From the Facebook page, LVX CAELIS is "Dedicating this work to those who have eyes to see and ears to hear. To those who wish to be liberated from earthly slavery and be reborn in spirit. Give yourself as a lamb, destroy your ego... Pass the thresholds and step upon the four elements of the cursed creation. Sacred is the Light. Sacred is the Trial. Sacred is the Cross. Sacred is the Fire!" Formed in Santiago, Chile, in 2004, "Maher Shalal Hash Baz" is the band's third full-length release, and contains seven tracks.

"Beyond the Falling Stars" opens the album. Some harrowing programming in the beginning sounds like the soundtrack you might hear on your way to Hades. The guitars come in, a bit calm and hesitant at first. The vocals are semi-discernable which is unusual for most Black Metal. From there, a more traditional Black Metal sound ensues. "Fading into Golgotha" opens with a flurry of instrumentation. The pace is hastened and the vocals become more guttural. The riff at about the half-way mark is nasty and aggressive, and they turn up the fright a notch. "Throne of Doom" is a mid-tempo number with steady galloping drum work at first that slows to a filthy crawl. It picks up a bit around the half-way mark with a powerful, commanding riff.

"The Beginning was the End" opens with a hasty pace that slows a little bit later to let the harrowing sound develop. It picks up again, alternating between the two paces. "Kiss the Skull" goes right for your throat out of the gates, with fast picked guitars and the steady gallop of drums. It slows again after the half-way mark and then picks back up. This pattern develops in most of the songs, I've noticed. "Raising above the Demiurge" has a slower, more purposeful pace, which shifts again. The vocals remain the constant on the album so far, filthy and intense. "Awakening the Final Chaos" closes the album, with an evil riff in the beginning. Out of nowhere, an ambient passage makes an appearance, with clean vocals and guitars...a sign of the intensity to come. And boy does it come, ending with a crescendo of instruments and vocals and then a short, atmospheric fade-out.

Overall, it was just a run-of-the-mill Black Metal album that didn't take any chances. Integrity? Sure...but for the name's sake? I get that a band who has been around for 15 years wants to  make a product that they can be proud of, but with all the variations in Black Metal these days why not do something to distinguish yourselves, and add a little flair in here and there, like they did in the final track a bit. Too many of the songs sounded the same to me, that was the final straw.