I bought the first Lucifer album on the strength of its debut single, “Izrael”, and the stellar vocals of frontwoman Johanna Sadonis. Unfortunately, there was only one other track on said album that grabbed me (lead-off number “Abracadabra”). The rest wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t all that interesting.
For the project’s second outing, only Sadonis remains from the original lineup. The most notable new recruit is Nicke Andersson (Entombed, The Hellacopters) on guitar and drums. From the very first track, “California Son”, it’s obvious Mr. Andersson’s songwriting skills have been well utilized. Even when he blatantly steals the signature clean guitar riff from Black Sabbath’s “Children of the Sea” for Lucifer’s “Dreamer”, it’s put to such good use that I’m willing to forgive his musical larceny. Third track “Phoenix” sounds like something that could have wound up on a later period Hellacopters album.
