Happy middle of October fellow Otaku & Metalheads!
On the first of this month we took a look at Samael’s time in the 90s, and just last week I released number 7 of my top 5 anime chests for breast cancer awareness. We now return to the blackened Industrial titans, as we now look at their time in the 2000s. Did they continue to have that creative drive like they did in the 90s, and were they able to continue experimenting & evolve? Well, let’s not waste anymore time, and take a look at part 2 of the discography of Samael. Let’s begin!
Reign Of Light (2004)
Released in October of 2004, Samael’s first album in a little over 5 years was recorded and mixed during the summer just a few months prior, and a music video was released a month before the record actually came out. The band would go on to tour Europe, with supporting acts Flowing Tears for the first part, and Dagoba for the Scandinavian dates. Samael later supported Oomph! in Germany. In 2005, the single "On Earth", which featured a cover of "I Feel you" from Depeche Mode, was released. The group would also play summer festivals in Europe and Switzerland later on in 05. In Paleo Festival in Nyon (Switzerland) they played before Rammstein, with four of the songs from that performance ended up on a bonus DVD for a special edition of Reign of Light. When they were in France, the band would receive an award from Hard Rock magazine for best industrial album of the year. After a European tour with Obituary the band finished recording their following album (***).
Best Track? Going for the double-header of Moongate & Heliopolis for this one. Not only were these songs examples of where their Black Metal past was coming back (More on that in a sec), but it was the usage of Middle Eastern/Egyptian instrumentation & sounds in certain places that made them a treat to listen to. It’s not often you hear more exotic drums & other instruments within Heavy Metal, and when you do they’re mostly from more unknown bands within the United States (And possibly the West to a lesser extent). Regardless, definitely two tracks you shouldn’t skip!
Moongate
Heliopolis
Worst Track? Much like Eternal from the end of the 90s, Reign Of Light’s only fault is that it’s too far in the other direction that Samael was traveling. This release is still very much an Industrial & Electronic Metal album, but it’s one where there’s a little more of that Black Metal attitude you’d find on Ceremony Of Opposites & Passage. It’s still not totally back, but the few inches it made back into the band’s subconsciousness.
Reign Of Light. Maybe a little too similar to the album before it, but one where the band’s past came back just a little bit more, potentially signaling another change on the horizon. If you wanted a version of Eternal that maybe had a little more black in it’s veins, then this is a good choice to listen to. Next album!
Solar Soul (2007)
2007's Solar Soul came across as fundamentally more of the same when compared to Reign Of Light & Eternal from 1999 in my opinion. Before it’s release however, Samael were quite the busy band! In March of 2007, they opened for Iggy Pop in Montana (Switzerland) where they would play two new songs for the first time (On the Rise, and Slavocracy). Though it was recorded a year prior, the group got it mixed in Sweden by Stefan Glaumann, and was released on the 1st of June through Nuclear Blast Records worldwide. In July of 07 they played with Nine Inch Nails at Rock Oz'Arenes. After taking a bit of a break, they went back on the road in March of 2008 with Gothminister and Sybreed. During the summer that year, Vorph and Xy went back to Sweden to mix with Frederic Nordström a side project that was recorded a long time ago. After a tour in the United States in September with Amorphis and Virgin Black, the final mastering for said side project was done, and it was decided that it would become the next album for Samael....but I can’t spoil things just yet.
Best Track? Gotta say that I find the title track to be pretty fine. It’s got a nice rhythm, the vocal work isn’t bad, and the Industrial elements are used pretty well if I say so myself. I don’t have much more to say, other than it’s a good way to open up this release.
Solar Soul
Worst Track? Much like Reign of like, Solar Soul’s fault is that it comes across a little too much like Eternal from the decade prior. It’s a little worse this time around, as the mild Black Metal return from Reign Of Light isn’t anywhere to be heard. Well, anywhere I can’t find anyway. Thankfully, the tracklist isn’t filled with anything bad, but it’s a little frustrating when it seems like the band isn’t trying anything new at this point.
Solar Soul. No bad songs like their last album, but it’s missing something due to the small Black Metal aspect of the last release not being around. Not massively recommended, but not exactly a time waster either. So with these last 2 releases, it seemed as if Samael was in a run. However, as the clock made it’s way towards 2009, nobody was quite prepared for what was to come. Next album!
Above (2009)
And here we reach what I consider to be perhaps the most surprising & baffling release in all of Samael’s career. Release on the 6th of March, 2009, Above marks the only time that the band went seemingly full-blown Death Metal, and right away you’re probably wondering why. It sounds pretty far-fetched considering they’ve been maintaining (more or less) a Black Metal/Industrial Metal balancing act. Well.....
Earlier in 2009, Samael would begin promoting a virtual Death Metal band from their Myspace page (Who remembers Myspace?). This virtual band, conveniently called “Above”, would feature computer-designed band members in a virtual world, and the lyrics would just so happen to be written by Samael. A little later on their page, the band said they would be taking their side-project Above and turning it into their newest Samael record. As Vorph would say about Above:
“After 20 years, we've tried to do an album that would represent what SAMAEL is all about and we did 'Solar Soul'. We feel now it is the right time to [remind] the people where we come from and that's exactly what 'Above' will do. It is like an enhanced version of our three or four first albums, maybe the missing link between 'Ceremony of Opposites' and 'Passage'. With the 'Era One' project we've tried to work on different influences; with 'Above' we stripped everything down.”
And yet, despite the Death Metal body they’re operating, Samael didn’t completely forego the Black Metal & Industrial Metal mix, as elements from both sub-genres are still present & accounted for. So in a way, Above is kind of like Passage from the decade before in regards to being a balancing act. Pretty amazing if you ask me!
Best Track? The closer On The Top Of It All is just awesome to me! Like I said above, the whole album maintains a balancing act between 3 different sub-genres, and it’s on this song where I feel that this balancing is the most obvious. The instrumentation is mostly on the Death Metal side of things, but there is some of that Black Metal groove in some places, as well as the kind of heaviness that only Industrial Metal can provide. Even the vocal work from Vorph feels a little more varied that what was heard on the last 2 albums, as it comes across a lot like from when the band was first transitioning styles, but with some of their classic aggression.
On The Top Of It All
Worst Track? While a pleasant surprise to be sure, Above’s only fault is the weird dated feel across the entire album. At first I thought it was just me hearing things, as that’s been a problem for me sometimes. However, it turns out it wasn’t in this case, as this album was originally recorded all the way back in 1999, with it being mixed just a year prior to it’s release in 2008! Some songs do sound a little better than others, but it’s surprising at how dated the package as a whole is.
Above. Apart from the datedness of the sound, I would say that this release is their best from this time. If you’d like to listen to a more balanced release from Samael’s time in the 2000s, then you’ll have a ball with this!
And that was part 2 of my look at Samael. Maybe not their best period by any means, but there’s definitely some quality still lurking around. Their time in the 2000s may not be the most massively desired, but I got a feeling that some of you might like what’s here. With that out of the way, we’re not too far away from the best day of October, but before we get to Halloween day itself, I got a spooky treat for all of you. So, join me next week when we take a look at some of the scariest monster.....of Sailor Moon? See you soon!
***
If you’re curious about these albums, then click on the link below:
Reign Of Light
Solar Soul (Includes re-release bonus tracks)
Above
Also, I know I missed Era One. Only did that because they weren’t on the main list on Wikipedia. I might add it in at a later time if any of you are interested.
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