History & Biography Lucifugum was formed in 1995 in Zhytomyr, Ukraine by apostate Khlyst (lyrics and vocals as of 2014), guitarist/bassist Bal-a-Myth and singer Faunus. The latter left Lucifugum in 2001, while the former died in his sleep on October 5th 2002 after abusing drugs. He had recorded his last album in pain. Khlyst utilized many session musicians until uniting with Stabaath (later in unholy matrimony) and moving to Mykolayiv. Ellena’s first album was 2003’s Vector 33, which referred to the supposed age of Jesus upon death. The band announced an album called Anaphora Lithu Actinism for the tail-end of 2021.
Propaganda reported that Lucifugum was working on a new album amidst the Russian invasion in 2022. American label Dark Horizon Records had illegally printed Lucifugum Instinct Prevelance T-shirts after having delayed the band two years for a CD re-issue of the same. Five Lucifugum albums dating from 1996 to 2002 were being re-released as LPs by GoatowaRex. A portion of the funds was donated to the Ukrainian army. Lucifugum was working on a new record called Adanom in 2024. It was to contain an intro and two songs, one in Ukrainian called Смола у крові нашій and one in English called Lucispear. The band reported that a proposed five-LP compilation through GoatowaRex was AWOL and the merchandise from Dark Horizon Records (USA) was unauthorised.
Khlyst and his wife Stabbath own Propaganda. The band shared members and ideology with Nokturnal Mortum for a while, but have since had a difference of opinion and drifted apart.
Reviews LUCIFUGUM - THE SUPREME ART OF GENOCIDE - PROPAGANDA 
Ukraine’s Lucifugum is a band with a ten-year history in the underground, although one would not know it given the black metallers’ profile. The group can probably be correctly compared to names like Nachtmystium and Craft. Like those bands Lucifugum rarely speeds up, preferring to stay in the mid-tempo mode, but compensates that with intensity and anti-Christian fervour - the true essence of black metal. Songs are intense, repetitive, droning, treble and topped with vocals, which croak and creak with the enthusiasm of a tormented demon possessed by the sperm of Satan. The two members do not play; they attack, as they like to remind us. Sadly, the Ukranian lyrics give little clue as to their content other than the band’s overarching theme. All the same, while it is always good to see serious bands with an affinity for the core essence of their art, it is even better to hear them in a world riddled with compromise and commercialism. Darkthrone would be proud. - Ali “The Metallian”
LUCIFUGUM - INVOLTATION - PROPAGANDA 
The rating for the newest Lucifugum album was bumped up because of the band’s strong convictions. Information like “Not for degenerative black 'n' roll fans,” or “no internet wallpaper” or “members don’t have any side-projects” are examples of the Ukrainian group’s superior way of thinking. No need to run to MySpace to find the band’s page. There never will be one.
The music itself is hardly that good. The noisy black metal is supplemented with a fuzzy sound and much damaged by the most light, hollow and empty drum sound ever. The drums sound like a spatula bouncing off a cooking pan. It is terrible. The vocals, in contrast, are vomiting and blasphemous. The singer sounds like the evil spirit of every snake in the Sahara possesses her. Forget influences for they are not relevant. Involtation is not about music, but rather a social statement. - Anna Tergel
LUCIFUGUM - TRI NITY LIMB RITUAL - PROPAGANDA 
The prolific Ukrainians remain true to their non-commercialism. Their style remains "in the vein of themselves" without internet hype or presence. The band admits that they do make up words and therefore their lyrics are not always translatable from Ukrainian. The CD does include a message of sorts in English in which the duo dismiss life as meaningless especially in the context of seeking perfection within this realm. All in all these six songs and 33 minutes are done as Khlyst and Stabaath want it. Шествие (Procession) is a short intro that does include the voice and words of Khlyst. Восприяти, воск и перья is mostly mid-paced and often dominated by the screams and vocals. Nothing really stands out and that is perhaps how they want it to be. Человек черту чертил like the song before it runs at over six minutes. Stabaath continues on her mid-paced and not exactly intense pace as the vocals go on, sometimes angrier than other times. Божественное бесплодие picks up the pace a little bit. Не дай бог! (God Forbid!) has a screaming more aggressive start but settles into a more familiar pace. Да буду отлучен! ends this piece of art as the band are keen to point out with more of a no frills black metal feel. The CD includes a "ritual video" for Замок преддверия. – Anna Tergel
LUCIFUGUM - ANAPHORA LITHU ACTINISM - PROPAGANDA
The duo of Khlyst and Stabaath, who consistently shun publicity and commercialism, are last known to be stuck (and alive) amidst the war in Ukraine. As of this text their Propaganda label site features an appeal to directly support the Ukrainian army, via a National Bank of Ukraine account. These seven songs recorded long before the current crisis showcase what has come to be expected from the prolific duo. The opening intro called Парад пепла - detected by Google Translate as being Russian - is a raw demonstration of the said style. Screams and under produced sounds is simply their brand of unpretentious black metal. The remaining six songs average over five minutes in length. The pace rarely ventures beyond what is presented at the start. Mid-paced or something just a bit more means that on the few occasions that the pace changes it catches the listener even more. One such example is in the middle of Иконотопье where a scream stands out the most and another example is the more extreme closer. Anaphora Lithu Actinism is something the duo knows how to do without the need to be acknowledged. The cover art reflects the style as well with a complex hell-ish scene in black & white. It is perhaps apt that the aforementioned closer is called Кенотаф разума or Cenotaph Of Reason. – Anna Tergel
Interviews
|
