Band:	Lux Occulta
Album:	Kołysanki
Style:	Extreme avantgarde metal
Release date:	March 13, 2014
A review by:	Auntie Sahar

01. Dymy
02. Samuel Wraca Do Domu
03. Mieczów Siedem
04. Serca Tu Mają Tylko Dzwony
05. Sen Jest Lżejszy Od Powietrza
06. Karawanem Fiat
07. Bieluń I Chryzantemy
08. Bądź Miłościw

It's curious to see what long absences from the music scene can do to bands when they finally hop back into it, either resulting in them losing momentum and slowly crumbling, or, on rarer occasions, being reborn into a completely different, though just as potent entity. This year, with Kołysanki, Lux Occulta are giving us quite a stunning example of the latter case.

If someone had told you in 1996 that 18 years later Lux Occulta would be playing a surreal form of electronic Avantgarde metal, you probably would've looked at them like they were from Nibiru. Yet nonetheless, here they are after a 13 year period of silence, doing just that. A few of the ideas Lux Occulta left off with on The Mother And The Enemy are still present, but for the most part they've been thrown out the window, and what's left has been taken to an entirely different level. Right from the start with "Dymy," Kołysanki establishes ground in a heavy synth atmosphere, with very groovy beats and rhythms (accentuated by an excellent choice in percussion), and vocals (in Polish this time!) that dance between charismatic singing and interesting spoken word, utilizing both to great effect.

There's really a lot going on here musically, and even though Kołysanki more or less sits in this pseudo-techno metal core, it's still very difficult to put an exact label on it because of the large degree of sound variation both within and amongst its tracks. "Samuel Wraca Do Domu," for example, with its use of sax, double bass, and organ, sounds more like a jazz piece from the early 1900s than anything else, and when the metal elements creep into it, it becomes even more bizarre. Other tracks, such as the amazing "Karawanem Fiat," take a bit of a neoclassical approach, with acoustic guitar work that would delight even the most seasoned of flamenco listeners.

Kołysanki is definitely not easy listening, and you probably won't entirely "get it" on your first, or even your second listen. With this album, Lux Occulta have crafted something truly original and majestic: a blend of personalities, a haze of influences, where the album's eccentricity is part of what makes it so alluring, and its multi-layered atmosphere is part of what will attract listeners to wanting to understand it more. This is quite possibly my favorite release of the year thus far, for most if not all of the reasons listed above. It's structured and it's chaotic, it's jazzy and it's electronic, it's simple, but it's also complex, in a series of musical paradoxes that make it both an extremely intriguing but also an extremely challenging album to digest. And that's exactly what makes it so beautiful.

Surrender to the madness!