Released in 2001, The Mother and The Enemy is the fifth release by the Polish black metal band Lux Occulta. The album, released by Metal Minds Poland, contains ten tracks that are hardcore, earsplitting, and somewhat — scary. This album is harder than Matt Hughes in a tub full of cocaine!
At first this album was what I thought was a stereotypical black metal album. The lyrics are done in a shrieking manner — so much so in fact, that they are damn hard to understand. It is a good thing the lyrics are printed in the jacket. The mix is very tight though, and I have to admit the recording was clean. That is not what struck me however.
As I listened to the album I was shocked when suddenly trip hop was blended in. Hardcore metal mixing in trip hop? What the hell? It's like Portishead winning a Mixed Martial Arts match with a full on knockout! Wow, I thought. And it's not like it was done once. No, these guys mixed it in throughout the whole album. It truly gives the dark metal heads an introduction into another style of music.
The artwork of the album is every bit as twisted as the music. Mixing nudity with dark disturbing themes makes the jacket one that is not for the faint of heart. I would definitely not recommend leaving it out for the children to see.
This album is truly a treat for anyone wanting to delve into the world of black metal, but still maintain some hint of "control" with the trip hop mixed in.
Or maybe not. Perhaps this is black metal finally going over the edge? Is that possible? Either way, I may not be a fan of this style of music (trip hop), but I am definitely intrigued enough to give this a chance by listening to the album a few more times. It's an interesting enough mix of two genres to be worthy of a listen by hardcore fans of either of these seemingly opposite styles.
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