Artist: Samael
Title: Lux Mundi
Genre: Black Metal / Industrial / Metal
Release Date: 29th April 2011
Label: Nuclear Blast
Album Review
“It’s time for moving on as the past is too worn
Our life has just begun and a new day is born
No more prevarication, no more delay
I ain’t gonna await my last breath to say…“
(Excerpt from ‘Luxferre‘ by Samael)
Somehow this could be the slogan of SAMAEL’s new release ‘Lux Mundi‘. Barely another band developed in such a way like these guys from Switzerland. There are only a few examples beside that managed to move their music forward in a way SAMAEL did over the last fifteen years… e.g. ULVER or ANATHEMA. But in another way ‘Lux Mundi‘ is exactly what SAMAEL stands for since their masterpiece ‘Passage‘ from the year 1996: a pure and ingenious metal-mix without compromise! In fact, the new release draws on the times of ‘Passage‘. It’s almost the same atmosphere like fifteen years ago - and that’s simply unbelievable. The feeling is the one of a flashback to my own youth – ‘Passage‘ impressed me in a tremendous way at that time - and so does ‘Lux Mundi‘ in 2011.
Is ‘Lux Mundi‘ therefore a hoary old chestnut? By no means! It seems that SAMAEL fell into the fountain of youth and won back the energy of their older days. SAMAEL bear down the twilight of the gods, they apparently dwelled in. Only after ‘Above‘, their last release SAMAEL regained their energy in the nick of time, as it seems. Now, with ‘Lux Mundi‘, all hell breaks loose… it’s not that sophisticated than other releases in SAMAEL’s history. One can hear that the guys really enjoy playing their stuff. What else do you want? Although the new release is lacking of the ONE great song (e.g. on ‘Passage‘ the song ‘Shining Kingdom‘), the great conciseness somehow, it’s an awesome release full of power and ferocity.
‘Lux Mundi‘ is like an old friend rising from the past. It’s like a ‘Best of‘ album with brand new songs…! ‘Passage‘ was a milestone, I was sure that a band is able to create only once in their career - well, SAMAEL disabused me! Thank goodness… Another excerpt of ‘Luxferre’ points out what direction ‘Lux Mundi’ is giving:
“Turn it, turn it on
More light’s what matters and after all what we’re all after
A better sight, a clearer view of what’s about to come…“
Tracklist
01. Luxferre
02. Let My People Be
03. Of War
04. Antigod
05. For A Thousand Years
06. The Shadow of the Sword
07. In The Deep
08. Mother Night
09. Pagan Trance
10. In Gold We Trust
11. Soul Invictus
12. The Truth [Is Marching On] [Bonustrack]
Line-up
Vorph [Michael Locher] - Vocals, Guitars
Xytras [Alexandre Locher] - Drums, Percussion, Keyboards, Programming
Makro - Guitars
Masmiseim [Christophe Mermod] - Bass
Website
http://www.samael.info/Above/index.html / http://www.myspace.com/samael / http://www.facebook.com/pages/Samael/103701333002219
Cover Picture
Rating
Music: 9
Sound: 10
Extras: -
Total: 9.5 / 10
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