One of the best things about Adelaide’s Lucifer’s Fall is their apparently complete refusal to acknowledge that modern life exists. There’s a picture of the band on their Facebook page that shows them wearing shirts representing Bolt Thrower, Black Sabbath, Witchfinder General and Blue Öyster Cult, and whilst that mix doesn’t quite resemble what the actual band sound is like, it does go some way to explaining where they come from and what they are trying to achieve…

It’s not all sepia-tinted nostalgia, however; From the Deep, recorded and mixed by Jarred Nettle, benefits from a huge and very modern sound – but for the most part what we have here is a band exploring and mining it’s influences to create a sound that, whilst reverent of the past never seeks to profit by simply replicating it.

In the process of this the band cover most bases familiar to fans of ‘classic metal’, not least that great, long-lost eighties metal artefact the ‘hit single’; had it been released in 1984, The very perky Reverend Revenant would have found itself riding high in the charts, with Milkmen all around the country whistling it’s jaunty ‘hey! hey!’ refrain as they delivered your daily pinta. This is undoubtedly a good thing, but it’s just one part of the bigger picture which sees Lucifer’s Fall building a massive, dynamically-attractive album that recognises the fact that melody is at least as important as unbridled muscle. There’a plenty of the latter, of course, with opening track Trident Steel in particular laying down the law in strident and very heavy fashion. But the overall balance between the two poles is maintained nicely, and the listener never feels as if they are about to be bludgeoned into unwanted submission by the sheer weight of ‘for the sake of it’ rifferama, which makes a refreshing change.

Whatever the musical mood, the vocals of Deceiver are a particular highlight; It’s never easy to hold your own as a singer when you have a quartet behind you as sturdy as that which is featured here, but Deceiver’s stentorian, declamatory bellow does just that. Never resorting to mere growling or grunting, his clear enunciation again draws a line back to ‘the old times’, but it suits what the band are trying to achieve perfectly. This is intelligent music, and as such will attract listeners who can appreciate light and shade as much as they do sturm und drang. Highly recommended!

From The Deep releases on August 8th.