Lucifer Star Machine's Tor Abyss is Building Better Songs on 'The Devil's Breath'

Tor Abyss, lead singer of Punk-influenced “high octane Rock ‘n Roll” band Lucifer Star Machine joined Tower Records’ Instagram Livestream from Hamburg, Germany, to talk to Whitney Moore about their latest album release, The Devil’s Breath, which has been getting rave reviews. The new vinyl drops at Tower Records on June 12, and is currently available for pre-order.

Though it’s the band’s fourth studio album, it’s the first released with the band’s new Germany-based lineup, and it’s hitting the market much more widely than previous albums, too.

Tor formed the band in England a long time ago, lived there for 12 years, then moved back to Germany and re-started the band a few times to get the lineup they have right now, he said.

How has quarantine in Germany been affecting the band? Are they getting back to normal over there? Tor is a tattoo artist as well as musician, and has been able to re-open his shop recently, he said. How much you can do in public really depends on what county you’re in, Tor said. In Hamburg, you can meet up with a few people, but they have to come from no more than two households. Some people are being careful, some are not, “like everywhere”, he said.

Moore said the new album is a “fun” one with plenty of punk feel and asked what it was like to record the album The Devil’s Breath. It’s a different approach for them, Tor said, since the previous albums were more like “garage punk”. They just wrote and recorded them. But with Devil’s Breath, the songs were not written in a studio, but tracks were often sent to members with WhatsApp and stuff like that. He thinks it’s a “better” way to write song, paying more attention to the details.

It now takes them longer to write a song, but the results are clear on the new album. Before the new album, someone would have an idea, then they’d go into a rehearsal room, and put it together. But this new approach will extend to their next album since they’ve found it more detail-oriented. It enables Tor to work more on the vocal lines, too, he said. He’d find the room to make things “better” if he had ideas as he went.

Does he have a favorite song off of this new album? He said the second song, “Dwell in Misery”, would be his favorite, though every band member has his favorite. He wanted to do a video for “Dwell in Misery”, and they have. Videos that have come out for the new album include “The Void”, and “Baby When You Cry”.

His favorite video to shoot, that was the most fun, was “The Void”. Everyone is just sitting on the couch getting pissed and then the “thrashing starts”. But they did shoot “Baby When You Cry” and “The Void” videos within two days. The band parts were all filmed in one day and the parts with the actors were filmed the next day.

Have they been able to connect with fans during quarantine? Tor says it’s been “difficult” because people have a lot on their minds and many people are having financial issues, but the album is selling, with plenty of pre-orders. The band hopes people will still be able to pick it up. “It’s not an easy time for music.”, Tor added.

Does he have ideal circumstances that he prefers fans to use to listen to the album? He, personally, listens to it when he’s has a couple of beers, he said. You can’t really “sit down with your mates”, right now, he observed, but you can put on your head phones and “turn up the Rock ‘n Roll”.

What about tour plans for Lucifer Star Machine? Yes, the entire year was booked out for them for events and touring, and things have changed. But as for live performance, the song he prefers to play live is “Eat Dust”.

Asked about the tattoo artist side of his life, Tor says that he does “traditional” and “near traditional” styles and when he opened the shop initially, he was booked four months in advance. Now he has lot of people asking to book, so that’s good.

Tor’s watching a lot of Netflix during this time, and he has two young children who are keeping him busy. He listens to music on Spotify and does buy vinyl if he likes it. He bought a Norwegian band’s album recently, The Good, The Bad, and The Zugly.

Reflecting on past tours and tour memories, Tor recalled playing Wacken Open Air Festival in 2019, which was one of the best for them. Seeing fans “going crazy” is always a big deal for them.

The best gig he’s seen is The Cramps in London, maybe 12 years ago on their last tour. Tor also enjoyed the early gigs of Turbonegro, who he used to like a lot, but doesn’t listen to as much these days.

The sound on the new album is a “little bit of a change”, Moore noted, and Tor said that it’s just a process of coming up with new ideas, hearing a riff, and putting it with a “distinctive vocal style”. He finds that the riffs and vocals are one thing on their own, but can combine in “astonishing” ways.

In Tor’s view, Lucifer Star Machine have the potential for many musical styles, not just Punk Rock and Rock. They take in elements from Doo-wop, Country, and Soul, because “Whatever is good is good.”, and if they like it, they like it.

You can have your favorite band, Tor said, but if you try to sound like them, you just end up sounding like a “bad copy”, so you have to branch out and try new directions.

Asked about his very different vocal styles, Tor said he “tries stuff out” and it’s about “whatever fits”. He might change things up, try different things, until he has a “finished song”.He tries singing more these days and is focusing hard on melody and lyrics these days since they are harder to construct well, but build a better song.

Where does their band name come from? Tor says that he wanted to have something with the Devil in the name when he set the band up, since he’s been into Satanism since he was a kid.

Anton LaVey's Satanic Bible has inspired him since he’s against formal religion in many ways. He doesn’t like people who think they are righteous but don’t uphold the peaceable ways of “live and let live”. He feels that “live and let live” is the real thrust of modern Satanism and that’s what he likes about it.

The name of the band also conveys the “Morningstar” aspect of Lucifer, and the band will bring “the Gospel of Lucifer into your brain with a supersonic machine.”

Does Tor have any advice for aspiring musicians or songwriters? Tor said that he and the band aren’t the best band to give advice because they’ve been going a long time but have had set backs.

“Look for the right people,” he said, because it has a big impact on creating the right band. A solid person will be solid, someone is a “dick” will definitely have a bad impact. The band also got “fucked over” by record companies and promoters along the way, so he doesn’t know what to advise in that respect. Other than: “Do what you do, believe in what you do, and carry on.” You need that to survive in the music industry, “especially these days”, he reflected.

What is it about counterculture that attracts Tor? Basically, when he saw an album by KISS when he was a child, a bell went off for him. That was “obviously the greatest band to walk the earth”, in his mind. Then he found that he liked their music, too. He collected their posters and magazines, papering his walls with them. He went to carnivals dressed up as KISS members. That was his “introduction” to Rock ‘n Roll.

Moore noted that it’s interesting since he didn’t go into glam himself, but he is “Rock ‘n Roll and horror”, Tor reminded. KISS turned him onto horror, too.

Turbonegro did a similar thing, Tor said, but “more Punk”. They actually wanted him to form his own band, so he did that, Tor explained.

Does he have any advice for surviving quarantine? Some people live on their own and that’s very hard, Tor sympathized, be he thinks you should figure that out for yourself. Listening to a little Punk and Rock ‘n Roll might help, too.

Asked if he thinks that the things happening in the world right now are going to ultimately produce better art and music or worse art and music, Tor said he didn’t know. Maybe some people are writing new songs now, given more time to do it. It may result in more solid songs and instill the same approach later on future work.

Some artists live off doing things “on the spot” and if the bands want to work that way, that’s fine. Tor hinted, however, that the band is already working on a new album, and said that there will be some similar aspects to this new album, but obviously they want to make it “even better”. They’ve written two songs and have a secret title for at least one.

Asked if they work fast, he reflected that they’ve been around for 18 years and only have two full albums out, with the previous one in 2013, so he doesn’t think they are fast at all.

What about our Tower Records saying, “No Music, No Life”? Tor asked, “How can you survive without music? Music is everything.” All is “dead” without music, he replied.

Does he have any messages for fans in America? Tor said that he wants people to “stay safe” and “If you’re locked up, get a record from Tower Records. Get some beers. And party!”