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 LUSTMORD
Purifying Fire
2000
Soleilmoon Recordings Sol98CD
73:51
Blowing hot and cold to good effect, Lustmord raise the temperature
with an intriguing compilation of droneworks recorded for various sources
and labels over the last few years. The first three, icily brilliant,
tracks serve to lull the listener into a false sense of security: this
is deeper, darker, dirtier Thomas Koner, all drifting snowscapes
and bright, dangerous volcanic scatter. Then comes 'Black Star', a bringing
together of the older tracks 'Heresy' and 'The Place Where The Black Stars
Hang' and new material, which starts off down the same shiny, rumbling
path, then jolts the listener out of his (or her) contemplative torpor
with the super-loud wailing of some ghastly unmusical devil-summoner,
the blare answered by a series of booming, furious, bestial howls. I am
reminded of nothing quite so much as the unfortunate Ash in Evil Dead
2, temporarily host to a playful-yet-malevolent demon, baying in agony
at a full and bloody moon. After this highlight the edgy strings of 'Permafrost'
(which is of course also the title of one of Koner's best albums, as well
as being a silly song by Magazine once upon a time) are a bit of
a let down, but with the beginning of closing track 'Of Fire and of Ice'
we are back on course again: glacial wind effects, steely shivers, ominous
bassy grumbling. Towards the end of all this Lustmord launches briefly
into late seventies Tangerine Dream type synth and drum patter,
a curiously upbeat conclusion to an engrossing, stimulating recording,
which is all the more creditable in that - despite the diversity of its
origins - it hangs together well as a coherent and persuasive whole.
STEWART GOTT - 2 November 2000
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