1. Under one Flag
2. Black Hole
3. Polygames
4. Earth Country
5. Illumination
6. Virtual War
7. In there
8. Dark Side
9. God’s Snake
10. On Top of it all
11. Black Hole (Verso Mix)

Xy – Drums/Keys/Programming
Vorph – Vocals & Guitar
Makro – Guitar
Mas – Bass

samael       

Recorded & Engineered by Kris Fredriksson.
Mixed by Fredrik Nordström
Mastered by Erik Broheden

"

Lux Mundi

Solar Soul

Reign of Light

review by Matthew  Haumschild___ 

This isn’t the best example of what Samael is capable of.

I suppose I knew what to expect when I got this album. I had read in  a few interviews that Samael was going to make an all out metal album that pay homage to their early days. To be honest, I kind of cringed because I don’t have any of their older albums and the songs I have heard that were older than Passage, I didn’t care for. Now, their last CD, Solar Soul, eventually grew on me. I gave it a less than stellar review on this website, but time told on that CD and it really wasn’t that bad at all. I am hoping the same for Above.

I’ll make my review as simple as possible and to the point, much like this CD. Bright spots: Black Hole has a solid beat that’s easily moshable. It’s metal to the core, it’s fast, it’s heavy, it contains a bit of harmony in it and the drum beats…well…very blast beatish, nothing too complicated. However, my favourite track is Earth Country. I suppose it’s because it reminds me the most of Solar Soul and Reign Of Light even if it’s a trace amount. Virtual War kind of reminds me of old school Sepultura with a keyboard player. VW for all purposes is virtually death metal with a  hint of Black Metal and Melodic metal all lumped into one. It got my Head banging throughout the track.

The not so nice moments: Everything else. I hate having to write that because I really like Samael and I would love to see them again and will next time they’re in town. To be honest, I had expected that I wasn’t going to like this album before I even bought it but I did it anyway because I love the band. The rest of this CD is filled with songs in the same tuning, same theme, there’s not dips or spikes in the music, it’s too aggressive for my tastes, it’s a CD that I can’t work out very well to or drive to. In saying that, I am having a hard time applying this album to my everyday routines.

rating: 6/10  

the album doesn’t completely suck, but it’s not great. 

Matthew Haumschild is a staff writer/editor for gryphonmetal.ch since 2002

He is based out of Minneapolis Minnesota USA he can be reached at matthaumschild@yahoo.com and  on facebook.com

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