Lux Occulta - The Mother and the Enemy

Holy album cover! Whoever decided that a boob could be a face has some serious issues. Once I get past that haunting mammary, The Mother and the Enemy is no less strange. The most recent album by on-hiatus Lux Occulta, it was evidently too weird for its drummer, who jumped ship during the recording sessions! The album is my first introduction to this Krakow band, and after several listens, I still don’t know what to think. I’ve counted these ingredients thus far:

– Death metal with tons of twisting guitar runs
– Raspy black metal vocals
– Symphonic keyboards and industrial textures
– Trip hop beats for half the album
– A random acoustic jazz interlude
– Somewhat crappy, thin production
– Female vocals from a hot Polish model
– Two members of Decapitated in the last known lineup

Despite, or perhaps because of all this, the album is oddly intriguing. Maybe it was too much for its original label, who evidently cut and ran on it. Metal Mind reissued it this year, but, really, with a fresh remix/remaster (and perhaps a slipcase for decency’s sake), it could be one of those WTF masterpieces from The End Records.

Until the band resolves its existential crisis, pick up this headscratcher/banger from CM Distro or Amazon.