To win battles you need to summon your best warriors. To annihilate your enemies you need to devise the best strategy. To conquer you need to prevail in the battlefield. To diminish the light you have to embrace it in endless darkness. As such did THOU ART LORD, the Greek Black Metallers in their brand new fifth deliverance "The Regal Pulse of Lucifer". A band that started as a project, featuring a lineup of the elite of Greek Black Metaller with Necromayhem (Sakis Tolis of ROTTING CHRIST on guitar) and The Magus (George Zacharopoulos of NECROMANTIA on the bass) joined by original vocalist Gothmog (John Hiotellis of MORTIFY). The three members that appeared together in the first recordings of the band have returned stronger than ever, having to their ranks Maelstrom on drums and El on keyboards.

A mere "Nine Steps to Hell" are needed for the listener to enter the infernal kingdom as the first song suggests. The opener track comes under a thunderstorm of blast beats, growls and traditional Black Metal scratching but somewhere in the middle it changes to groovier tempo with cool guitar harmonics while in the bridge keyboards are dominant. "Πολιτεία Δαιμόνων" (State of Demons) opens in an amazing black n roll style (like the old VENOM stuff) but progresses in blast beats and a chorus that sticks in your head. Probably the best and most "catchy" song of the record (or maybe not?). "Das Messer" (the knife) is pure Black Metal madness with infernal blast beats and a most evil atmosphere. The sound of a heart beating introduces "The Regal Pulse of Lucifer" and shrieking vocals with disharmonic arpeggios enter. The homonymous song goes on a much slower tempo and has a Doomish direction. Both "Artifial Malevolence" and "Justice Profana" initiate on heavy riffs before all hell breaks loose. After a creepy intro the devil himself presents his evangelism and dual harmony riff kicks in amidst blast beats and growling and shrieking vocals in "L'Evangelium de Diable" another killer track of the record. "Infernarium" is based on mid paced down stroked riffs but still infused with a lot of blast beats. The record ends with "Fire and Blood" which is based lyrically on the Song of Fire and Ice (or Game of Thrones for the TV series fans) and ends with a rendition of the TV theme in Black Metal and it is so damn addictive.

"The Regal Pulse of Lucifer" is a record that was built on influences from the roots of the Black and Death Metal genre as well as elements from the members' personal bands. The final result is an amalgam of the aforementioned sounds distilled and processed, that is evil, dark, chaotic but most of all an immensely brutal and apocryphal. The songs have a lot of variations and the riffs have the proper analogy of heaviness and brutality. The drumming is varying a lot with lots of great fills, technical playing and the required outbreaks in the blast beats. The bass is not very prominent in the levels but it remains in constant support of the drums. The keyboards fill nicely where needed, playing their role in creating an eerie and malevolent atmosphere. The most impressive thing in the record is the vocals. Gothmog wicked growls are the main thing but they are complemented by The Magus' shrieks which tend towards classic Black Metal and Necromayhem's characteristic baritone screams. This is the gathering of some of the most characteristic voices in the extreme Greek scene and their clear and defined roles are the highlight of the record. The production is as clean as needed and everything sounds very organic. The cover of record, made by Manuel Tinnemans, depicts perfectly the title and the atmosphere of this abysmal creation.

THOU ART LORD eight years after "Orgia Daemonicum" have returned with "The Regal Pulse of Lucifer", a demonstration of pure, evil Black Metal. Each song is a killer unit on its own and that shows the extensive work done on the songwriting. The combined forces of Gothmog, Magus and Necromayhem have unleashed an old school black metal masterpiece, bathed in the virtues of the dark lord. The record refueled my interest in that genre (as did the latest DEATHSPELL OMEGA release) and shows that records can be still wicked and malevolent. It is definitely one of the best releases of 2013 and if you are into that kind of music you must not miss this tremendous release (which you can check here nuclearwarnowproductions.bandcamp.com/album/the-regal-pulse-of-lucifer).

The unhallowed beat of "The Regal Pulse of Lucifer" marks the triumphant return of THOU ART LORD to the Black Metal scene.