LUX DIVINA

On first inserting and playing Lux Divina’s album ‘From the Tomb to Nature’s Blood’ I thought “Oh blimey here we go again with the Darkthrone thing”, however their material becomes more captivating as one delves a little deeper. There are some clever touches with the song writing, ranging from in your face, “fuck-you” blast beating right through the more accessible gothic styled song sections and some highly juxtaposed ambient sections. All this aside, the songs do work and the listener is not left wanting. I understand that what I have received is the promo pack. Given the styling of this package, I would dearly like to see the completed article. Perhaps I will when I buy it!! The band seem to have captured a unique angle with the Nature driven themes and some of the song titles are intrinsically captivating: ‘Bloody Herbs of Revenge’ and ‘The Oracle of the Funeral Trees’ make the author wish that he had an accompanied lyric sheet to aid the deciphering of the lyrics. Speaking of which, said lyrics are delivered in a razor sharp style, reminiscent of early doors Ihsahn. And things take an interesting twist when the clean, ethereal vocals come in. This is good stuff. Special mention goes to the a capella piece, ‘Serpent’s Philosophy’. X Factor contestants should take note: That is how you do it. I should also mention the musicianship on display in these recordings. Throughout, the guitars and bass are very consistently well executed and the tones are not too rasping as is often the way on recordings this brutality. I was also impressed by the percussion on offer here. No doubt the drummer is a sturdy fellow with quite a bit of stamina to be able to blast beat for as long as he does during the aforementioned ‘Oracle of Funeral Trees’ and the later track ‘Naturalistic Cults’. Having said that, the overall production is of a good standard because I can hear all the percussion, and indeed all of elements are there in the mix; it isn’t cloudy or over compressed as many discs like this are and allows the listener access to the various layers of music and vocals easily. Too often this is not the case and I’m pleased to say this disc is very accessible from the technical point of view. In conclusion, if you like your black metal brutal but atmospheric, you could do much worse than buy this CD. I am not listening to it on the best of audio replication devices, my laptop, but it still manages to captivate the listener. I would like to hear this through a big PA system, capable of reproducing all the little nuances a laptop cannot. There I feel it would be given the justice it deserves. What I’m also hinting at here is that the music contained is sufficient to make me want to see Lux Divina live. I am sure it would be great to see and only add to the quality of what they are striving to achieve. I look forward to their next work with some anticipation…

LABEL:

FORMAT:

Ars Magna Recordings

Album

FROM THE TOMB TO NATURE'S BLOOD

Review by Paul Etcell

RUNNING TIME:

41:59

RELEASE DATE:

Sept 2009

TRACK LISTING

1) Forgotten Divinity Part I
2) Bloody Herbs Of Revenge
3) Praise Hymn To The Horned God
4) The Mother Nature's Tomb
5) Serpent's Philosophy
6) The Oracle Of Funeral Trees
7) On Nature My Existence Disappear
8) Black Goddess' Mountains
9) To Darkened Catacombs
10) Naturalistic Cults
11) Forgotten Divinity Part II

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:

Spain

"There are some clever touches with the song writing, ranging from in your face, “fuck-you” blast beating right through the more accessible gothic styled song sections and some highly juxtaposed ambient sections."