Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
doom + electronic + black metal, July 28, 2003
This has got to be one of the most unique black metal bands out there. This is not true techno mixed with black metal like And Oceans, but there are some electronic elements heard in this music. Also, you'll find keyboards used like crazy, making this a very atmospheric album. The vocals are certainly that of black metal, but not as extreme as what you would hear by Cradle of Filth or any other of those type of bands. More about each song... you'll feel like you're watching the exciting end of a movie or fighting the last boss of a video game. Especially tracks 2 and 6 sound like that. Each song is only about 4 and a half minutes long, but trust me, an epic would not be able to be written for music like this. There really is no band to compare this music to. If you can combine Tristania's "World of Glass" album with keyboards like in Stratovarius's song "Lord of the Wasteland", you might come something close to Samael. So exactly how good is this album? I find this comparable to And Oceans so... here we go. On the And Oceans CD "Allotropic...", we hear 8 songs with on and off blastbeats and then an all-techno song at the end of the album. Each song is 5 to 6 minutes. On their CD "Cypher", it is more death metal with some techno elements. Songs on Cypher that use electonic elements to replace keyboards is the best I can come up with to give you an idea of how good the techno + black metal combination is in Samael's hands. Also, this would be an extremely good CD for beginners to black metal - it was for me. This is a great band to get use to the growling without yet giving up the keyboards. After getting use to this sound, you can move to serious black metal like God Dethroned. Other recommendations for starters to the genre would be Summoning and Rotting Christ. Overall this is a great CD for anyone, even if you don't even want to get into black metal and just like the atmospheric part of this album. Do me a favor and please say if my review helped you or not - all it takes is a little click if you are a member of amazon! Thanks!
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
SUPRISINGLY GOOD BLACK / DEATH METAL, March 12, 2003
Fancy that! I'm writing a review for 'Samael', a group who, until a week or so ago, I'd never heard, nor cared to. You see, they fall into a musical classification Black / Death Metal - which I really don't care for. Or do they? Yes there are bands on the fringes of Black / Death metal that I like such as Tristania and TSOTB but let's face it, except for the male growling they are sort of Gothic, almost Operatic. They may even evolve that way like Therion and Within Temptation. But Samael is closer to (but not that close) to Black Metal, however one could swear that in this album they are trying to make a transition to another genre. I believe so even more after listening to 'Passages', their reputed "best album" which is like I expected 'Eternal' to be like. I like 'Eternal' much better, it being less extreme, more mainstream. I did like the extra CD though, a classical rendition of 'Passages'.
I came across this CD quite by accident. I was listening to about a dozen different CDs and placing most in a reject pile after playing a couple songs on each one and expected to do the same with this CD, but the first two songs weren't bad, which necessitated listening to the next, which were even better, then of course the rest of the album and here I am, writing a review, the album is that good! I am really impressed, this is music of substance, a waterfall of harmonious sound. Fans of extreme music may not consider this to be extreme enough but affectionados of all metal types, including heavy metal should like this. I can feel similarities with some of Megadeth and Metallicas's work though certainly more melodic.In fact the music is quite melodic with good use, in various places, of piano and other keyboards, background singing including a choir, strong drums and guitar, bells and, I think, even a harp. The production is generally lush but occasionally the music has an industrial or electronic feel.
All tracks are good but my personal favorites were 'Together', 'The Cross', 'Ways', 'Supra Karma', 'Being' and 'Nautilus and Zepplin'. I strongly urge anyone who reads this review to buy this album.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Love it or hate it......., September 29, 1999
By A Customer
I think Samael took that "change the style of our music every album" too seriously. They've changed way too much to this from "Passage", and it's not quite for the better. There are lots of clean vocals on it, and there is a more techno pop beat to it, but that's not the bad part. The production however makes the guitars less noticeable, and less heavy, and ti was guitars were what made that band heavy. Songs like "Together" and "Us" are love songs......not quite what I was looking for when reading the lyrics in a new Samael cd. Though, when I listen to the cd, it sounds great, especially when I believe that it is not Samael. It's not their best stuff, and I am one of the few who does not completey like the new change....it could be better. However, when they played their new songs live, it rocked, that's because the guitars were loud, the vocals were heavy and all that, if it were recorded like that, I would rate this album much higher. I don't dislike this album, don't get me wrong, in fact, the more I hear it, the more I'm starting to like it, it just needs more time. But, I will never truly believe that "Us" or "Together" came from the same guys who do "Baphomet's Throne" or "Jupiterian Vibe". It's hard to believe that this is the same band who once wrote the classic "Blood Ritual". Oh well, I still love this band......and the cd is worth the purchase if you are a diehard Samael fan.
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