Two years have passed since I first met and spoke with The Magus, at the prelistening of “Vyssodomontas,” the first studio album of his project. Two years later, Magus’ thirst and creativity have not diminished in the slightest. Quite the opposite, in fact.

This became abundantly clear to all of us who had the pleasure of meeting at George Emmanoouil’s Pentagram Studios in the center of Athens to join the select club of people who listened to THE MAGUS’ new album, “Daemonosophia” two months before its official release date (February 20). In fact, every meeting with The Magus and his bandmates is like a masterclass in Black Metal and music in general. Of course, there was no shortage of philosophical discussions, since occultism and Luciferianism are topics that are an inexhaustible source of inspiration for his work.

So, after splitting into two groups, we began the listening session of the album with the attention and reverence it deserved. I will not analyze many details about the songs in this article. After all, in order to decipher the compositions of THE MAGUS’ songs, I need to listen to it more than once.

However, we are talking about an album that, compared to “Vyssodomontas,” takes a different path. It is just as dark but more aggressive and more “in your face.” My feeling is that in “Vyssodomontas,” The Magus wanted to play and experiment more, while now in Daemonosophia, he decided to return to his roots, while still maintaining the element of surprise in many parts throughout the album, even making musical references to artists such as KING DIAMOND. After the first listen, the songs that stood out to me were “The Era Of Lucifer Rising” with the amazing guitar intro and the dark atmosphere and “La Llorona Negra” which is the most special song of the album that Diamanda Galas has sung in a different version. Surely, these choices might change in the future when I have the album in my hands. There is no shortage of female voices, of course, with Ioanna Zacharopoulou in “La Llorona Negra” and Lambrini Gioti in the rest.

I have to highlight also the amazing artwrk, which, as always, leaves nothing to chance. The cover was created by Mexican artist Nestor Avalos (EXODUS, DEICIDE, ROTTING CHRIST) and depicts six damned entities, Lucifer/Samael, Leviathan/Tiamat, and Belial/Satan. This triptych depicts in an occult way the trinity of what I want to do, how I can do it, and what I ultimately do. After about three hours of music and conversation, we left Pentagram Studios with our ears filled with new sonic challenges and a renewed love for our favorite music and the people who make it.

P.S.: Since beer and metal usually go hand in hand, let’s send our love to Strange Brew Athens Brewery, who took care of our thirst. But we also honored them by easily emptying an entire refrigerator full of beers. 

Report: Kostas Boudoukos