Rating:
Genre:
Rock
Release Date: 09/10/1996
While
Ceremony of Opposites used keyboards only to accentuate the guitar lines, 1996's
Passage finds
Samael fearlessly integrating the two instruments in equal amounts. Drummer/keyboard player
Xy programmed all his drum parts and uses various synthesizer effects (especially simulated chorus vocals) to create a highly original, post-industrial,
black metal sound. Opener
"Rain" is simply stunning, with all of the aforementioned ingredients underpinned by a relentless double kick-drum. Despite their sweeping keyboard melodies, less frenetic highlights such as
"Angel's Decay" and
"A Man in Your Head" sound even darker than other tracks -- like hellish symphonies. Lyrically, the album finds
Samael in an esoteric, outer space mode, especially on
"Born Under Saturn," "Jupiterian Vibe," and the excellent
"Moonskin." While sonic comparisons to Sweden's
Tiamat are inevitable (due in part to long-time
Tiamat producer
Waldemar Sorychta's involvement), they hardly detract from
Passage's originality, nor from its rightful consideration as one of the most important extreme
metal albums of the '90s.
~Ed Rivadavia, All Music Guide
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