Equally liable to produce inscrutable noise/grind, barbaric sludge, fist-pumping rock propelled by ass-shaking drum grooves, and gorgeous wisps backed by a single naked banjo or a multi-tracked "orchestra" (performed by its two members), Jucifer is encompassing the best of the world of music for themselves--- and for the initiated, their ever growing legion of fans.

The new double album L'autrichienne (March 08) should quickly lodge itself into many music listeners' top ten lists.  It is the culmination of all Jucifer has led us to expect:  thoughtful, sonically satisfying beyond belief, a spell-binding ride through every facet of human emotion.  It's beautiful--- it's terrifying--- it rocks.

The passing of years since Jucifer debuted in 1994 has served to hone this band to a razor sharp edge.  Indisputably predecessors of the late-blooming two piece band trend, and of what could be called 'amalgamated' metal, Jucifer has quietly spent their time laying down proof of why they're better than most every group one might compare them to.  In a pop culture landscape where copycat styling is coin of the realm and mediocrity reigns supreme, Jucifer demonstrates why we need underground music.

Jucifer as a band, and both members as musicians, have inspired and influenced many.  Their stamp can be seen not only on newer bands from the Southeast, where Jucifer began, but across North America and in scattered places throughout the world.  Valentine has earned features in Guitar Player for her unique sound and style; Livengood likewise in Modern Drummer.  Media approval has also been granted by tastemakers the likes of Alternative Press, Blender, Interview, Decibel, Revolver, Kerrang!, Seventeen, Details, RockSound, Thrasher, Rolling Stone, Ink19, Vice, Playboy, Seattle Weekly, L.A. Weekly and Village Voice.

Jucifer's music has been featured on the Style network, and in various television shows and movies, including 2008's The Air I Breathe, whose cast boasts Oscar-winner Forest Whitaker, along with Andy Garcia, Brendan Fraser, Sarah Michelle Gellar and Kevin Bacon, to name a few.  Livengood and Valentine star in a mixed documentary/fiction film about Jucifer by award-winning indie director Derek Cianfrance (due out in 09), and are the topic of a documentary novel by former Flipside features writer Jim Hayes (due out 08).  They've been the subject of a Fox Sports Net lifestyle segment about extreme living and apropos, have songs featured on a Mat Hoffman BMX video game.

Having weathered two record deals (major Capricorn and indie Velocette) and accumulated much phenomenal press regarding their output in the duration, Jucifer signed to iconic metal purveyor Relapse in 2006. 

Although Relapse chose to re-introduce Jucifer with an album that was already 3 1/2 years old--- essentially a throwaway, made as Jucifer struggled under the weight of then-drowning Velocette--- If Thine Enemy Hunger proved the band incapable of making a bad record.  To the contrary, this overdue fifth release was met with further great reviews and brought Jucifer to an appreciative new audience. 

The long, difficult interim between recording If Thine... and its September 06 release proved that Jucifer has one hell of a fan base. 

In 2001, Jucifer moved into their tour bus and began a continual tour that has yet to abate.  After supporting releases from Capricorn (Lambs, 2001) and Velocette (I Name You Destroyer, 2002; War Bird, 2004) the band superceded norms by continuing to tour, gain fans and receive press for two years without label support and without a publicist.   

Their DIY ethic, along with consistently refreshing, disparate recordings and explosive live shows has rendered Jucifer a true underground legend.

Amber Valentine--- the frontwoman who is also lead guitarist, rhythm guitarist, and bassist thanks to her inventively rigged array of cheap guitars and literal wall of vintage amps and cabs--- and Edgar Livengood,  the drummer who is a frontman in his own right--- began their musical partnership in 1993. 

Defying the band convention of attaching to a specific scene, Jucifer has built its reputation on the integrity of Livengood and Valentine's shared vision:  as both members have stated in interviews, they like many types of music and refuse to limit themselves creatively. 

Jucifer's albums are self produced in a manner that is occasionally sparse and minimal but often rather lush, earning it comparisons to the Phil Spector "wall of sound". 

The Jucifer live show is a primitive cannon aimed to kill--- utilizing the near-psychotic abandon of Livengood and Valentine, whose frenzy is fed by a literal, reverberating wall of speakers which envelops both band and audience in a bath of shuddering volume.

Established from the start as a band of contradictions--- LOUD but sometimes soft, crushingly heavy or unabashedly fey, with song structures ranging from intricate, even mathematical to sadistically slow and repetitive--- Jucifer continues to defy the rules of how a band achieves success.  For while they may not appeal to genre purists from any "scene", the palate of music listeners grows ever more sophisticated.  Combine the never-fail high quality of Jucifer's albums, the unstoppable assault of their live show, that tour ethic which has put them on the road for the last seven straight years and counting, and this evolving ability of music fans to embrace their own schizophrenic tastes... and it is only a matter of time (if the time isn't already at hand) before Jucifer receives the accolades of millions.

See them while you can still get close enough to be spit on.