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Rating:
Among the innumerable black bands that sprang up like mushrooms in the metal scene of the early '90s, it is possible to find quite a few that filtered this subgenre in a personal and intelligent way, while adhering to the old school canons not yet expanded and developed as they are today.
One band in particular deserves attention: the Swiss Samael, and more precisely their early period, the one most faithful to the black movement that raged at the time. This first part of their career is encapsulated in an extremely interesting triptych, which includes the debut album "Worship Him", the third album "Ceremony of Opposites" (perhaps the perfect emblem of the darker side of the Samael project) and finally the reviewed here "Blood Ritual" (1992), the second studio album. Then there will be the sensational turn of "Passage" to open a new triptych, the more electronic and avant-garde one, but that is another story.
This "Blood Ritual" thus places itself in the middle of Samael's "occult era" and the content itself confirms it: it is a predominantly slow and chilling black metal, at times doom, overall very sparse and without too many pretensions given the relative absence of striking innovations. But as much as it may adhere to the black metal stylistic features of the time, somehow Samael's style leaves deep and unmistakable traces, unlike many other bands that did/do nothing but naively stereotype the genre.
Indeed, most of the guitar scowls are dragged with relentless malice (typical of Samael) and supported by a very solid drumming, behind which more misanthropic than ever is Xytraguptor (the brain of the group); Vorphalack proves to be a vocalist certainly suited to the gloomy and spectral, as well as claustrophobic atmospheres, of this decent album whose style is constantly contained and slowed down to result more ruthless and venomous than ever. Thus, there are no typical burst-speed attacks of black metal since Samael prefers to rely on the corrosive power of a vague melodic appeal that has always distinguished them.
And it is exactly the creeping and biting slowness that makes this album a dynamic and satisfying episode of black metal in general: tracks like "Beyond the Nothingness" and "Bestial Devotion" draw heavily from the somewhat listless riffs of the previous album, making them more massive and penetrating and playing them with macabre drum beats; "Poison Infiltration" is shaken by the slithering madness of Vorphalack's screams, while "Total Consecration" is a track played entirely on the keyboard, dripping with frightening occultism and animated by an almost dramatic and tragic tone. The title track seems a bit like the most "black" song here, short and fast, while rather bland is "With the Gleam of the Torches", weak and not very incisive for its length.
In short, "Blood Ritual" will certainly not be an indispensable fragment of black metal, nor have Samael been a group of fundamental relevance for the metal scene in general. This does not change the fact that, in any case, the album in question is more than sufficient and has the good intentions to be considered at least original and worthy of being listened to, especially by fans of the genre. My rating is a 3.7 that becomes a scant 4.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
02 Beyond the Nothingness (04:31)
In the darkness of an endless night
At the dawn of eternal life
In the coldness of a land without sun
Our spirits dive in the world of silence
Farther into infinity
Beyond the nothingness
Atrocious vision of death
Indescribable horror of darkness
Desolation of absolute emptyness
Unbearable sensation of impotence
We're dazzled by total obscurity of the parallel world
Our senses are numb for our longest journey
- Master speak, we're listening!
- Father order, we'll obey!
We're all one
And one is him
04 After the Sepulture (04:35)
Nothing ever stops
Everything starts again
The end and the beginning
Are eternal lovers
Prisoners of or bodies
From the cot to the grave
Impotent puppets
We aspire to the light
The sun will turn in black
You will see the dark...
After the sepulchre
Grams of their brother's cries
Spirit lastly free oneself
Like raise the incense smoke
And the funeral orations
Here time is unreal
Hours and minutes are meaningless
Here eternity has a name
Remorse and penitence
The sun will turn in black
You will see the dark...
After the sepulchre
Life is just an illusion
Going round and round
06 Blood Ritual (03:24)
Life, where suffering is the only satisfaction
Sadness of my nights without sleep
Anguish to be alone against all
Ritual of blood, where a human being
Gives his life for mine
Spills his blood for mine
Now I will be them and they will be mine
And we'll be one above your god
Blood ritual / Purification by the blood
Blood ritual / Total consecration
My spirit has dived into the infernal storm of evil
My soul is forever tormented
Take advantage of this jouvencal fluid
Deliver your soul from claws of ignorance
Death is the only way to escape the misery of life
Death is the only way to reach the supreme power
The caress of he blade on his skin
Is waking up my old cruel dreams
Look the so coveted liquid going out of his body
Look the sacred fluid spilling out of his wounds
Let your mind be impregnated
By this mad attraction
07 Since the Creation... (00:34)
Every men born evil
Someone will try to be good as they can,
some other will dedicate their life
to the unholy lord of the earth
08 With the Gleam of the Torches (06:25)
[the priest:]
- Everything's ready
- Go and get me fresh meat
- We're thirsty for sacred beverage
- Hurry up! I can't wait anymore
[the assembly:]
- Here she is the promised virgin!
[narration:]
Her nude body plays with the unstable shadows
Her long hair hides half her breasts, she rises her head
Her eyes are shining with the gleam of the torches
[the priest:]
- Look deep in my eyes, you little bitch
- Look at your death, she smiles at you
[priest reflection:]
Death opens her arms to you
You tremble and your body is wet
You haven't to be scared, you'll be saved
You'll suffer, you'll die, you'll be free
[the priest:]
I wish to hear her weep
I wish to hear her cry
I wish to hear her yell
Of disgust... of fear... of pain
[the priest with the crowd:]
We gonna take care of you...
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