Lucifugum
Vector33

When it comes to Ukraine, in the collective imagination, we think of beautiful blonde women with blue eyes ready to fulfill every kind of desire... However, when listening to the record by the Naumchuk couple, there's nothing blonde here; only the bleakest pitch black accompanies this work by Lucifugum, considered among the leading exponents of Ukrainian black metal.

Of course, to entertain the faithful followers, the Priest and his Priestess, skilled initiators of the foulest and most sacrilegious doctrines, couldn't be absent. Indeed, Priestess is the word because "Vector33" is the first album where Stabaath, (Khlyst's malevolent consort) records voice, bass guitar, and keyboard.

But let's delve into the darkest recesses of this album, let the ritual begin!

The first track is introduced by pestilential sounds, foul-smelling refuse, poisonous carcasses of animal aborts and one is hurled into a world where flies and hornets feed on excrement, where knife blades are sharpened, pigs are slaughtered,
prophetic voices of Orthodox priests drive away the creatures of evil, in short, various noises, perhaps a prelude to a massacre??? "Siloj Slepogo Secheniya" thus leads us into these ominous atmospheres, secret places, places where creatures eager for blood gather.

"Brezji plebozhizni" immediately enters maliciously without breath, the pace becomes faster and relentless, there is a thirst for blood and it's palpable, the continuity of the tracks will somewhat be the common thread of this work, like the different phases of an incessant ritual, a black mass, a blasphemous shamanic procession that will bring all its followers into a trance state that will cease only with the sacrifice of blood.
The track in question with the unpronounceable name (the choice to leave the titles in the original language is dubious), highlights the repetitive, hypnotic drum sound, easily recognizable and the true protagonist of the track, interspersed with a scream really well executed by Stabaath... (she's a woman!)

"Kist'yu cherrvistrajsti" continues in the same vein as the previous track, the synth and the drums become more evident, there is no intention to break free from the malevolent chant. Now the adepts gathered in a circle recite sacred satanic verses.

And here is "Molitvon", in my opinion, the best moment of the entire procession, which is introduced by the macabre sound of black gypsy drums, the drums conspicuous as if to mark the rhythm of a macabre dance, a procession, a long queue that after giving thanks to the demon now brings their gifts to the altar of sacrifice! Hypnotic, decisive, malevolent and malevolent the use of the synth, repetitive, relentless, without pause, the growl is less decisive, more raw, almost blurred, hoarse, perhaps made less audible by the followers now almost brainwashed by the most blasphemous writings.

In "Proklyat'e Chjornogo Nachala", the macabre synth is once again dominant, the scream of the priestess of darkness follows it, and these two components, assisted by the arcane whippings of the drums, blend everything and carry us ever deeper into a trance, ever deeper into a black vortex that knows no end even before the creamiest blood...

"Black metal Must Be....!!!" the last track, wicked as it needs to be, reveals in its title an arcane meaning.
The followers, after drinking the blood, swear loyalty before the altar of evil, aware that if they betray, they will become victims of their companions. The curtain falls.

Sinister and chilling melodies have accompanied this black mass. "Vector 33" is not an easy album to listen to, it has something avant-garde in the experimentation of melodies, and something gypsy in the refinement of certain moods, yet in the three-quarters of an hour of this breathless album, the hypnotic melodies reign and in my opinion, turn out a bit too repetitive, a stylistic exercise that strays from the most classic black metal canons and fails to break through that door leading to new sonic paths; despite this, the lethal mix of hypnotic melodies and satanic screams succeeds in its aim of bringing the most deranged listener into a near-hypnotic state, a fine journey towards secret woods, dark caves, blood-stained altars, a one-way journey to the most malevolent and satanic darkness.