Unlimited Streaming
Listen to this album in high quality now on our apps
Start my trial period and start listening to this albumEnjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription
SubscribeEnjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription
Digital Download
Purchase and download this album in a wide variety of formats depending on your needs.
From crude black metal to finessed industrial electronics, Samael's long and not always smooth career path has left many fans upset and stranded by the roadside -- especially due to the erratic qualities of 1999's electro-metal hangover Eternal (a rude awakening after the euphoric genius of 1996's Passage) and the radical trip-hop departures of 2004's otherwise impressive Reign of Light. With their seventh long-player, 2007's Solar Soul, the Swiss quartet appeared to be striving to achieve some kind of historical balance between all of these disparate styles. As a result, numbers like "Promised Land," "Valkyries' New Ride," and the title track see the band re-injecting some of the analog metal elements of early-day efforts into its still thoroughly digital aesthetic, thus rendering those songs at once inventive and worthy of a good headbang. Unfortunately, another fair portion of Solar Soul's songs, such as the slow-poke "Alliance," "Olympus," and the Indian music-laced "Quasar Waves," get bogged down in a queer brand of creeping goth metal -- too slow to dance to, never mind slam-dance to -- that also tended to bog down the band's most recent albums to varying degrees. But at least the similarly deliberate (and once again Eastern-accented) "Western Ground" manages to avoid this fate thanks to its incremental use of synthesized choirs and symphonics, while the female voice-enhanced "Suspended Time" delivers the album's most trip-hoppy moment. In short, there's no simple solution for Samael's ongoing dilemma because the greater part of their fan base will never fully embrace the group's distancing from core black metal values. But it certainly doesn't help matters that flawed but hardly terrible albums like Solar Soul and Eternal simply lack the brilliantly consistent songwriting standards of the band's mid-'90s releases, and that even a strong statement like the intervening Reign of Light couldn't convert enough new fans from the electronic realms to the band's cause.
© Eduardo Rivadavia /TiVo
You are currently listening to samples.
Listen to over 100 million songs with an unlimited streaming plan.
Listen to this playlist and more than 100 million songs with our unlimited streaming plans.
From $10.83/month
Copyright Control, MusicPublisher - Samael, MainArtist - XY, Composer - Vorph, Composer
(C) 2019 SAMAEL (P) 2019 SAMAEL
Copyright Control, MusicPublisher - Samael, MainArtist - XY, Composer - Vorph, Composer
(C) 2019 SAMAEL (P) 2019 SAMAEL
Copyright Control, MusicPublisher - Samael, MainArtist - XY, Composer - Vorph, Composer
(C) 2019 SAMAEL (P) 2019 SAMAEL
Copyright Control, MusicPublisher - Samael, MainArtist - XY, Composer - Vorph, Composer
(C) 2019 SAMAEL (P) 2019 SAMAEL
Copyright Control, MusicPublisher - Samael, MainArtist - XY, Composer - Vorph, Composer
(C) 2019 SAMAEL (P) 2019 SAMAEL
Copyright Control, MusicPublisher - Samael, MainArtist - XY, Composer - Vorph, Composer
(C) 2019 SAMAEL (P) 2019 SAMAEL
Copyright Control, MusicPublisher - Samael, MainArtist - XY, Composer - Vorph, Composer
(C) 2019 SAMAEL (P) 2019 SAMAEL
Copyright Control, MusicPublisher - Samael, MainArtist - XY, Composer - Vorph, Composer
(C) 2019 SAMAEL (P) 2019 SAMAEL
Copyright Control, MusicPublisher - Samael, MainArtist - XY, Composer - Vorph, Composer
(C) 2019 SAMAEL (P) 2019 SAMAEL
Copyright Control, MusicPublisher - Samael, MainArtist - XY, Composer - Vorph, Composer
(C) 2019 SAMAEL (P) 2019 SAMAEL
Copyright Control, MusicPublisher - Samael, MainArtist - XY, Composer - Vorph, Composer
(C) 2019 SAMAEL (P) 2019 SAMAEL
Copyright Control, MusicPublisher - Samael, MainArtist - XY, Composer - Vorph, Composer
(C) 2019 SAMAEL (P) 2019 SAMAEL
Copyright Control, MusicPublisher - Samael, MainArtist - XY, Composer - Vorph, Composer
(C) 2019 SAMAEL (P) 2019 SAMAEL
Copyright Control, MusicPublisher - Samael, MainArtist - XY, Composer - Vorph, Composer
(C) 2019 SAMAEL (P) 2019 SAMAEL
Copyright Control, MusicPublisher - Samael, MainArtist - XY, Composer - Vorph, Composer
(C) 2019 SAMAEL (P) 2019 SAMAEL
Copyright Control, MusicPublisher - Samael, MainArtist - XY, Composer - Vorph, Composer
(C) 2019 SAMAEL (P) 2019 SAMAEL
Copyright Control, MusicPublisher - Samael, MainArtist - XY, Composer - Vorph, Composer
(C) 2019 SAMAEL (P) 2019 SAMAEL
Copyright Control, MusicPublisher - Samael, MainArtist - XY, Composer - Vorph, Composer
(C) 2019 SAMAEL (P) 2019 SAMAEL
Copyright Control, MusicPublisher - Samael, MainArtist - XY, Composer - Vorph, Composer
(C) 2019 SAMAEL (P) 2019 SAMAEL
Copyright Control, MusicPublisher - Samael, MainArtist - XY, Composer - Vorph, Composer
(C) 2019 SAMAEL (P) 2019 SAMAEL
Copyright Control, MusicPublisher - Samael, MainArtist - XY, Composer - Vorph, Composer
(C) 2019 SAMAEL (P) 2019 SAMAEL
Album review
From crude black metal to finessed industrial electronics, Samael's long and not always smooth career path has left many fans upset and stranded by the roadside -- especially due to the erratic qualities of 1999's electro-metal hangover Eternal (a rude awakening after the euphoric genius of 1996's Passage) and the radical trip-hop departures of 2004's otherwise impressive Reign of Light. With their seventh long-player, 2007's Solar Soul, the Swiss quartet appeared to be striving to achieve some kind of historical balance between all of these disparate styles. As a result, numbers like "Promised Land," "Valkyries' New Ride," and the title track see the band re-injecting some of the analog metal elements of early-day efforts into its still thoroughly digital aesthetic, thus rendering those songs at once inventive and worthy of a good headbang. Unfortunately, another fair portion of Solar Soul's songs, such as the slow-poke "Alliance," "Olympus," and the Indian music-laced "Quasar Waves," get bogged down in a queer brand of creeping goth metal -- too slow to dance to, never mind slam-dance to -- that also tended to bog down the band's most recent albums to varying degrees. But at least the similarly deliberate (and once again Eastern-accented) "Western Ground" manages to avoid this fate thanks to its incremental use of synthesized choirs and symphonics, while the female voice-enhanced "Suspended Time" delivers the album's most trip-hoppy moment. In short, there's no simple solution for Samael's ongoing dilemma because the greater part of their fan base will never fully embrace the group's distancing from core black metal values. But it certainly doesn't help matters that flawed but hardly terrible albums like Solar Soul and Eternal simply lack the brilliantly consistent songwriting standards of the band's mid-'90s releases, and that even a strong statement like the intervening Reign of Light couldn't convert enough new fans from the electronic realms to the band's cause.
© Eduardo Rivadavia /TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 21 track(s)
- Total length: 01:22:18
- Main artists: Samael
- Composer: Various Composers
- Label: Napalm Records Handels GmbH
- Genre: Metal
(C) 2019 SAMAEL (P) 2019 SAMAEL
Improve album informationWhy buy on Qobuz?
-
Stream or download your music
Buy an album or an individual track. Or listen to our entire catalog with our high-quality unlimited streaming subscriptions.
-
Zero DRM
The downloaded files belong to you, without any usage limit. You can download them as many times as you like.
-
Choose the format best suited for you
Download your purchases in a wide variety of formats (FLAC, ALAC, WAV, AIFF...) depending on your needs.
-
Listen to your purchases on our apps
Download the Qobuz apps for smartphones, tablets, and computers, and listen to your purchases wherever you go.