummatum Est!", the track "Ancient Forces" sets the pace a bit more slow with some almost heavy/doom metal elements added into the picture, and as well the final track, "Stagnant Hours", features something a bit different and enjoyable. The music becomes again a bit more melancholic and clean (not so much this time), and I like to point attention for the beautiful work between the drums and guitars.
Lucifer undoubtedly is a tribute to the second wave of Scandinavian black metal and innovations are not the album's strong point. If you are a fan of old schol type of black metal, of something like Satyricon did in their early days, or Christ Agony, the old Abigor, Gorgoroth and Emperor, then you might give it a spin and I guess that you will find the album interesting at some point.
Even though that the album is quite short, I found it monotonous, but as I give value to the album's theme I believe that Chanid still has a lot to offer on possible future releases. A bit more of variety, melody and power in vocals wouldn't hurt either, a more prominent bass and the inclusion of some noveltys permeating the old style and maybe a bit more lengthy tracks would make this music much more intriguing. Even so, congrats to this guys for the effort and I look forward to the next album!
Review written by: Felin Frost
Rating: 6,5/10
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