Lucifer Was are a Norwegian heavy prog rock band strongly influenced by early seventies guitar, flute and vocal-oriented melodic progressive heavy rock.

The band’s heavy guitar based sound is characterized by the creative use of the flute and unusual instruments like the Mellotron. Imagine a mix of Black Sabbath and early East Of Eden, with a dash of Jethro Tull.

Band leader Thore Engen’s lyrics have a mystical flair, and all the albums so far are part of a larger poetic cycle on the fall of the angel Lucifer.

History

Lucifer Was was established in 1970 in Oslo, Norway.Lucifer Was was established in 1970 in Oslo, Norway.

The band played regularly in the Oslo area until 1976. From 1976 until 1996 the activity was more sporadic, although they did play some sessions and spent some time in the studio.

The band reunited with the original lineup in 1996 and released Underground And Beyond in 1997. That CD consists solely of material from the period 1970-1972. Underground And Beyond was also released, in a very limited run, as a vinyl picture-LP.

In Anadi’s BowerThe follow-up, In Anadi’s Bower, was recorded in 1999 and 2000 and released in March 2000. The band spent a lot of time in the studio finalizing the album, introducing the use of keyboards and the mellotron.

The recording sessions of the group’s third offering, Blues From Hellah, got started around 1982, initially prepared as a Thore Engen solo-album.

Although he did work on the album for several years, it was reworked and finalized during 2001 and 2002, now with a string-quartet and new lyrics to fit the Lucifer Was concept. The album was released in 2003, twenty years in the making.

Underground And Beyond was re-released in 2005 including two bonus-cuts of earlier material that included Ketil Stensvik of the legendary Norwegian heavy prog band, Aunt Mary, on drums.

The band’s fourth CD, The Divine Tree, was released in the summer of 2007. Many agree that this probably is the best album of them all so far, with a crystal clear production. Jon Ruder sings better than ever. Thore Engen proves again what a good guitar artist he is, and his son Andreas follows suit. Einar Bruu (bass) and Rune Engen (drums) provide a solid foundation for a great musical experience.

Lucifer Was’ 6th album, titled “Dies Grows”, was published by  Transubstans Records (recordheaven.net) September 10th 2014.

Members

The current core line-up of the group consists of:

• Jon Ruder, Vocals, acoustic guitar
• Thore Engen, Lead guitar, acoustic guitar
• Andreas Sjo Engen, GuitarArne Martinussen, Organ, mellotron, piano, background vocals
• Einar Bruu , Bass
• Rune Engen, Drums, Ududrum, percussion
• Lise-Marit “The Witch” Haugen, Flute