Review by Felix on November 15, 2022.

Does pure black metal have a purifying effect? Sometimes I think so. It makes me forget the daily shit and allows me to take a short trip into another dimension. Of course, there are some journeys that do not end in an outstanding experience, but what can go wrong if you have a Finnish tour guide? Satan says: not much. Rienaus does not mark an exception in this context.

Okay, often their level of individuality tends towards zero, both in terms of musical content and production. The mix is utterly raw. Every corrupt politician will love it due to its lack of transparency. In particular the fast sections – and there are several of them – challenge the listener and demand full attention. Otherwise you will only recognize an untamed noise. The snare is audible, but always at risk to drown in the snowstorm of the guitars, while the vocalist delivers long-drawn-out cries in feverish delirium. As always when it comes to Finnish lyrics, I do not understand a single word, but he uses his voice more like an additional instrument anyway. Either way, he expresses a demonic attitude and it is hardly possible to crush the audience with a more hateful approach. Of course, you also get a portion of monotony here, but come on, what did you expect? Cheesy Italian power metal choirs?

Yes, some run of the mill parts can be found here and the weak 'Kuilu' suffers from its aimless guitar lines. Wannabe-hypnotic, but alas only boring and expressionless. The intro also does not add much value to the output, but the remaining material says hello to Behexen, Malum or Azaghal (new album in 2023, wonderful!). Speaking of Malum, 'Aänet Yössä' is no new “Son Of The Dracul”, but still a great closer. Some bone-chilling guitars struggle with mega-heavy sections until both elements coalesce into one big whole. Rienaus are talented song-writers, already the first “melody” of 'Uhrattavaksi Siunattu' reflects the rare combination of hate and melancholy. The band is able to give its pieces a proper depth – not always, but often enough to give the album a pitch-black and abysmal feeling.

Apart from the simple yet impressive artwork, Luciferille does not deliver a family portion of atmosphere, but it scores with this very welcome component of devilish insanity. Maybe it is true that the incredible cries of the Silencer psychopath remain untouched, but Rienaus have definitely no reason to hang their heads in shame. Their high velocity sections leave a trail of devastation and in rare moments a spooky guitar appears, for example in 'Pedon Merkki' after 45 seconds. By the way, this is a real killer song. Moreover, the abrupt ending of the title track provides a little surprise; the only one on this full-length. Never mind. Those of you who want to be the most fearless guys in their neighbourhood start with the murderous 'Saatanan Valtakunassa', everybody else with an affinity for typical Suomi blackness will not be disappointed as well.

Rating: 7.6 out of 10

Review by Jack on November 7, 2001.

Human Fortress before “Lord of Earth and Heavens Heir” was a band I’d never even heard of before, let alone listened to. I’m certainly glad Limb Music Productions gave me the pleasure to listen to this excellent album. This group of six fellows from Germany play boisterous and overblown power metal that fits in with the lyrical topics of Rhapsody or Blind Guardian, by that I mean fantasy songs about dragons and high lore in faraway lands is the norm for Human Fortress. What is different about “Lord of Earth and Heavens Heir” that makes it stand out apart from the other fantasy metal bands is the way they go about their metal.

Did anyone like Bon Jovi or bands like Warrant or Deep Purple from the 80’s? If you are like me and love the occasional retro album, then Human Fortress surprisingly fit that bill well and provide a good trip back to the retro days with still retaining the power metal edge. Whether this was intentional or not, I do not know, but they should work with that uniqueness for further albums as it would keep them above the rest of the pack. Human Fortress states on their web page they “are an epic- true- metal- band which saves the spirit of the glorious heavy- metal- bands into the 21st century and establishes a genius musical output.” Whether this is means retro or not is not for me to decide, but whatever it is; its bloody good! While some maybe cynical and suspicious of the cheesy-ness that may come with this hybrid formula, I am one such person that is extremely skeptical of cheesy-ness and find Human Fortress to walk the fine line without any hiccups.

Jioti Parcharidis doesn’t possess an overly unique voice but has a perfect voice for this sort of metal, Dirk Marquardt is probably what keeps Human Fortress in the retro styling as it seems that “Lord of Earth and Heavens Heir” is geared around the synthesizer work of this keyboard wonder. Laki Zaios does a wonderful job of keeping the drum kit interesting with his powerful rhythms and consistency. There isn’t much more to say about Human Fortress; suffice to say that in a world that fraught with silly power metal; Human Fortress are able to stay on the sensible side of the genre and “Lord of Earth and Heavens Heir” is an excellent demonstration of this.

Bottom Line: This is really good metal, it has it all; wicked guitars, solid vocals, inspirational drumming and creative synthesizers. And to top it off, if that wasn’t enough Human Fortress they have a seriously good retro streak embedded in them.

Rating: 8 out of 10