‘Luzifers Abschied’ (Lucifer’s Farewell), is a work based upon the fourth act of Karlheinz Stockhausen’s opera, Samstung aus Licht (Saturday from Light) – the second in a series of seven operas composed for the opera cycle Licht: die sieben Tage der Woche (Light: The Seven Days of the Week). ‘Luzifers Abschied’ is the concluding part of Samstung aus Licht and a ceremony of exorcism; an exorcism of the ultimate figure of evil, Satan himself. The band describe their music as Acousmatic Black Metal, and it is certainly quite different to anything else I have come across. Acousmatic sound is sound that is heard without being able to see the origin, or cause of the sound. The current line-up is Akousmatikoi (scores, enharmonic electric bass, audio mixing, sound synthesizer), Lunurumh (voices), Michel Doneda (soprano saxophone), Le Quan Ninh (percussion), Jason Van Gulick (drums), Kasper T. Toeplitz (bass), Antoine Chessex (tenor saxophone) and Paolo Sanna (waterphone).
But, this isn’t an album of music as such, and the instruments are there just to have their sounds ripped apart and distorted into something that is probably the closest to evil I have ever heard in an aural form. This is not music in any normal sense of the word, but something that belongs as a soundtrack to the most horrific nightmare of a film ever made. It would be perfect to be played on a Ghost Train ride, but only if the owner wanted the punters to be terrified out of their skins. This is an album that certainly is an acquired taste, and given that they have been releasing music for some years now it does make me wonder if the others are in a similar vein. This is only for those who deem themselves to be musically adventurous.
