My Review on Samael's Above:

God...Samael...what do I have to say about them other then this is probably my favorite album of theirs (including the old black stuff). Above brought Samael a sort of raw black metal feel, which is strange because they are usually either melodic black or experimental black, and one album was even EBM (kinda). I think that Above has a great opening song ("Under One Flag"), which is in your face, brutal, but yet is very poetic. Samael keeps on astounding me with their new music, and how they can shift their sound so much, but always better themselves.

The riffs in Above are really fast, and paired with blast beating and toned out bass, giving it a raw black metal feel, almost like from what Marduk did in the pre-Mortuus years, in fact Vorph sings a lot like Legion, but adds a Varg-type rasp to the vocals. Sometimes I would often crack and ask myself if this was indeed Samael.

The artwork is unique as always, with a sort of deity like creature, complete with the Samael logo. I really have no clue what deity it is, so I cant tell you the symbolism in this art, but I can say that it is pretty cool. The deity-creature-demon is sitting cross legged, staring out over what seems to be infinite space, but I am not sure.

All in all, I am speechless at this album and how unique to Samael it is. Its like taking a huge shit after you've held it for hours...big sigh of relief everybody, as we realize that this album is goddamn near the best (if not the best) they have ever done. Go out and spend the 12 dollars to buy this album. It will change your perspective on black metal. And probably make you crave more...so be a good kvlt kid and either buy the LP or the CD.