Now, we can get all cynical as to the band's plethora of influences and identities: Italian or Indian? English or Sanskrit? Or maybe Latin? Hinduism or Satanism? Maybe all of the above? Maybe none of the above?

As cynical as one chooses to become in regards to this band; as dismissive and hastily judging this album as you wish to be, there is one truth that floats upon the water no one can deny: this album is the standard for the counter-culture some of us are still proud to be associated with. This album, its hostility, its non-musicality, its beautiful ugliness, are all a banner raised high at the face of the mainstream. It can scream "fuck you"; it can say "our existence is undeniable"; it can say "we are a door to another dimension other than this nonsensical post-modern consumer lunacy and faceless uniformity"; but mostly, I think, this album shouts louder than most: "you are pop, we are not!", with as many exclamation marks as you want...

Everything about this album is a challenge; listening to this album in one session is a test of will and endurance. Not only is it outrageously long (more than 72 minutes), but it is also divided into two unmerciful tracks of about 36 minutes each, containing some of the most unfriendly riffs known to metal and played in an excruciatingly slow pace. The guitars, which are powerful and dominant enough, are only the backdrop for the real players of this bizarre horror show, namely the vocals and the drum section. Even though the riffs are droning and repetitive, it is the drumming and the vocal treatment that enhance the music and induce a trance-like, spiritual and dark an atmosphere which accompanies the listener throughout the recording.

_Lux Deerit Soli_ is a unique album, like nothing else out there. Not especially the re-inventors of the wheel, Malasangre adhere to musicality and melody, not allowing the album to succumb to utter noise even for a fleeting second, but treating melody in a way it ultimately generates acute love/hate flirtations with the listener. The music is both euphonious and dissonant at the the breath; atmospheric and desolate at the very same second; its dynamics are absent, so in the end what pushes the music further, and with it, the listener's interest, is the mystery factor and the fact it never reveals itself fully to one's ears, like a shy yet beautiful creature that hides in its own shadows, due to the fact revealing itself completely would be too much to bear; seeing its whole, its secrets, its colours in one vision, one gulp, would burn anybody's eyes from seeing any further.

You need this album for your sleepless nights when your inner demons are restless and in dire need of something to be fed upon. Proceed with caution.