Swedish heavy rock band Lucifer were back in Tokyo on rainy Monday night and I had a great pleasure photographing these psychedelic rockers.  The Japanese dedicated audience welcomed their second appearance in Japan.

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Lucifer were formed in Berlin in 2014 by The Oath singer Johanna Sadonis. Their debut album ‘Lucifer I’ was released in 2015 via Rise Above Records and it was critically acclaimed. In 2016, they moved their base to Stockholm. Through several member changes, the second album ‘Lucifer II’ was released in July 2018 via Century Media Records. 

Lucifer offer a pretty unique sound. Their first album appealed to many doom and metal fans, whereas the second album reached to the wider audience with their refined 70’s heavy rock sound. 

They are heavily inspired by early Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Blue Öyster Cult, as well as the bands such as Fleetwood Mac and Heart. Especially, the joining of Nicke Andersson (The Hellacopters, Imperial State Electric, ex- Entombed, MC5  and many more) obviously added the depth and the great diversity to the band.

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They started with ‘Faux Pharaoh’ the final track of their latest album ‘Lucifer II’ and the Tokyo crowd were hooked from the first song. ‘Abracadabra’ the first track from their debut album‘Lucifer I’ followed. The room was immediately filled with their fantastic atmosphere. 

The band played the songs mostly from their two splendid studio albums, ‘Lucifer I’ and ‘Lucifer II’. Some cover songs were also included in the set. 

Johanna looked good in white dress with tasseled sleeves. Needless to say, her sublime beauty mesmerized the audience. Her soulful vocals were even more amazing and her stage presence was impressive throughout the night. She often squirmed her body and played the tambourine, drinking white wine from the bottle. We couldn’t take our eyes off the gorgeous frontwoman. She didn’t interact with the crowd so much and stayed beautiful charismatic diva.

The whole band looked like they were from the 70’s with their vintage look such as long curly hair, mustaches and tight bell bottom pants. But multi-instrumentalist Nicke Andersson looked a bit different. I think he brought a good spice to the band both musically and physically, and his role is apparently quite big.

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I had never seen them before, but I was really inspired by five-piece great Swedish band. Their heavy guitar riffs reminded me of Black Sabbath, and her sultry vocals and stage performance were highly addictive. I was totally blown away by their energy, their enthusiasm, and their dedication to the music. I feel incredibly fortunate to have witnessed Lucifer’s live and the most charismatic frontwoman.

They played a new song in their set and announced that they were working on new album. I am truly thrilled to listen to ‘Lucifer III’ and looking forward to seeing their live again in Japan.

Check out their updates on their Facebook page.

Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/luciferofficial/

Member:

Johanna Sadonis (vocals)

Nicke Andersson (drums)

Alexander Mayr (bass)

Martin Nordin (guitar)

Linus Björklund (guitar)

Set list: 

 1. Faux Pharaoh

 2. Abracadabra

 3. Eyes In The Sky

 4. Dreamer

 5. Phoenix

 6. Dancing With Mr. D (The Rolling Stones cover)

 7. Aton

 8. Izrael

 9. Ghosts

10. Take Me Away (Paul Stanley cover)

11. Morning Star

12. Purple Pyramid

13. Bomber (Motörhead cover)

14. Reaper On Your Heels

Encore:

15. Anubis

16. Before The Sun

17. Snowblind (Black Sabbath cover)

18. Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers (ZZ Top cover)

19. California Son

Words and photos by Aki Fujita Taguchi 

Proofreading by Yosuke Taguchi