Night Sacrifice Demo MMXIII

Are you ready for another band that's going to the well of 80s-style Heavy Metal? Lucifer's Hammer hails from Chile and their three song demo, Night Sacrifice Demo MMXIII, originally released in 2013 on cassette by the band, is getting a new cassette release in 2014 courtesy of Shadow Kingdom Records. Rather than Death Metal, the predominant export from South America, Lucifer's Hammer goes straight to the Iron Maiden blueprint. Melodic riffs, twin guitars (most likely overdubs as there is only one guitarist listed on the band's Facebook page) and the sort of solos made famous by the duo of Murray and Smith characterize all three songs on Night Sacrifice Demo MMXIII. There's a hint of Warlord in Lucifer's Hammer's sound (not to mention the band name, which while taken from a novel, is also one of Warlord's most well-known songs), mostly due to the drums, which have a big, almost Doom feel, a la Mark Zonder. Musically, these guys aren't doing anything new but the songwriting is solid with playing to match. The area they will need to address is the vocals. The guitarist also handles the microphone and he has a sort of Paul Di'Anno style but he's often off key, something that really detracts from the songs. It is painfully obvious there was no studio help with the singing and while I congratulate them for that, they are going to need an improved effort if they want to take the next step.

There are some flaws on Night Sacrifice Demo MMXIII but there's also enough promise to put Lucifer's Hammer on the radar and I hope we hear something better on the next release.