I met singer Erik (formerly of PRE MORTEM) at the Wacken Open Air 2004 and this time he gave me this first demo of his new Death Metal band THE LUCIFER PRINCIPLE. The second one is already scheduled for the end of 2005. What we get on “Burn!” is pretty far from PRE MORTEM: a lot more straight and back to the roots. The opening track ‘The Stench Of Your Bloodline’ is the fastest one: particularly European and very old school with a catchy and powerful chorus. ‘I Am The Law’ is slower: a mid tempo crusher for drinking beer, banging that head of yours and screaming along the vocals. Nice melodic lead guitar that doesn’t get too sweet. ‘Dei Gratia’ has quite a Swedish touch I think. Reminds me a little of early HYPOCRISY hymns with a short calm passage in the centre. The beginning of ‘In A Bloodstained Paradise’ reminds me a little of BOLT THROWER but I can’t recall a single BOLT THROWER song being as slow as this one and, of course, not that groovy. Maybe it’s the sinister approach to melody. The chorus is pretty orgasmic. Nice thrashy part, by the way. The final blast ‘I Am The Iconoclast’ already starts out with an orgasm before it first turns into a headbanger, then a neckbreaker before the easily memorable chorus comes and a beautiful solo lets the tears running. I think Erik mentioned they use a contrabass. Actually, the last few notes on “Burn” belong to that instrument alone. Concerning Death Metal, people who are (or at least feel) at least as old as me and who like their stuff slow are probably gonna like THE LUCIFER PRINCIPLE quite a bit. They’re one of the first bands confirmed for Fuck The Commerce 2006, by the way. www.tlp-pla.net