Origin : Switzerland
Genre : Black Metal / Industrial Metal
Release : 2009
Album downloads only available to members
Album Info / Review
**Samael – *Above* – A Heavy‑Plated Odyssey Upward**
When Samael set out to mount a new high‑point on their progressive, dark‑metal ladder, they didn’t just press the “record” button—they slammed the whole factory into place. *Above* arrives fully stamped, a 10‑track canvas that blends the band’s entrenched black‑metal ferocity with the brooding atmosphere of their later industrial experiments and a dash of techno‑psychedelia that brings the whole thing a breath closer to the stars.
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### Sound & Production
From the first second, the mix feels intentionally layered. The guitars are split into a three‑wire architecture: a high‑gain, tuneless grindpiece for the distortion walls; a clean, bell‐tuned riff section that floats above the chaos; and a dedicated 12 kHz-anchored synth line that carries the synth‑guitar hybrid melodies. This tri‑channel approach gives each element its own space in the stereo field, preventing the melodic lines from getting lost behind the blast‑drum onslaught.
The drum sounds are engineered with extreme precision. Drummer Daniel “T.B.” did not become a generic metal kit; instead, they layered a pneumatic snare with a low‑frequency bass‑drum, superimposing a raw classroom beat on top. The result is a drum sound that is simultaneously large in the low end and crisp enough to let the high hats cut through the massed guitars. The production is not about making every note crystal‑clear; it’s more about sculpting a massive sonic elipse around the listener, leveraging reverse reverb on the vocal passages and a subtle delay on the guitars to give the solos a sense of hovering.
Vocally, Nocturn has traded the guttural screams of old with a more controlled, but equally menacing, growl. His voice actually shines as one of the dominant elements because the mix is tuned tighter to its deep, raw resonance, giving the choruses that cavernous punch without pushing them into chan‑chan.
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### Atmosphere & Theme
Thematically, *Above* is a pilgrimage into a dystopian future building toward an idyllic, albeit doomed, utopia. Tracks like “Rising Above” have an almost hymn‑like atmosphere underpinned by a bleak synth choir that feels like an industrial sunrise. Previously, Samael’s concept albums were almost always religious or philosophical; here they jump headlong into a cyber‑noir narrative where humanity’s reach for the stars ends up crushed by gravity. The atmosphere has a raw, magnetic tension that escalates with each track, culminating in a grand finale that feels like an aesthetics disaster and a hopeful note rolled into one.
The atmosphere is further enriched by the careful use of psychoactive samples. In “Transcendence,” you hear humming in the background that jumps out at you before the guitars retake the stage – a subtle but chilling hint of a mechanical womb rushing toward the mainline. These auditory “set pieces” are delivered with surgical precision, never overbearing but always present as unseen hand‑rails.
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### Riffs & Musicianship
Samael’s hallmark aggression updates into a modern, tech‑savvy form on *Above*. The riffs on “Delilah’s Dream” are built on a foundation of equal‑pitch micro‑movements that create a thick, trembling surface. Each riff anchors itself with a shared melodic hook: a shifted 9‑note interval that seems to unwind in reverse as the track crests toward the chorus.
In the mid‑tempo “Fractal Consciousness,” I find myself living in a sea of syncopation: the guitarist employs Moorish scales mid-sequence to create an odd‑ball twist that feels like a digital glitch. Meanwhile, the bassist runs a series of slitted bass lines that offset the guitar heaviness by giving the melodic core a slight deflection in breaths. One of the most striking melodic moments is the opener “Sunrise Over the Dead City”—the main riff works almost like a micro‑circuit: contingently band‑shifting the guitar line until the groove lands.
Drumming remains a shattering tool, always trailing the guitar while still carving its own path. Kodami’s double‑bass patterns on “Cosmic Warfare” up the track’s intensity by layering a randomize‑fill that creates space between the slow, steadily-often Changed.
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### Overall Impression
Bottom line: Samael’s *Above* is a bold statement that leans into even heavier, more polished production while staying intimately familiar with the brand of eerie atmospheric descent they’ve cultivated over the past 25 years. For fans of cosmic metal and the combination of the industrial, the band delivers both a nostalgic journey and a fresh ride. By guiding us through a dark utopia, they prove once again that Samael can pivot, update, and still retain the subversive sound that made them cult‑heroes. It’s an album that sits as a disc of high‑octane crescendos and succumbs to an underlying dark beauty—a record worth blasting at 120 bpm and then stealing the quiet moments in the echo of the void.
