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Samael > Eternal > Reviews
Samael - Eternal

Eternally Destined to Look for New Passages - 80%

bayern, July 25th, 2017

This is by no means my favourite Samael album, but I was so relieved that the guys didn’t mess it up, like I thought they would after the creative peaks that the two previous instalments were, that I couldn’t help but like it a lot at the time. Its redeeming qualities have kind of worn out with time as I listened to it the other day, but I still find it a compelling entry into one of the more versatile catalogues the metal scene has ever known. Samael belonged to the black metal movement for a very brief spell, the first two showings to be precise, since on “Ceremony of the Opposites” they acquired a characteristic dark sound that didn’t have much to do with any existing genre at the time, and one which their compatriots Alastis tried to copy more or less successfully throughout their career. The ascension continued on “Passage”, an encompassing cosmic metal affair that again was hard to categorize according to the familiar canons, and one that established them on the forefront of the 90’s metal movement as one of the true auteurs who were going to transcend the groovy/aggro/alternative vogues of the 90’s, and live long enough to see the dawn of a new day, and a new millennium…

however, there was one more step to be made before that became a fact; two if we count the “Exodus” EP. I was quite apprehensive about this new showing as I was a faithful Samael follower from the very beginning (I was one of the first metalheads in Bulgaria, if not the very first, to get a hold of their eponymous debut in 1991) so I was hoping for another worthy entry into their catalogue some eight years later. As there wasn’t going to be an album to sound like the preceding one, this opus was going to be something different, too; how different it was going to be, that was the question…

“Exodus” was a faithful, spiritual follow-up to “Passage” so there was no need for another similar “kinship” displayed here, and the spacey cosmic atmosphere of “Year Zero” already draws other trajectories, ones that lead towards a more abrasive, slightly industrialized/electronic sound by retaining the memorable song-writing and the dark, brooding atmosphere. “Ailleurs” is a surprisingly sprightly dancey track recalling same year’s The Kovenant’s “Animatronic” and the Front Line Assembly efforts from around the same time (“Hard Wired”, above all), but “Together” stifles those optimistic sketches with a more sinister, doomy approach. The brightness comes back with “Ways”, and the soothing piano chords at the beginning of “The Cross” bode more lyrical respites which in this case are on the officiant balladic side. “Us” is a cosmic industrial extravaganza with a memorable chorus the latter “suffocated” a bit by the noisy environment; and “Supra Karma” is a partial return to the delivery from “Passage” with more academic, more solid riffs which get lost for “I”, another surreal “dancer” taken straight from the mentioned The Kovenant opus (released later, by the way). “Nautilus and Zeppelin” is an encompassing cosmic opera the keyboards leading the procession not leaving much room for any riff showings, and “Infra Galaxia” carries on in the same direction the album losing its initial bite towards the end, “Radiant Star” serving a couple of harsher, more aggressive guitar-driven sections as a more fitting epitaph to this curious spacey saga.

In the long run this effort continues the trend where not a single Samael album sounds like the preceding one, at this stage still for the better. Playing “Worship Him” and this one back to back one may find it hard to believe that this is the same band performing on those two. Well, things changed for many of Samael’s contemporaries through the years, some having gone through much worse metamorphoses, and if the band wanted to meet the dawn of the new millennium in a more defiant, modernized guise then so be it. The electronic samples and the industrial aura may come as too much to some, especially when the old school was preparing for another indefinite spell with the music industry at the time; but judging by the positive reviews the album generated at the time of release, there was definitely audience for such dancey sounds back then…

the fear now was whether Samael would turn into loyal Ministry and KMFDM followers right in the midst of the retro metal resurrection campaign which was a very possible option under the new circumstances. A lengthy break followed, and when “Reign of Light” came out, the fans emitted a huge sigh of relief as this instalment at least wasn’t a flop by any means, and was a more or less logical sequel to the album reviewed here. The actual experiments were yet to come, though, with the 2-part “Era One”, mostly electronic/ambient variations with deeply atmospheric undercurrents; and then with “Above”, a total return to the black metal “atrocities” of the 90’s the guys sounding absolutely unrestrained, going even beyond their evil, misanthropic first two forays. The latter arriving after the considered return-to-form “Solar Soul”, it put forward the question as to how much longer the guys would expand their palette determined to not repeat their past feats. “Lux Mundi” answered all those handsomely by providing an approach quite similar to the one of “Solar Soul” and the band’s supposed magnum opus “Passage”. Circle closed; experimentations over; the Cosmos fully mapped… not a very exciting picture, is it? Not to worry; I’m pretty sure once boredom becomes the norm on the scene our Swiss friends will come up with another soundtrack to the future explorations of the Universe.

Holes without cheese - 37%

Felix 1666, July 14th, 2017
Written based on this version: 1999, CD, Century Media Records (Digipak)

A glance at the past can be very instructive, but sometimes it is just shocking. I was aware of the fact that "Eternal" had failed to enthuse me at the time of its release, but I did not know anymore that it was so terribly weak. "Eternal" is the crippled sibling of "Passage". It is based on a similar approach, but it goes a step too far. The once heavy and bloodthirsty malignancy of Samael's sound is completely gutted. The mechanized coldness of "Passage" has made way for meaningless compositions with a standardized length of four minutes.

"Eternal" sounds groovy, lame, pompous and danceable (but I can't dance). Its electrified high gloss appearance is almost completely devoid of edges and corners. "Ways", for example, tends slightly to a harsher approach, but this does not mean that the song works. Samael are caught in their own formulaic method. Gothic influences and the almost omnipresent melancholy are in control of the mid-paced tunes. Yes, all of them have a relaxed tempo and this way of proceeding is simply tedious. Furthermore, it causes a collateral damage, because the pieces are absolutely interchangeable. The riffs are probably not the worst one, but they are subjugated by the "eternal" glue of the keyboards and the unnatural, wannabe majestic vocals. Thus, even a pretty coherent tune like "Supra Karma" does not fully convince.

Truly annoying are the frequently used background choirs that deliver nothing but endless "aaahaaahaaa". Is this the commercial rerecording of a Graveland record? No, things are much worse. Comparatively energetic songs like "I" may work in the context of this album, but from an objective point of view, this track or the also relatively strong, somewhat oriental "Infra Galaxia" do not have the power to keep the album above water. The electronic beats fail to create a metallic feeling while praying to the gods of sterility. And the worst is yet to come: the pretty idiosyncratic "Being" presents parts which should have never been heard outside of shabby bars of the red-light districts. Anyway, I was actually talking about the "highlights" of "Eternal" and the closer has its moments as well, because he provides more resilience than the vast majority of the other tracks. Too late, too little, the verdict is already clear.

The fifth full-length of the Swiss musicians bites off more than it can chew. To set a new sail in order to find new coasts is one thing, but to forget the homeland immediately is something different. Samael have forgotten to keep their metallic fundament and the new ideas result in a monotonous album whose profile even does not frighten the most anxious mainstream listener. The musicians have proved that they are able to pen fantastic albums, but it is also true that they are prone to realise immature ideas. At the end of the day, "Eternal" has nothing to offer for people who loved the blackness of "Ceremony of Opposites" or the sharpness of "Passage". Switzerland is well known for its great cheese, but this time, Samael deliver only its holes.

Seventh Heaven Regained - 87%

autothrall, July 30th, 2014
Written based on this version: 1999, CD, Century Media Records (Digipak)

While Eternal is clearly a spiritual successor to Passage in terms of its spacey aesthetics, focused cover imagery and further progression towards electronics, it might also be viewed as one of the strangest evolutions in Swiss metal since the much maligned Cold Lake over a decade prior. It's unforgettable predecessor maintained a darker, frightening edge to it in spite of its fantastic riffing and general accessibility, but with this fifth full-length, Vorphalack, Xytras and company would go all happy on us. Pop some xstasy. In fact, it's generally better to think of this record as some sort of industrial universal space-dance music which just happens to retain a metal riffing and garbled, harsher vocal aesthetic than a proper metal recording (akin to The Kovenant's Animatronic without the corny Marilyn Manson band image), and absolute anathema for a chunk of the band's original audience who were stuck at Worship Him. 'No, fuck that man, this band lost it after the first rehearsal in 1987.' Ha!

But herein lies the catch. Despite Vorph's weird whispered and growled vocal lines through Eternal, which resemble pop and hip hop structures just as much as the gnarled, passionate black metal of his prior output...despite the increased importance of typified dance beats and synthesizer lines through which Xytras is attempting to bridge the classical and EBM fields....despite the fact that half the guitars on this album are merely low chugs or chords used to accent the beats...and despite the odd, raw production which would seem out of place for industrial/pop and was likely due to the band's novelty at blending these mediums, Eternal is a charming album. Yeah, it often feels like the band came up with the idea while enjoying a hot tub by starlight, in the Alps with some rich bankers' wives giggling over these artsy young studs they managed to wrangle, but there is this sentimental quality created through the contrast of choir synthesizers, reverberating electronic percussion, schmaltzy lounge organs/percussion (on a few tunes) and Vorph's 'Wait, we were recording that?', diabolic yet mouth-breathing presence that somehow transcends all the inherent flaws and musical faux-pas to produce something worthwhile...

Guitars. They're here, but divided into three camps. First: the aforementioned palm muting or syncopated chord phrases which are there to serve more or less in tandem with the other percussion (examples: the verses of "Ways" and "Us"), a technique you'd expect from a lot of industrial radio rock like Stabbing Westward or Rammstein. Second, and these are better, these floes of warmer and melodic chords, faster or slower, used to emotionally elevate many of the chorus vocals; they've got an alt rock feel to them, but definitely are one of the elements that were drafted forward from Passage. Lastly you've got a few living clever phrases like the creepy melody that comes into the verse in "Ailleurs" (or "The Cross"), and these are probably the most effective on the album, meaning I wish there were actually a few more. Missing are the brilliant, meticulous black/thrash progressions from the prior album, a blow that is felt by this listener, but in the end I can't rightly say that they would have worked with the overall feel and structure of the songwriting. Still, they hadn't voided the guitar as an instrument altogether, far from it, and the notes used here are at least more memorable than the two full-lengths to follow, even if their respective mixes put more emphasis on the riffs.

The synthesizers play an enormous role, largely through the choir pads which are used to give much of the album that cosmic, ethereal effect, like a seraph floating between planets with its glimmering sword out front. Probably a bit cliche, but Samael do them justice with simple but catchy patterns. In addition Xytras uses a lot of busier piano phrases which are amongst the most complex lines of notes on the album, and then they step even further outside with a mixture of 80s prog/New Age and cheesy techno-inspired sequences which occasionally sound like Tangerine Dream writing house music. It's all well and good for me, since I listen to a lot of that anyway, but others are just not going to be so welcoming of this stuff if their expectations were Blood Ceremony 2.0. They'll be even LESS welcoming of the weirder moments like in "Being" where the pianos get all saloon-bluesy with the goofy little electric guitar trills, or in "Radiant Star" where the organs make the intro feel like The Doors are about to stroll into a pastry shop on a Paris corner. I happen to love that song, the chorus is particularly timeless and emotional with Vorph's protracted growls, but it's pretty bizarre how they got from that point A to B and certainly was unique for 1999.

As for the beats, the more danceable nature of the writing definitely brings their artificial nature to the fore more so than Passage, an album that could have just as well been executed with a drummer, but lost no points for the slick programming. Usually they go big and industrial but there are a lot of subtleties here, electronic/pulse stuff hidden in both calmer moments and greater swells which does occasionally hover on glitch without the warping. Since they were at this time really into all the fire swinging cosmic carnival theatrics in their performances, there is definitely a bit of hippie drum circle aesthetic here, only it's represented electronically with some lighter percussion rather than the thundering of some tribal gathering. That said, when the band needs power, like the clashing accents to the chorus of "Together", they really come through, so despite the theoretical superiority this recording might have had with an actual human striking a kit, I don't have much of an issue that they chose to go this route again. Masmiseîm also sounds pretty electrified, with some bass lines that sound quite synthesized, but the simplistic grooves he metes out in tunes like "The Cross" are critical to contrast against that hovering nightscape of keyboard atmosphere.

Lastly, we come to the vocals, which are basically the whispers, semi-growls and rasps of the last album only seeming a little more laconic and poppy in their implementation. The guy's voice does have a hard time standing out against the more shining electronic aspects, and many could be forgiven for thinking the guy sounds absolutely goofy, but it's part of what gives the album it's sense of impossible charisma, since it runs contrary to most of what people love about a good pop or EBM band...a strong singer with an 80s penchant for choral melodies that engrave a tune into memory. Vorph's performance IS memorable, but incredibly flawed all the same, which was either a brilliant or stupid move depending on who you ask. A lot of the meters and ideas seem half-formed, but it is nice that he'll occasionally lay out a larger growl for balance. Lyrically, though, this further emphasis towards spiritual exploration and personal meanings, far removed from the evil occultism on their old material is a bit of a shock. The song titles are incredibly, efficiently Zen and the lyrics almost constantly attempt to uplift the listener with traces of Eastern mysticism and pacifistic enlightenment. It's almost as if they had a Darjeeling Limited moment somewhere between 1996-1998 when they were thinking how they'd follow up their masterpiece.

And that's about the best I can do, good readers. It's a unique album for sure, but one of those 'I'll allow you this one' deals for me, where I admired the band's transformation but wouldn't necessarily want to hear them try this again (which they sort of did, sadly). The first track "Year Zero" is pretty representative of the sound of the whole album, but it's actually the least interesting/memorable so I question its front placement when everything else is so much bloody catchier. That aside, I really liked the album. It's touching and heartfelt and all those sorts of things a Samael record probably shouldn't have ever been, but its combination of airy, raw production and its humanitarian, philosophical approach to industrial metal was one I really went for when the album released, and I still quite enjoyed it when listening to prepare for this review. Are the simplistic, repetition-focused lyrics meek? Sometimes, but just as often they're extravagant. Is it a disappointment after Passage? What wouldn't be? But if you're open to electronic influence, space raving on ski slopes, and listening to music that your girl/guyfriend might also dig on when you introduce it to them, then this might work for you. "Ailleurs", "Ways", "The Cross", "Infra Galaxia", "I", "Radiant Star"...all great songs... in fact only "Year Zero" is worth skipping.

There are no guilty pleasures.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

the new Samael - 80%

BoomStick, June 19th, 2004

Three years after the classic masterpiece, “Passage,” the 1999 release, “Eternal,” sounds a little similar to “Passage” but a lot different then Samael’s best release “Ceremony of Opposites.” Each album Samael releases sound more and more like industrial metal that they are now known for. Several of the songs have very catchy tunes with thundering riffs. Although some of the tracks on the new album are a little weak and boring some of it is excellent.

One thing I notice with many of the tracks on this album start out with a brilliant tune but kind of loose interest partway through. Tracks like this include, “Radiant star,” and, “Us.” These two songs have outstanding beginnings and other certain parts but kind of boring middle sections. It almost seems like the band couldn’t come up with anything better. Other songs however like, “Year zero,” and, “The cross,” are unbelievable the whole way through. Like Passage there is quite a lot of keyboard work that plays peaceful tunes that fit well into the heavy distorted guitar.

The vocals are not very harsh but it fits the songs better because the songs do not sound like grind metal anymore at all. I think that if samael keep up the keyboard work they might become orchestral metal soon; because there keyboard tunes are so unbelievably original…Samael are really starting to remind me of a band like Therion.

The best tracks on the album are: Year Zero, The Cross, Us, and Radiant star. Although I think this is probably Samael’s weakest release it is still a quality release and is worth having.

Ear Candy for Rammstein Fans - 60%

Andra, April 28th, 2004

Catchy, futuristic electro-rock! Made for commercial appeal, this is music that I would expect to hear in outlets such as Hot Topic, or shown on music channels. This album practically screams for attention by the Rammstein-loving sector of your local high school.

As a matter of fact, if this music is not played at Hot Topic, the employees should be slapped. Why? Because, unlike a lot of popular trash (overwrought mallcore screaming, anyone?), this ear candy is actually pleasant to listen to. Indeed, that's one of the problems with it. It's too pleasant to listen to. There's nothing really challenging to sink your teeth into.

Almost all of the songs have a similar sound and pattern, which is one of the major weaknesses of this album. A slightly aggressive verse with an unoriginal riff builds up into a catchy, atmospheric chorus with some nice synths and electronics dressing the whole thing up. Not much variation. I can't say it's done badly, however. A couple of the standout songs (such as The Cross) are decent if you're into this electro-rock sort of thing. One might want to just get those songs instead of listening to the entire album, to avoid being overwhelmed by the catchy redundancy.

If you like dark metal dressed up with synth, but want more meat and less soda pop, try Passage.

Not bad but not exciting - 78%

mephisto_the_hairy, December 22nd, 2003

When I first heard "The Cross" and "Infra Galaxia" I thought that this album would be incredible. These songs were solid, memorable, gorgeous. I can't even tell you how many times I listened to "The Cross" before I bought the album (don't sue me! I got if from Century Media!), just thinking how beautiful it was. And "Infra Galaxia, despite not being as catchy or lovely, I always thought was a nice, grooved, interesting industrial-esque piece. So, knowing these two tunes, I thought, there's absoloutely no reason I should not go get this album the first time I see it and have money on me. So I do just that. Shortly thereafter, I realise that all these songs seem to rehash each other, over and over again. All are the same tempo, with similar, memorable (well, at first) choruses. This could have been a two song E.P. and it would have had the same effect. My theory is that they must have written "The Cross" (the best track on the album) and then thought "Hey, we should write ten more just like this!" So they did (well, mostly. Again, they weren't as good as "The Cross"), and then they wrote "Infra Galaxia" as a change of pace. So what we're left with is the same two songs standing out, and then some filler. Not a terrible release, but it could have had a bit more effort put into it. If you really like catchy industrial metal, go ahead and buy it. If you miss the days of old Samael, perhaps it'd be a good idea to stay away from this one.