Mehta Kya Kehta?

In a world that has grown used to the heaviest of music, there are still bands to which one can’t even feign immunity. My paternal grandmother (Ba) was immune to Napalm Death and would occasionally nod along when I used to headbang to Utopia Banished, and she didn’t mind all the thrash metal I listened to back then. Hell, she was as fascinated by My Dying Bride as I was. But then there was Slayer, a band Ba just couldn’t handle. Every time she’d be hovering around, I’d put Divine Intervention on, and she’d cover her ears and stick her tongue out and go as far away as possible. If Ba were alive today, I’d put some fucking Samael on just to see her hobble out of the fucking room.

Samael started off by playing thrashy black metal, and later switched to industrial thrashy black metal. No complaints here, bands that have switched styles have often thrown great music at us, and Samael has always been in my list of ‘top-10-bands-that-switched-styles’.

Lux Mundi is a typical Samael album. Pain-inducing electronic sounds join forces with riffs that define how power chords are supposed to make you feel, the programmed drums pounding away at your swollen brain, the breaks in the songs keeping you from becoming numb.

It’s absolutely pointless talking about Lux Mundi track-by-track; Samael has always (since they went industrial, actually) been about Xytraguptor displaying his genius at structuring music that can dislocate your jaw, and Vorphalack delivering hate speeches over those ferocious riffs.

Xytraguptor is not a bhaiya, but he is also known as Xytras, and he can give your granny some real traas. Xy and Vorph are brothers, and Vorphu’s vocal delivery is hateful enough to make Al-Qaeda feel like a cricket team about to lose the match.

Any more information you need? Yes, if getting beheaded couldn’t stop you from headbanging to that anthem Rain from Passage, beware – In Gold We Trust will have a similar effect on you. And of course, the new anthem Antigod squats comfortably on this one.

Lux Mundi is harsh modern industrial black metal from the great Samael.

RATING: 3.5/5