Review by Michael on April 30, 2023.

The devil's left hand, equipped with long fingernails, stretches expectantly from the flames of hell towards heaven to celebrate the 'Inauguration Of Lucifer'. What sounds like a flawless black metal record, however, has as much to do with black metal as the pope, as you can perhaps already guess from a band name like Lucifer Star Machine.

The five guys from Hamburg / Lower Saxony play on their now fifth longplayer a rather moody mix of heavy metal and punk, which will make all those happy who were rather disappointed by the last Hellacopters CD. Also influences like Motörhead, (old) Volbeat or Gluecifer become quite clear on Satanic Age and mixed together it results in a really cool melange that invites you to drink beer and pogo. A song like 'Black Axe' is an asstight punk n' roll number that comes across pretty snappy and leaves no questions. Also 'Cunt Of Destruction' (I had to laugh because of the title) or 'Psychic Vampires' go in the same punky direction and have a lot of pepper in the ass. Cool guitar solos and snotty vocals create a pleasantly stiff atmosphere and you feel right in the middle of a stale beer puddle. But that's how it has to be with this kind of music. But "Lucifer Star Machine" can also be soulful, at least a little bit. 'Hard Luck Mary' is not a ballad, but it is a bit more atmospheric than the other songs. This is partly due to the somewhat throttled tempo compared to the other songs, but also to the somewhat more melodic vocals, especially in the chorus. 'Naked City' is a cover version of the Kiss song which was originally released on their “Unmasked” album. If Tor, their vocalist, hadn't told me that, I wouldn't have noticed it because this punkish version matches perfectly into their own songs. With 'Till Death' the Hanseatic devils have saved another highlight until the end. Again a bit more melodic than the rest of the 12 songs plus intro, the closer is a straight punk rock song that remains gripping and interesting with its hook lines until the end.

As far as I can say for myself, there are no failures on the album and the songs are all on a really very entertaining level. So if you're in the mood for a disc to drink a beer to and have fun with friends this year, you'll be pleased with Satanic Age! 

Rating: 8.5 out of 10 Lucifers