Yet another extreme band that abandoned its evil ways and became more melodic, but this is where Samael's resemblance to the Gothenburg scene ends. Two things are drastically different. For one, Samael comes from Switzerland, where it started as a black metal band in 1991 with "Worship Him." Their breakthrough album was 1996 "Passage." And secondly, they did not become "melodic death" or simply melodic heavy metal. Instead, they went even more radical and delved into the uncharted territories of melodic industrial metal. They are certainly one of the most originally sounding bands out there, especially on their 1999 album "Eternal." After a five year hiatus the band released "Reign Of Light" (2004). Samael's leader, Vorphalack (vocals, guitars), has a pretty unique growling voice. He guest-starred on Sentenced album, "Down." Other current bandmembers are Masmiseim (bass), Makro (guitars), and Xy (electronic drums, synths, programming). The band is currently in the studio, working on a new album.
ETERNAL (1999)
BEST SONGS: "Supra Karma," "Nautilus & Zepellin," "Ways"
This album certainly caused a lot of headscratching and probably more "Sellouts!!" yells than even perhaps Load. From the blackest and darkest forms of Satanic metal, this band evolved into something very unique. Truly, I haven't heard another album that sounds like this. The sound is very heavy, but plenty of synthesizers and drum machines make the words "techno" and "industrial" spring to mind, but MAN, IS IT STILL HEAVY!! Kinda like Sisters Of Mercy with Kerry King's guitar, all fronted by Vorph's roar. The songs are very catchy and very atmospheric nonetheless. Rocking "Ways" and "Supra Karma" are sheer pleasure to listen to. "Supra Karma" with its rocking beginning "SOME STAY!! SOME LEAVE!!" is enough to make this album worth having. More atmospheric "The Cross" and "Infra Galatica" are beautiful but still heavy enough to give your mother a heart attack. Slow and rocking "Nautilus & Zepellin" used to be my favorite song on the album, now it shares this position with "Supra Karma." "Radiant Star" is also great. I realize that many black metal fans went ballistic over the idea of their idol releasing a techno album, with a couple of love ballads on it, no more no less, but people with open mind and more than 5 braincells should appreciate both the creativity and the originality of this work. Definitely one of 1999's best.
REIGN OF LIGHT (2004)
RATING: ****
BEST SONGS: "Moongate," "On Earth," "Oriental Dawn"
This album is very similar to Eternal, only it's not quite as tasty and diverse: many musical moments here seem to repeat and many songs are indistinguishable. However, if you are to treat this album as a whole, as a single 40+ melodic industrial opus, you can enjoy it quite a bit. Certain numbers are simply more catchy than others, like "Moongate," title track, "On Earth," "Telepath," and "Oriental Dawn," but others are not far behind. It also helps if you forget the fact that it took Vorph & Co. five friggin' years to deliver this album, which sounds like it has been released a week after Eternal, with leftovers from it. It is rather surprising. But, again, if you loved Eternal as much as I did, you are sure to like at least parts of this album. Electronic passages, highlighted by Makro's heavy guitar, are very tasty; I wish more bands would play this kind of music. It's also funny, how "optimistic" the lyrics are: "Shout it loud and proud / I'm the hyper star / Shining on your life" ("Reign Of Light"), "Ride the wind, take on your destiny... Nothing is impossible / Nothing is unreachable" ("Telepath"), etc. Quite a far cry from the satanism of their early days! If you want to sample this album, check out "On Earth": if you like it, you will like the rest, but it is definitely not for the close-minded power metal fans.
SOLAR SOUL (2007)
RATING: ***
BEST SONGS: title track, “Promised Land,” “Valkyrie’s New Ride”
Not a bad disc, but a third identical release of Sisters of Mercy-inspired goth metal doesn’t weather well with me. What sounded extremely new and fresh ten years ago now sounds stale. Tracks differ only in their tempo (a tad faster or slower), and synthetic guru Xy runs the show. Not to say there aren’t excellent moments to be found. The title track is a fast gothic anthem, easily as good as anything in the genre. “Promised Land” has a nice chug, “Suspended Time” is a foot-tapper, and the uptempo “Valkyrie’s New Ride” rocks nicely too. Vorph might as well encode his voice in a Pro-Tools file, because it doesn’t change at all. The exploration of synthetic sounds is probably a noble thing in itself, but without a support of adequate melodies it becomes a purely Narcissistic enterprise. The booklet’s Greeco-Roman theme would have been great, if not for the completely out of place Buddha in the last spread.
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