Review by Jack on July 16, 2002.

It has been well the worth wait from Lux Occulta. Their new album; “The Mother and The Enemy” is undoubtedly superior than the last studio effort in “My Guardian Anger” in almost every possible way; playing ability, song composition and even production are all heads and shoulders above “My Guardian..." effort. However while that is all well and good, it means shit all if Lux Occulta doesn’t manage to lock horns for 12 rounds with the biggest names in the metal industry.

My first impressions of “The Mother and The Enemy” were very quizzical. I wasn’t really sure if Lux Occulta had gone down the right path with this new album. By this I mean Lux Occulta have chosen to include a whole host of ‘outside’ elements into their sound and forgo the traditional black metal sound that many of their contemporaries chose to take. Take the track ‘Architecture’ for example. Opening up in a grimy and sickly short tribal inspired introduction it soon cuts to a black metal barrage; ‘Architecture’ lays waste to your speakers with barbaric beats before leveling out into a calmer more progressive jazz inspired sound which changes the composition and atmosphere of the track. This would be cool if ‘Architecture’ was a one off track for the “The Mother and The Enemy”. However, the real beauty of the “The Mother and The Enemy” is that every single track takes an unexpected turn. You never-ever know what is coming up next, and even when you have listened to the album all the way through, I can almost guarantee you will find another dark surprise hiding around the murky corner.

Kudos must go to Lux Occulta for creating such a diverse and invigorating album that solicits your concentration and demands you stop what you are doing and give in to the musical vortex. Rolling from industrial to tribal to jazzy pop sequences and back to the pagan black metal that I described on the track, ‘Architecture’. “The Mother and The Enemy” does it all, and does it all so damn well that it would make it pretty much inconceivable for a metal fan to not own this great album!

Bottom Line: There is no question that “The Mother and The Enemy” is one of the most intriguing albums this year, but also has the ability to open up new nooks and crannies with every subsequent listen. Surely to be a wild card when it comes to determining the best albums of 2002.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 10
Atmosphere: 8.5
Production: 8.5
Originality: 10
Overall: 10

Rating: 9.4 out of 10