review by: Roberto Martinelli

I’d like to publicly acknowledge that I’m a total dork for having given the Lugubrum/Finsternis split a bad review (in issue #9). The write up basically says that Lugubrum is a Darkthrone clone and that the compositions are of little if any interest.

Whatever. If by any chance I turned you off to this band, go back and change everything that I said, for Lugubrum is the best thing since...well, Darkthrone, and maybe even better.

Yes, Lugubrum is very much in the Darkthrone style in terms of sound and cult feel, but it’s got many unique dimensions, of which musically are killer doom riffs and slow songs that space out the fast ones brilliantly.

But the surface is still merely being scratched, for there is so much more to enjoy about this band. Lugubrum plays “Boersk black metal,” which translates to “total goofballs from Flemish Belgium who dress up like Hillbillies and worship beer, carrots and shit. Oh, yeah, and they also play necro black metal.”

It’s impossible for Lugubrum to be a Darkthrone clone, not with personality like that. Only a unique band could yield such song titles as “Beard of Disease” and “Midgets of Evil,” and could give such hilarious interviews (read up on them at http://www.fmp666.com/lugubrum/lugubrum.html).

Certainly we at Maelstrom would not recommend a band simply because it amuses us (well, maybe we would, but we’d tell you so), for Lugubrum goes beyond a wacky theme; cult spills from this band’s work like beer from an overflowing stein. The sound, the riffs, the delivery... all is perfect. Stuff like a logo with two arms crossed and hands doing the sign of the horns while holding a carrot and a beer bottle, and with the caption “beer us or die!!!” is just icing.

Speaking of icing, this reissue of De Totem comes with two bonus tracks, which are great. Ok, enough reading for you. All true black metal fans as well as those with a unique appreciation for the bizarre are obliged to get everything this band has ever recorded. (9.5/10)