LUSTMORD
PURIFYING FIRE
COMPILATION SOLEILMOON RELEASE: SEPTEMBER, 2000 REVIEW: OCTOBER 10, 2000


Hostile, barren, dystrophic. So is the soundworld of Lustmord. Still it's a place that's hard to resist revisiting once you've let yourself gravitate towards it. On "Purifying Fire", Lustmord has assembled six tracks recorded between 1995 to 1998, that have previously only been available on a hard to get twelve inch and a couple of compilations. On the whole, these compositions seem to be recorded in the same harsh spirit as the recently reissued "The Monstrous Soul", and are just as captivating.
"Strange Attractor" is a nerve tickling 14-minute piece; a 3D-sculpted soundscape that evokes images of slowly moving glaciers - perhaps apocalyptic visions of a coming ice age? "Black Star" creates an almost unbearably heavy atmosphere with its threatening droning accompanied by a monstrous roar. Meanwhile, "Permafrost" is the shortest piece with its six minutes, but so bone-chilling it makes Pan Sonic feel like a trip to Mallorca.

KRISTOFFER NOHEDEN