Artist:Luminous Transfixion
Country: USA
Label: Perverse Homage
Formats: CDR
Year: 2025
Well over four years after the debut album of the somewhat mysterious project of Luminous Transfixion, we are, more or less out of the blue, treated with its successor. Even if you have missed out on that first record, as the brainchild of Nort, who is most notably known for his work in Borda’s Rope but also keeps other projects like Crest of Mahdrum Spirit, Moongate, Talmas and Varkonic Telepathy, it will be no surprise that we’ll have to file Luminous Transfixion under “American Raw Black Metal” as well.
Just like the preceding work, ‘Before The Invocation Of Straahl’ stays true to the late 90’s/early 00’s Black Metal blueprint. With its predominantly slow or mid-tempo, moody and repetitive riffs with charmingly ramshackle drums and screechy vocals, this could very well have been recorded some 25 years ago. I personally adore these melancholic riffs and subtle melodies that bear clear resemblances with the forebearers of American Black Metal like Leviathan, Weltmacht and especially Judas Iscariot. The overall doomy atmosphere holds a bit of a Xasthur vibe as well.
Perhaps very unoriginal, indeed, but who gives a flying F about that? When it’s done right, it’s done right. As a matter of fact, I have always prefered Luminous Transfixion over the better known Borda’s Rope. If you share a love for some USBM from many summers ago, probably from around the time that Nort himself was born, ‘Before The Invocation Of Straahl’ is definitely an album to check out.
Unfortunately, this album was only released on CDR, which is a medium that has absolutely zero appeal and, in my humble opinion, has no place in underground Extreme Metal. I understand that they are cheap and rather easy and quickly produced, but that is probably exactly where the disdain resonates from. Let’s just hope that this idea dies out quickly and ‘Before The Invocation Of Straahl’ gets a proper release on either cassette tape or vinyl – that should be well-deserved.
