Metal Overview: Samael (Part 1)

 Happy 1st of October fellow Otaku & Metalheads!

Once again, it’s the month of spooks, specters, and candy. The month where the realms of monsters & man becomes the closest they ever will. Once again, it’s the month where I decide to cover a more spooky band to celebrate the occasion, and I decided on a group that nearly a decade after I discovered them, still intrigues me to this day. Taking a sub-genre that I’m a casual fan of, mixing it with a sub-genre I love quite a bit, and the end result is nothing short of oddly unique. They’re definitely something special, and just a little over 30 years since their first release, continue to be a pretty popular act over in Europe & the United States to a lesser extent. So, grab a Pumpkin Spice Latte, slip into some cozy clothes, and enjoy part 1 of my look at the blackened industrial titans known as Samael. Let’s begin!

Worship Him (1991)

Our story begins in April of 1987. Michael Locher, better known as Vorphalack (or Vorph), had been jamming with his friend Pat for some time, but it wasn’t until a year later on the 14th of July, 1998, when his brother Alexandre Locher (Xytraguptor/Xy) joined the band behind the drums that Samael truly took shape. The siblings would record and release a 7-inch EP with two original songs (Into the Pentagram and The Dark) and a cover from Hellhammer (The Third of the Storm). They would play a few shows in Germany, France, Switzerland and Poland, & shortly after enter Taurus Studio in Geneva to record their first album. The band would go on to become a trio when Masmiseîm joined the band on bass, and the new lineup would perform in Poland again. When that tour was done, their first release, Worship Him, was release on the 1st of April, 1991.

Best Track? I don’t always give credit to closing tracks, but I gotta give it up to The Dark as the best song of the album. A purely instrumental track, the drumming, guitar, and bass all create an atmosphere that’s just creepy. Like the noise you might here on a autumn stroll as the sun is setting, it just creeps & creeps until it hits you at just the right time. Definitely a nice release to close out this release.

The Dark

Worst Track? While a nice release to listen to, Worship Him’s biggest fault is the fact that it isn’t that much different from the burgeoning 2nd wave of Black Metal at the very beginning of the 1990s. Many of the beats are the same, as are many of the rhythms, sound effects, etc. This doesn’t mean that Samael is being lazy & just chasing then current trends, but they simultaneously aren’t doing all that much to separate themselves from the rest of the herd.

Worship Him. Not a bad record by any means, but it doesn’t do anything that much different from what Black Metal bands were doing at the time. If you like this sub-genre more on the traditional side of things, Worship Him will easily fulfill that urge. Next album!

Blood Ritual (1992)

Upon the release of Worship Him, their one-record deal with Osmose Productions was done, but beforehand they did a few shows (Which included performing with Napalm Death at one point) to promote it, with the final 2 being in Moscow. After looking for a new record label, they found it in Century Media Records. After that, they would go to work at T&T Studio in Gelsenkirchen (Germany) with producer Waldemar Sorychta, and a month later on the 1st of December, 1992, Blood Ritual was released. Upon it’s release, Samael went on their first European Tour with label mates Unleashed and Tiamat. The 20 days ended at an indoor festival with Fear Factory, Brutal Truth and Agnostic Front alongside other groups.

Best Track? Beyond The Nothingness is an absolute banger of a track! Though there is a little bit of vocal work from Vorph as well as some drums, the star of the show in my opinion is the guitar & bass. They practically command the track, even when the other instrumentation & singing kick in. The two instruments add a cold wind vibe to the tune, and you just feel like something is faintly blowing across your skin as it plays. You don’t quite know where it comes from, but you know that the feeling of frost doesn’t leave for some time.

Beyond The Nothingness

Worst Track? Blood Ritual’s only fault lies with it’s vibe. Like I said earlier, Samael were definitely steering a little bit away from the Black Metal pack of the very early 90s, but they didn’t completely leave the territory. There’s still plenty of moments where it comes across like Worship Him, but they are imbalanced by the tonal shift that Blood Ritual is going through.

Blood Ritual. Though still not completely separating themselves from the pack, it is a step in the right direction. Definitely recommended if you weren’t a fan of Worship Him. However, as the clock ticked to 1994, the band would begin an essential change to their entire career. Next album!

Ceremony Of Opposites (1994)

Recorded & mixed in just 10 days, 1994's Ceremony Of Opposites marked a turning point in Samael’s career. Thanks to the recruitment of Rodolph H, the band now had a keyboard player with them, and they also began experimenting with adding Industrial elements since the style was really emerging at the time. You could hear the voice of Aleister Crowley on Crown, as well as the beginning of "The Hut on the Hen's Legs (Baba Yaga)" of the Pictures at an Exhibition from Modest Mussorgsky in Baphomet's Throne to name just 2 of the samples used.

Best Track? Gotta give it up to the title track for this one. The closer to this release, Ceremony Of Opposites almost comes across like a prototype song you’d hear on their next album. Though still firmly routed in their Black Metal roots, you can hear the keyboards when they’re used, the sampling, and even some symphonic elements piped in at placed. That last aspect the band would explore a few more times down the road, but regardless this tune showed off what the group was turning into, yet they didn’t completely abandon their past.

Ceremony Of Opposites

Worst Track? Like any band transitioning from one sub-genre to another, Ceremony Of Opposites’s only fault is with the fact that it doesn’t have a solid identity. Is this a Black Metal album that’s gone Industrial, or is it an Industrial Metal album with Black Metal routes? I asked these two questions with each & every song I listened to, and I keep asking it after I’ve done listened to the album.

Ceremony Of Opposites. Though not fully realized yet, it none the less marked a massive change in Samael’s career. However, once things transitioned into the year 1996, nobody was quite prepared for what the band was turning into. Next album!

Passage (1996)

And here is the album that got me to fall in love with Samael. Released on the 19th of August, 1996, Passage marked a bigger tonal shift in the band’s career. While Ceremony of Opposites saw them flirting with Industrial Metal, it’s here that they practically embrace it, but they still had a Black Metal mentality behind their music. On top of that, they abandoned the more Satanic subject matter of their prior releases, and instead went with lyrics that were more aligned with the occult and the cosmos. Future releases would push this further both stylistically & lyrically (More on that when I talk about Eternal), but it’s on Passage where it feels like everything is perfectly balanced.

Best Track? Even before I got into the band’s discography, I fell in love with Rain. The track that pulled me into Samael’s circle, it perfectly shows off the dual identity that the group was seemingly embracing at the time. You’ve got the Industrial Metal keyboarding making all kinds of sounds, and there’s also the Black Metal instrumentation & vocal work. It is a little weird to not hear anything remotely Satanic in this tune (Or any other on this album to be honest), but that was never my style of Black Metal, so it doesn’t bother me all that much.

Rain

Worst Track? To be honest, I don’t think there’s a bad song on Passage in it’s entire run time. From the opener with Rain, all the way to the closer that is A Man In Your Head, you’re given a nearly 45-minute experience that won’t go away for a long time. If one wanted to be picky, one would possibly complain that a style they like was mixing with a style they didn’t like, or at the very least they don’t like as much as the other. I sort of fall into that category, as I’m a big Industrial Metal fan, but not the biggest Black Metal fan (Though I have a bit more appreciation for it now than a few years prior). Things would change a few years later.....but I’ll get to that in just a moment.

Passage. An even mix between two opposing metal styles, it’s a testament to Samael’s name at how well both sides come together & make a unique experience. If you’re someone that likes a little bit of Black Metal in your Industrial, or if you like your Industrial Metal with a little bit of Black, then you need to seek this release. Next album!

Eternal (1999)

With the release of Passage in 96, fans of Samael finally felt at ease with the changes the band was implementing. The balance of Black Metal & Industrial Metal seemed to indicate that perhaps the group was going to juggle both subgenres at the same time. However, if there was one thing about these guys one should not ignore, it would be the idea that Samael never rests when it comes to creativity. Released on the 19th of July, 1999, Eternal saw Samael shed their Black Metal roots almost entirely, and sees them almost completely embracing the Industrial Metal aspects they were experimenting with since 1994. Recorded in the same studio that Queen recorded both Innuendo & Made In Heaven (Queen also own the place), and working with rock producer David Richards, the band experimented with a few other things on this release. 1970s like sound & production, and contemporary approaches to the songs (There were elements of Deep Purple on one song, while the other right after it had more on an electronic vibe to it), were just 2 things they tried to do while focusing on the Industrial face of it all.  

Best Track? Though originally I was going to pick the opener Year Zero or Us, it was the song Being that caught me completely off guard. Mainly due to the Jazz-like piano being used at certain points in the song, and the dare-I-say groove-like pacing of the instrumentation. Hell, and some points they even pipe in church-like bells to add to the atmosphere, which makes the tune in general equal parts awesome & bizarre. Do not skip this for any reason!

Being

Worst Track? While there’s no bad track on Eternal in any way, I find that maybe Samael went too far in the other direction when it came to changing their style. While Ceremony Of Opposites was Black Metal dabbling in Industrial, and Passage was a perfect balance between the sub-genres, this album is almost completely in the Industrial Metal zone, but with a hint of a Black Metal attitude.

Eternal. Perhaps going a bit too far in the other musical direction they were going, the album none the less is a fantastic piece of Industrial Metal, and acts as another release that’s more than worthy to help close out the 1990s. If you like to hear metal from the last year of last great decade, then this is definitely up your alley.  

And that was part 1 of my look at Samael. Not only were they born in the 90s, but we saw their evolution into what they would become later down the line. Would the band keep on changing in the new millennium? Find out next time when we get to part 2 of my look at these guys. However, we’ve got an annual Breast Cancer Awareness list next week.....and it might be the most importation one I’ve done yet. See you soon!


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If you’d like to listen to these albums, then click on the links below:

Worship Him

Blood Ritual

Ceremony Of Opposites

Passage

Eternal (Includes 2007 re-release bonus tracks)