LUCIFER'S FRIEND

This rather confidential German band certainly deserves some attention, in particular for the ones who appreciate a band like the Heep with some heavier feel à la Sabbath ("Ride In The Sky"). Surprisingly enough, their vocalist is not German and will spend a huge time afterwards as the lead singer of ?the Heep (Lawton).

The music is certainly heavy, but the extensive use of keys provides a great feeling. It is amazing to figure out that this album was released some forty years ago and that this band didn't receive more credit neither at the time, nor later for this very good album is quite unfortunate.

To be honest, I had never heard of the band in the seventies; but it was a good surprise to discover them some years ago thanks to PA.

There is not much I can add to the reviews posted before: this is great hard to heavy rock with loads of pumping keys (hi Jon & Ken), strong bass play (Keep Goin') and fine guitar riffs as well. I have to say that John Lawton is particularly convincing as well. Especially during "Keep Going" that is my favourite song of the whole album.

There is indeed a certain Purple affinity as well ("Toxic Shadows"). When you listen to "In Rock" in parallel with this "Lucifer's Friends" debut, the comparison is quite obvious. Great references for sure?

The whole album is quite pleasant to listen to (if you like the early days of hard rock music of course). The comparison of their German counterparts ("Jane", "Birth Control") is totally accurate as well. In all; the music performed should please any old freak that is willing to be sent back to this fantastic early seventies period (and I am a HUGE fan of these hey days of rock music).

There is also a certain psyche feel ("In the Time of Job When Mammon?") which is not a surprise in this time of release. The title track has some acquaintances with "Black Widow" which was also another underrated band.

These guys were truly pioneers and as such deserve a deep respect. This is the reason why I will upgrade their debut to four stars. It is worth seven out of ten on my scale, because song writing is somewhat deficient but as a whole this album is quite a ride and is definitely worth a spin (if I were you).

Bonus tracks are not on par to my opinion even if the instrumentals "Satyr's Dance" and "Horla" are quite decent).