Lux Occulta

Lux Occulta (which is Latin for "hidden light" or "the secrets of light") is a Polish avant-garde metal band, founded in late 1994. Their work, also strongly influenced by progressive metal and black metal, commonly incorporates elaborate arrangements often featuring multiple sections and unpredictable time changes.

Biography

The band was started when guitarists Peter and G'Ames, formerly of Blaspherion, asked Jaro.Slav, the vocalist of Haemorrhage, to join their new project. Jackie (bass guitar) and Aemil (drums) joined the band few weeks later, followed by keyboard player U'reck after the band's first rehearsal session. After the recording in 1996 of the band's first full album, Forever Alone, Immortal, Aemil was replaced by drummer Kriss. The band's second album, Dionysos, followed in 1997. In 1998, after the release of Maior Arcana, G'Ames and Jackie were asked to leave the band; their replacements were guitarist Vogg and bassist Martin, also of the Polish death metal band Decapitated. A lengthy recording succession with the new lineup yielded My Guardian Anger, which was released in 1999. The latter half of 1999 was plagued with accidents, though, as Kriss suffered from a broken arm, leading his doctors to question whether he would ever be able to play drums again, and U'reck broke his leg shortly thereafter, forcing the band to retire from touring for several months. After several months' hiatus from performing, the band played Poland's Metalmania festival in 2000 alongside acts such as Opeth, Behemoth and Tiamat, which drew the attention of the Portuguese label Maquiavel Music Entertainment. The next month they were signed to the label for a two-album deal, and the first of their albums on MME, The Mother and the Enemy, appeared the following year. The band has been mostly dormant since 2002, although in 2012 they posted a message to their MySpace some years afterward indicating that they were working on new material and looking for a new drummer. In 2014, they released their fifth studio album Kołysanki, which drastically departed from the avant–garde/black metal sound in the band’s previous albums.

Band members

Current members

• Jarosław "Jaro.Slav" Szubrycht – vocals (1994–2002, 2011–present)
• Jerzy "U.Reck" Głód – keyboards (1994–2002, 2011–present)
• Wacław "Vogg" Kiełtyka – lead guitar (1998–2002, 2011–present)
• Maciek Tomczyk – rhythm guitar (2012–present)

Former members

• "Aemil" – drums (1994–1996)
• Grzegorz "G. Ames" Kapłon – lead guitar (1994–1998)
• "Jackie" – bass (1994–1998)
• Piotr "Peter" Szczurek – rhythm guitar (1994–2001)
• Krzysztof "Kriss" Szantula – drums (1996–2001)
• Marcin "Martin" Rygiel – bass (1998–2002)
• Rafał "Kastor" Kastory – rhythm guitar (2001–2002)

Timeline

<timeline> ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:18 PlotArea = left:170 bottom:80 top:0 right:50 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1994 till:07/02/2026 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1994 ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:1994 Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:4

Colors =

id:vocals  value:red         legend:Vocals
id:lead    value:teal        legend:Lead_guitar
id:rhythm  value:brightgreen legend:Rhythm_guitar
id:bass    value:blue        legend:Bass
id:keys    value:purple      legend:Keyboards
id:drums   value:orange      legend:Drums
id:bars    value:gray(0.95)
id:studio   value:black      legend:Studio_Album
id:other   value:gray(0.5)   legend:Demos

BackgroundColors = bars:bars

LineData =

at:11/09/1995 color:other layer:back
at:09/09/1996 color:black layer:back
at:11/17/1997 color:black layer:back
at:11/15/1999 color:black layer:back
at:11/19/2001 color:black layer:back
at:03/13/2014 color:black layer:back

BarData =

bar:Jaroslaw    text:"Jarosław Szubrycht"
bar:Grzegorz   text:"Grzegorz Kapłon"
bar:Waclaw      text:"Wacław Kiełtyka"
bar:Peter         text:"Piotr Szczurek"
bar:Rafal          text:"Rafał Kastory"
bar:Maciek      text:"Maciek Tomczyk"
bar:Jackie       text:"Jackie"
bar:Marcin      text:"Marcin Rygiel"
bar:Jerzy        text:"Jerzy Głód"
bar:Aemil        text:"Aemil"
bar:Kriss         text:"Krzysztof Szantula"

PlotData =

width:11
bar:Jaroslaw    from:01/01/1994 till:06/01/2002  color:vocals
bar:Jaroslaw    from:11/01/2011 till:end  color:vocals
bar:Grzegorz   from:01/01/1994 till:10/01/1998  color:lead
bar:Waclaw      from:10/01/1998 till:06/01/2002  color:lead
bar:Waclaw      from:11/01/2011 till:end  color:lead
bar:Peter          from:01/01/1994 till:12/20/2001  color:rhythm
bar:Rafal          from:12/20/2001 till:06/01/2002  color:rhythm
bar:Maciek      from:01/10/2012 till:end  color:rhythm
bar:Jackie       from:01/15/1994 till:10/01/1998  color:bass
bar:Marcin      from:10/01/1998 till:06/01/2002  color:bass
bar:Jerzy        from:02/01/1994 till:06/01/2002  color:keys
bar:Jerzy        from:11/01/2011 till:end  color:keys
bar:Aemil        from:01/15/1994 till:11/01/1996  color:drums
bar:Kriss         from:11/01/1996 till:12/20/2001  color:drums
</timeline>

Discography

Studio albums

• Forever Alone, Immortal (1996)
• Dionysos (1997)
• My Guardian Anger (1999)
• The Mother and the Enemy (2001)
• Kołysanki (2014)

Compilation albums

• Maior Arcana: The Words That Turn Flesh into Light (1998)

Demos

• The Forgotten Arts (1995)