Review by Stephen Pedicino
I’m no Samael historian, but they undoubtedly deserve props for lasting as long as they have. At the age of 22, this band has faced dramatic shifts in style while maintaining stability in their line-up. It takes courage to alter your sound at the risk of alienating your fanbase, which is exactly what these guys have done. 2009 saw the release of Above. It marked a return to the early 90s blueprint of traditional black metal. It was a nice thought, but in the end, it proves that some things evolve for a reason.
From the start, it’s clear that Samael wanted to come out with guns blazing (guns of course being relentless percussion and vigorous guitars). ‘Under One Flag” is underlaid with an indistinct yet strong patriotism that will manage to set your spirit afire. You’ll be grabbing for your broadsword and battleaxe in no time. It effectively alternates between rising and falling tension and sets the accent for the rest of the album. And I hope you like the way the song “feels,” because Above turns out to have a very uniform “touch.”
“Virtual War” is rather rampant. It provides plenty of anger but sacrifices any type of consistent harmony. If you eat and breathe arid tremolo picking and persistently war-like drumming, you’ll love it. As for me, I felt confused by the time it ended. “Polygames” is where I had one of my few real connections with Above. It blends tenacity and drama while flowing like a good song should. The lyrics are…eccentric. Vocalist Vorph starts by repeatedly shouting “Fuck,” and the chorus is meaninglessly comprised of “Hey, hey, mph, mph, ha, ha.” However, the foggy distortion on his voice makes it sound sinister. It should be noted that the effect Vorph uses is constant throughout the album. This makes for extremely minimal variation, which may end up nagging you by the end.
“Black Hole” starts as something promising, but develops into another case of “Virtual War.” There is a high level of emotion, but the chorus is painfully overused and the structure is too untamed. A playful keyboard surges through the middle of the song, which was the personal highlight for me. “Dark Side,” again, begins as an actual song but morphs into a raw, unsavory piece of black metal pother. I was hoping the lyrics would pertain to THE Dark Side, but Samael don’t seem to share the same fascination with Star Wars. Ah well…
The drums are pretty boisterous and the vocals are pretty faint. You’ll be lucky to decipher them without referencing the lyrics. The guitars are fitting for the style, but could have been reconciled with the volume of the percussion. Some keyboards slither here and there, but don’t serve much of a purpose. Instrumentally, this album is pretty standard.
The last two tracks are actually pretty cool. “On Top of it All” has technical proficiency in addition to catchiness. It makes we wonder why Samael couldn’t have drafted more songs of this quality earlier in the album. The closer is a remix of “Black Hole.” Its techno timbre is of course reminiscent of Samael’s electronic tendencies on recent albums. The aggressive guitar from the original song is still used; making for a rather eclectic listen…and so concludes another album.
For me, the vast majority of this album is very forgettable. The only tracks I substantially enjoyed are listed as the recommended tracks. Above lacks a severe amount of melody and accord. It definitely has energy, but that energy could have been used in a more intelligible way. I suppose all the unwavering, “true” black-metalheads will love the raw sound and the repetition, but Above is nowhere near the pinnacle of what black metal has to offer. You could call this album an “exploration of roots,” but I view it as a regression. I would think such a legendary band would be capable of higher creativity. Perhaps they should stick with their unique, electro-fused dark metal instead of reintegrating themselves with a style that has passed its prime.