When German NWOBHM-loving metallers The Oath broke up last year, vocalist Johanna Sadonis didn't want to stop rockin'; actually, she was devastated that The Oath had stopped rockin', so she wasted no time at all in getting a new band together. Cut to a year later, and we've already got Lucifer's debut album, Lucifer I, in our sweaty, gnarled, horrible hands, and we're loving the sounds the band is laying down, expanding on The Oath's take on metal with a more trad and doom approach.

"It was just my urge to turn around the negative experience of The Oath dying and the devastation that came with it emotionally," says Sadonis on how fast things came together. "I didn't want to sit down and hang my head low. I just thought, I'm moving on. In general in life, that's a good survival tool, to turn a negative situation around and try to use that energy to be driven to do something that, in this case for me, turned out to be even better. I was very fond of The Oath and I loved that album that we did, but Lucifer is taking it for me personally a step further."

And they're taking it a step further with the help of Gary "Gaz" Jennings, current Death Penalty six-stringer, formerly known as the riff titan of doom legends Cathedral. Sadonis says she's been a Cathedral fan since she was a teenager and considers them "one of the best bands of the genre, for sure."

"I met Gary one time when we played with The Oath in London for the Rise Above [Records] 25th anniversary," she says. "And we had a little conversation there, and met for the first time, and he told me that he was actually a fan of The Oath, and I was like, well, I'm a fan of you (laughs). So Lee [Dorrian, Rise Above mainman/ex-Cathedral vocalist] said to me, Gaz is playing so much, why don't you ask him? He's shaking all these crazy riffs out of his sleeve non-stop and he might be up for it. When he said yes, I was stoked. He's one of the best guitar players of the genre. And you can hear that on the album, too. I think it's great; without him, the album wouldn't be what it is."

But nothing I've read so far on the matter seems to clarify on if Jennings is in the band or simply came on to help create some songs and record for the album (and, man, it must be emphasized: those songs he helped create are sheer metal glory). So, it was time to ask Sadonis straight up if Jennings is in the band or not. And I'm still not sure.

"We take it step by step," she says. "I see him in the band. It's a little bit like a marriage. You have to propose to somebody. And I hope he will say yes."

Look, I don't know what that means, all I know is metal riffs rule, and the riffs all over Lucifer's debut rule, as does Sadonis' extremely commanding voice. And it's the voice that will bring with it the "occult rock" tag, which I myself have even used to describe this band, although I'll admit it's not quite right, and not exactly welcomed with open arms by Lucifer.

"The term has kind of started to become an insult," says Sadonis. "Occult rock has some sort of feeling that a band that is called that is a Johnny-come-lately. For me, what is occult, that has always been part of heavy metal culture and rock culture. The devil didn't just knock on the door of that kind of music yesterday. I've been involved and interested in this kind of stuff since I was a young teenager, more than 20 years ago (laughs), so I don't really want to associate myself with this Johnny-come-lately term. But then again, whatever, it's just a label, and in the end it comes down to the music."

The music... and that name. Not only is Lucifer a big bold thing to call a band, it's also a pretty typical metal band name, or at least you'd think it is. As it turns out, there aren't as many bands called Lucifer as you might think, but even if there were, Sadonis wasn't budging.

"I had that name right from the start in my head," she says. "I knew it was a pretty blunt move because it was a very powerful name, and a very obvious name, but I thought I just have to take it, it's perfect. What Lucifer is standing for, this beautiful, bright angel, and such a misunderstood persona, a misfit, I just loved the image of. And besides all the spiritual meaning, it's also a very catchy name. I just couldn't think of anything that made more sense to me. I knew I will probably get a lot of shit for it. I was actually surprised when I looked on Metal Archives and I only found seven [bands called Lucifer]. I thought there would be like 66 in Mexico alone (laughs). I just thought it was a really beautiful name."

(Photos by Chiara Mazzocchi)