Lucifers Fall

Lucifer's Fall is a prime, traditional Doom Metal band from Australia! Check their latest CD release through Sun & Moon Records and read this fine chat with Phil Howlett, the main force behind the band! Warning! Australian metal & content!

 

Hi! What’s going on right now with the band? I have seen that you have no drummer, any news on it to share?

Hi and thanks for the interview. Over the last few weeks we’ve tried out a few guys for the drumming spot. Just tonight in fact we jammed a few old songs and some new ones with a guy who did pretty well. So we are planning to try him out for a few weeks and see how he goes. I’m pretty confident that it’ll work out. We are still working on new songs and have a couple of local shows coming up soon. Also we have a few other split releases about to come out or just released. One with Cardinals Folly, one with Acolytes Of Moros and one with Myopic Empire

The insane hot Australian summer still on high? I saw in news you faced 35+ Celsius and even more. How could you do your daily job in such hell hot temperature?

Ha ha It’s not too bad. We had our hottest temperature ever in Adelaide just recently (over 45C). I work outside doing a manual labour job. I’m pretty used to the hot weather so I don’t mind it too much. If I’m going to hell I might as well get used to it. I can’t stand the cold and wet though….

How was the reaction for the last CD of LF? I read lots of good reviews about the “Tales of the crypt” comp CD.

Honestly I haven’t heard a lot of reaction to the Tales From The Crypt CD but we have sold all the copies we had of it. I’ve seen a few really good reviews and a couple of average ones but nothing really bad. It’s a nice CD if you want to hear our rawer punkier don’t give a fuck side. Maybe too raw and under produced for some but we don’t really give a shit… It’s all about the energy and attitude. All praise to Sun and Moon for putting it out also.

Why Lucifer’s Fall? Where come this name and what represent to you?

I actually got the idea from the Mercyful Fate song Satan’s Fall along with getting inspiration from the Gustave Doré artwork that we ended up using on the self released version of the debut album. Mainly I just liked the sound of the name and it fits really well with DOOM Metal.

Some people say that LF is the punk version of Reverend Bizarre, what do you think about?

I’ll take that… I love Reverend Bizarre and I like a lot of music with a punk attitude or at least a raw feel. I think we have a lot of other influences apart from those two things. I feel there is some Cirith Ungol, Saint Vitus, Celtic Frost and a lot of 80’s heavy metal in our music. Arkham Witch / Lamp Of Thoth also play a part. We all enjoy a wide range of music from the late 60’s to the present day which influences what we play although we try to keep our output within a certain style that is “us”.

You have lots of splits, singles, demos in your discography? Which format for LF is your favorite?

My favourite is definitely the full length album but I like releasing a bunch of other stuff. It also fits with our DIY ethic. It’s important for us to show our rawer side as the albums are a little bit more refined. So the splits, demos and live releases definitely serve a purpose.

I know you are a great music collector, tell me the last good entries to your collection! What is your most valuable vinyl record in your collection? Aprox how much money do you spend on records in a month?

My most recent purchases on CD are Dawn Of Winter – Pray For Doom, Evangelist – Deus Vult, Girlschool – The Bronze Years (4 CD Set), Ian Gillan – Gillan’s Inn. Recent vinyls include – Raven – Screaming Murder Death From Above (Live In Aalborg) and a few things on vinyl that haven’t arrived yet Obsidian Sea – Strangers, Outlaw – Marauders & Reverend Bizarre – Death Is Glory Now. I can’t say how much I spend on music monthly as it’s so variable and I often can’t afford to buy a lot. I would spend a lot more if I could. Hard to say what my most valuable vinyl record is. Probably the Ghost – Elizabeth 7” which I bought for $7…. Ha ha on discogs the median price is $700 fucking dollars…. That’s crazy.

What do you think about the new Candlemass album?

I can’t say as I haven’t heard it yet. I have ordered the cd and it is on it’s way. I expect it to be pretty good without being amazing… but who knows. Maybe it will surprise me.

Which is better? Playing on stage with the band, or recording new songs in a studio?

I love both although I have to say there is nothing like the satisfaction and sense of achievement in getting studio recordings finished and out there for people to hear.

When we are talking about Australian metal, everybody thinking about Sadistik Execution, Destroyer 666, Nocturnal Graves, Vomitor, etc crazy black-thrash-death metal, and you are playing traditional doom metal, how popular is doom metal in Australia?

If you’re talking about traditional doom & heavy metal that bands like us and Eldritch Rites play the answer would have to be not very popular at all. If you’re talking about “Stoner” and “Sludge” as doom metal then that scene is much bigger.

If Black Sabbath is not entering the competition, who is the best doom metal band ever! You have to choose one single band!

That’s a really impossible question. I’m gonna say Cirith Ungol…. But Saint Vitus, Pentagram, Reverend Bizarre and Trouble are/were all so fucking good. Dawn of Winter, Minotauri and Lord Vicar are/were pretty damn mighty also.

Do you have plans for coming to Europe for a tour, or some festival actions?

If we could ever afford it we would love to but it’s a little out of reach for us at the moment unless someone wants to fund it.

What about the 3rd album, is complete?

We have written most of the third album but of course it needs to be rehearsed with the new drummer before we will be ready to record it. We have around 12-14 songs which will be recorded. We will then select the ones we like best to make up a 40-45 minute album. The rest of the songs will then be used in the future for other releases. We are aiming to have it all recorded by July at the earliest and September at the latest.

What is the best and the worst thing to living in Australia?

The best thing is the weather and the worst thing is the distance from the rest of the world.

If you have had the chance to play with some musicians from past, or present please share with us your “dream” metal band

There could be so many combinations for this…. I’ll just go with some of my favourites who I’m sure wouldn’t work well together if they were an actual band.

Band 1 - Ian Gillan – Vocals, Bill Tsamis – Lead Guitar, Geezer Butler – Bass, Dave Chandler – Guitar, Jon Lord – Keys, Bill Ward – Drums.

Band 2 – Scott Reagers – Vocals, Ian Paice – Drums, Mark Shelton – Guitar, Kevin Heybourne – Guitar, Steve Harris – Bass, Colin Towns – Keys. (you could have 3 vocalists in this band)

Who is the “unknown unnamed”? “Dirty Shits Dirty Music” title could be the bands motto?

Unknown Unnamed was the name of our old drummer Ben Dodunski. I just wrote a lyric about a zombie king of the dead of unknown origin who rises up to bring doom over the world. That also became Ben’s character in the band. Each member has an alias and a song written about that fictional character. It’s a bit of fun. Dirty Shits Dirty Music could be the bands motto if Fuck You We’re Lucifer’s Fall wasn’t already. Dirty Shits is kind of dedicated to someone in the local scene who is a bit of a wanker.

Any closing message, crazy Australian story about the band, alcoholocaust, everything is more than welcomed, cheers and salute from Transylvania

Ha ha nothing too crazy has happened yet to us. I’m sure the future holds one or two alcoholocaustic tales of debauchery. We shall see. Thanks for the interview and thanks to the people who buy the music and support us. Also cheers to the great labels we have worked with and the people behind them. There’s plenty more Lucifer’s Fall coming out this year to bang your fucking head to. If you like it, great and if you don’t then Fuck You…. We’re Lucifer’s Fall.

Cheers and hails from all of us in Oz!

 by Mirgilus, 2019 March