Very dark, and at times quite slow, ambient Swiss metal. This was the full length release that came before the brilliant "Passage." I could appreciate the misanthropy and the depressed state of the vocalist on my first listen, despite the slowness of some of the songs. Synthesisers are only very sparingly used on this album, but to good effect. The listener is made to feel that he is disappearing into nothingness. The songs have quite an epic feel despite being relatively short, as the album has ten tracks at 36 minutes. The feel of the music compliments the fact that the vocalist is telling a story and giving his insights into life, and even though the music doesn't really sound like typical black metal, it compliments some of the most hateful and misanthropic lyrics. The cover art depicts a bearded man who looks like Christ with many nails driven into his forehead as blood runs down his face. If life feels as if it's getting you down, just pop this cd in the player!

This review is credited to:
Julian Forbes

Century Media 1994

Ceremony of Opposites is Samael's first proffesional sounding cd, making both Worship Him and Blood Ritual sound very immature. The backbone of Samael as always been brothers Vorphalack (vocals, guitar) and Xy (keyboards, drums) although CoO includes sampling help by Ravel and Aleister Crowly respectively.

CoO is a very dark, ambient, work of metal. The music is very hard to catagorize, taking lyrical elements and atmosphere from black metal, riffs from thrash and vocals from death metal. Many people consider them black metal, but I think they are closer to a Celtic Frost sound than a Mayhem or Emperor type sound. The riffs on this cd are clear, crushing and very original. The drums suit the music nicely but aren't anything particularly noteworthy. One thing of interest is the fact that CoO uses drums played on a drum kit as opposed to the programmed drums on more recent Samael albums. CoO has a much more natural sound as a result, and I wish they had played the drums that way on future releases. The one aspect of the album that makes it so amazing is the very melancholy, evil, depressing atmosphere created by the songs. The combination of the subtle keyboards, evil lyrics, and grinding, raspy vocals creates a truly unique atmosphere. As the album progresses you slowly feel like your being sucked into a black void of nothingness. The amount of suffering and agony in the lyrics and vocal delivery is really astounding. Also of note is the fantastic production on this album. Every instrument is very clear, and mixed at just the right level. I STRONGLY recommend this cd to anybody who enjoys any kind of extreme metal.

This review is credited to:
Zaphod
metal_review@hotmail.com