Vorph also mentions their controversial latest album in an intelligently objective and honest way. As well as the fact that the band find it important to takes breaks in their careers in order to find themselves again and enable a better start.
« When we finished the album (Above), we felt that it had a certain charm and that it sounded different, rougher and not over done. So even though we felt that it was not perfect and it wasn’t as complete as our other albums, we found it surprising and interesting anyway. »
Vorph (vocals) : It’s always us because Masmiseim (bassist of the Swiss band) is always the last to crash and the first to get up the next day.
Above is a very surprising album. Why did you decide to release it under the name Samael when you had planned not to?When we finished the album (Above), we felt that it had a certain charm and that it sounded different, rougher and not over done. So even though we felt that it was not perfect and it wasn’t as complete as our other albums, we found it surprising and interesting anyway.
This is why we even hesitated whether to include it into Samael’s discography or not.
That’s something we hear a lot. In my opinion, I think it sounds a lot like some of our first albums. In fact we even re-recorded one of our old tracks from the first album (Worship Him) called « The Black Face » and we changed the lyrics. We then renamed the song « Darkside ». This album represents an interlude that we allowed ourselves to create.
Is this like the project Era One?At first, we didn’t want Era One to come out under the name Samael, but in actual fact, our contract meant that we couldn’t release it the way we wanted to under that name. As a result, we decided that since we already had this UFO of an album in our discography, we no longer hesitated to release Above under the name Samael. These two albums act as a sort of ying and yang…
I don’t think it’s dark at all. In my opinion, our darkest album is Eternal. Whenever I listen to it, I find it profoundly abysmal. I agree that Above is more aggressive and sometimes violent, but I don’t find it to be dark.
« Solar Soul was our only way to come to a conclusion. Above was made for the sake of experiment and a way to ask ourselves « what would it be like if we started everything from the beginning? »
No, it was more of a way to have fun rather than anything else. Solar Soul was our only way to come to a conclusion. Above was made for the sake of experiment and a way to ask ourselves « what would it be like if we started everything from the beginning? ».
Since Above is an album that can be put to one side from the rest, should we expect more surprises from you next album?So far we only have a few rough drafts of new tracks but nothing is finished yet. Even though we have more experience now than we did before, our ideas have remained the same since the start.
We started using them in 1996 on the album Passage. People can be very narrow minded when it comes to the way things should be done. We often wonder whether we should get a drummer, but I doubt that we will because the drum machine has become a part of our uniqueness.
« Solar Soul was a way for us to come to a conclusion; in fact that’s what I often used to say in interviews at the time when we were promoting the album. »
The oriental culture is one of dreams. I don’t know much about oriental culture so what inspires me from it is very abstract. Our lyrics are very spiritual so these sounds tend to go very well with them. If I had been born in India, perhaps my vision of things would be very different. I went to India just before the release of Passage and it was so destabilising that I felt as though I was visiting another planet. But I loved it and I a bit of myself over there.
You have created a kind of internal cosmic universe that is unique to your music. Do you think that the human condition is so complex that it can be compared to a galaxy?Yes. In fact that was the exact idea for the album cover of Eternal. It is a kind of cross, as a central point, to present the soul.
What is so complex about mankind and the way that we feel about ourselves?You have to let go of your uncertainties in order to free your mind, even if that means losing your comfort and sense of security. The human mind is infinite. It’s enough to make you dizzy.
Do you lots of expectations from Samael and on a personal level ?Solar Soul is a break because we are now going to go on in a different way. It will take time before we are completely liberated from our roots. First of all, we are going to explore things that we have only briefly touched upon so far.
« We are influenced and even pressured by lots of external factors but in the end it is entirely up to us whether we listen to them or not. We get to make the final decision, so yes I feel free. »
Yes. We are influenced and even pressured by lots of external factors but in the end it is entirely up to us whether we listen to them or not. We get to make the final decision, so yes I feel free.
[/urlb]No. Each member of the band has had some kind of a religious education. None of us wanted this. I made an effort to be interested by other forms of official religions, but all I found was the idea of domination.
Are you a believer ?No.
Are you against religion or is this a misconception?I would be for non-religion rather than against religion.
What do think of the minarets debate?Personally, I would like to see churches disappear. I don’t believe that they should eradicated because I don’t think that change should be imposed on the people. However, there are people who go out of their way to protect them and I don’t understand this. A few years ago, there was a church that was going to be desecrated because no one was going there anymore. However, the idea was vetoed despite the fact that the space could have been used as museum, a concert venue or for Amsterdam’s « Paradiso ». I don’t think that churches should be burnt, but rather used for something else.
« I don’t think that churches should be burnt, but rather used for something else. »
I think so because the base hasn’t changed. There are some errors that can be made along the way that you can try to avoid. When you are a teenager, you tend to take on issues in a way that is too direct. As you get older, you realise that this is not the way to go around it because it doesn’t make the problem move forward.
Do you have any regrets?No, not really because the mistakes that you make will always teach you something in the end.
Finally, who has Samael encountered that allowed them to be most enlightened?Makro. Before he joined in 2002, we were taking a break from the style we were used to. At the time, we were working on the Era One project. When Makro arrived it was like a breath of fresh air for all of us because he made us want to start off again where we had left things. We then set of to promote an album that was already three years old (Eternal). Not many bands do this: the promoters prefer to put forward newer albums. To tour with the album was a risk that was also the right thing to do because the tour went extremely well. In fact, we then started to record Reign Of Light. Makro’s arrival allowed us to start from new again.
Interview on 14th of Decembre 2009 at the Transbordeur in Lyon.
Transcription by Izzy.
