If Graveland is Poland’s Darkthrone, Lux Occulta could well be Poland’s Cradle of Filth. With this, I am not referring to commerciality, but overall accessability. If there is a band that would turn the eyes of the wider metal audience to Poland, it would most likely be Lux Occulta. This, their second album is a compromise between esoteric occult in-depth knowledge and cheesy gothic keyboard orchestrations, reminding of certain movie soundtracks. This work certainly is individualistic, but is their any content? Musically, Lux Occulta is proficient but not technical. The keyboard work is complex but not entirely dominant. Vocals are mostly quite thin, yet aggressive, sometimes even melodramatic in the top of the melodic, very constructed music. An obvious understanding of classical music shows here, yet with a tendency of falling towards the easy way, the trap of pop-music and easy, catchy soundtrack tunes that convey atmospheres and help in the individual progressions of nice songs, but not in the construction of a work of deep occult magnitude that probably is the goal of this band. The riffs are not entirely linear and work reasonably originally against the keyboards, occasionally with direct correlation, occasionally more indirectly. The fast and fervent double-bass kicks aid the majestic tension in the music and the snare beats coupled with the cymbal slashes are slower, as the melodies reach their climax in a pseudo-classical manner.

As a conclusion I will say, yes, there is content to this music. This album will actually have the most appeal for the "middle-way" of black metal audience, as the purists will not appreciate the entertainment factor and the most mainstream people will be bored by the inner seriousness and lack of distinct hooks in the music.

© 1999 black hate