Lucifer's Hammer are back with their debut album Beyond the Omens which follows their Night Sacrifice demo. They are still going after the early Iron Maiden angle, if anything even harder than they did on the demo. The addition of guitarist Sebastian Inzuna (a.k.a. Hypnos) has raised this band's game to another level in terms of the music. The solos absolutely wail and the interplay of the two guitars is classic Murray/Harris without actually ripping off any particular riffs. This is some good shit. The instrumental track "Lucifer's Hammer" showcases all of the band's Maiden aspirations with a fantastic riff, galloping bass line and sweet solo. The vocals are still Lucifer's Hammer's downfall because singer Hades is no closer to finding the right note on a regular basis than he was on the demo. It really takes a song like "Dying," which has a cool riff and guitar tone, down a couple of notches when he starts warbling all over the map, only occasionally syncing up with the music. If it weren't for the vocals, Beyond the Omens would be aces so, note to the band; let's address that, OK? Even as it stands, Lucifer's Hammer is well worth a listen if you like old school, Traditional Heavy Metal.
