Lucifer's Friend

Lucifer's Friend
OriginHamburg, West Germany
Genres
Years active1970–1982
2014–2020
Labels
Past membersPeter Hesslein
Stephan Eggert
Jogi Wichmann
Joachim "Addi" Rietenbach
Peter Hecht
Herbert Bornhold
Mike Starrs
Dieter Horns
John Lawton
Websitelucifersfriend.com

Lucifer's Friend was a German rock band, formed in Hamburg in 1970 by guitarist Peter Hesslein, singer John Lawton, bassist Dieter Horns, keyboardist Peter Hecht, and drummer Joachim Reitenbach.[1] The group was an early practitioner of heavy metal and progressive rock;[2] they also incorporated elements of jazz and fusion into their music, especially in their fourth album Banquet of 1974.[3][4] Beyond heavy metal, the band has been cited, too, as one of the pioneers of doom metal, helping to define both genres due to their heavy sound and dark oriented lyrics of their debut Lucifer's Friend of 1970,[5] and returning to their roots in 1981 with Mean Machine, although more influenced by speed metal.

  1. ^ John Gorman; Tom Feran (27 August 2008). The Buzzard: Inside the Glory Days of WMMS and Cleveland Rock Radio--a Memoir. Gray & Company. p. 67. ISBN 978-1-59851-051-5.
  2. ^ Lucifer's Friend at AllMusic
  3. ^ Banquet at AllMusic
  4. ^ Nielsen Business Media, Inc. (17 February 1979). Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. p. 7. ISSN 0006-2510. {{cite book}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  5. ^ Christe (2003), pg. 345, "Beginning with the overlooked Lucifer's Friend and Necromandus in the early 1970s, doom crawled through the 1980s with Trouble, Witchfinder General, the Obsessed, Candlemass, Pentagram, and Saint Vitus, then into the 1990s with Cathedral, Sleep, and Burning Witch."