Samael - Above

Published May 01 2009

*=Staff's pick	Under One Flag Virtual War Polygames* Earth Country Illumination Black Hole* In There Dark Side God's Snake* On The Top Of It All

Genre	Black Metal	Vorph	Vocals
Tracks	10	Vorph	Guitar
Runningtime	39 Min.	Makro	Guitar
Label	Nuclear Blast	Masmiseim	Bass
Release	06 March 2009	Xy	Drums
Country	Switzerland	Xy	Keyboard
Similar artists	---

The first thing to pop into my head upon hearing this release was one word, and that word was "Wow." In 1987, the members of Samael came together to create Black Metal, and as the years went on, they slowly formed into the Industrial Metal act that released the fantastic Solar Soul two years ago.

This album, Above, is presented as being a 'tribute' of sorts to their roots, with Vorph suggesting that it could be considered the missing link between 1994's Ceremony of Opposites and 1996's Passages.

Many bands advertise newer albums as being a return to the roots. Very few bands deliver on that promise. Samael are one of the lucky few, and the product is Above. Now, as to why my first reaction was "Wow"?

This album is FAST. Not just fast for Samael. This is FAST.

Xy pulls double-duty on this album as is par for the course with Samael, doing both drums and keyboards. The keyboards on this album don't appear very often, and I'm not sure whether that's necessarily a bad thing.

For the first few listens, this album may seem to blend together. I know it did for me, especially with the production on this album. The drums are easily the loudest instrument, with the guitars following behind them and managing to make their presence known over the chaos.

Vorph's vocals are heavily distorted and left in the background, though they're perfectly audible. In fact, I think the way the instruments are layered on this release fits perfectly for these songs.

Above is, from beginning to end, relentless. It is a fantastic album in that respect, and credit must be given to Samael. Few bands are able to deliver when they say a release is going to be a tribute to their older sound, but in their case, they manage a complete success.

Performance	Originality	Production	Vocals	Songwriting
9	7	8	8	9

Summary
8 chalices of 10 - JuuKun