J-Man
Despite their roots in old school black metal, Samael have moved pretty far from that label since their formation in 1987. On Lux Mundi the Swiss veterans sport a sleek and modern industrial black metal style with plenty of bombastic keyboards and electronics - quite a change from what we would've expected around the time of Worship Him! Although I have a great appreciation for Samael and their willingness to change and innovate their sound, I feel like Lux Mundi is boring industrial metal by-the-numbers, and fairly uninspired at that. This isn't a bad album by any stretch, but it lacks enough memorability and inspiration to really grab my attention.
Musically, we're dealing with industrial black metal with lots of symphonic overtones. There are real drums and guitars present, but they are often complimented by electronic beats and symphonic orchestrations. Although it's a rather cool idea, the music comes across as pretty sterile and uninspired to these ears. Lux Mundi is seriously lacking when it comes to memorable songwriting, and it can make this fifty minute album feel much longer than it actually is. The musicianship and production are both top-notch and professional, but that only carries so much weight when the compositions are so formulaic and generic.
Lux Mundi is a pretty passable album from Samael, and I'd really only recommend this to die-hard fans of the band and industrial black metal at large. This album doesn't offer many new ideas, and the forgettable compositions make it a pretty mediocre affair. The strong musicianship and production save this from the garbage bin, but the most I can give is still 2.5 stars.