𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐑𝐘𝐏𝐓𝐒 - 𝐂𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐁𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐏𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐀𝐋𝐁𝐔𝐌𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐄𝐒 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐑𝐎𝐂𝐊 & 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐕𝐘𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐀𝐋…
August 19, 1996 — Samael released their fourth studio album, Passage via Century Media Records. (Listen)
The album was recorded at Woodhouse Studios and was produced by Waldemar Sorychta. All lyrics are written by Vorph; all music is composed by Xy.
(𝚅𝚘𝚛𝚙𝚑, 𝙺𝚊𝚘𝚜, 𝚇𝚢, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙼𝚊𝚜𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚎î𝚖 𝚊𝚝 𝚆𝚘𝚘𝚍𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚂𝚝𝚞𝚍𝚒𝚘𝚜 𝚍𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚏 𝙿𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚊𝚐𝚎, 𝟷𝟿𝟿𝟼)
Background:
The band decided to work with a drum machine following the departure of Rodolph. Xy moved from the drums to the keyboards and programmed all the drums parts. Kaos joined the band as second guitarist and the band went back to Woodhouse Studios for a 3 week session.
"𝚆𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚊 𝚕𝚘𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚞𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚊𝚕 𝚖𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚌 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗, 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚍𝚛𝚊𝚠𝚗 𝚝𝚘, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚜𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍. 𝚆𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊 𝚍𝚎𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚐𝚞𝚒𝚝𝚊𝚛 𝚜𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚎𝚗𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚌𝚛𝚞𝚗𝚌𝚑 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚐𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚙𝚘𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚔𝚎𝚢𝚋𝚘𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚜 𝚠𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐." — Vorph
The first show with the drum machine and new line up was on June 26, 1996 at Z7 in Pratteln (Switzerland) as opener for Kreator, the following day Samael played in With Full Force Festival alongside Ministry, Motörhead, and Front Line Assembly.
The band then released their fourth full-length album, Passage in August of 1996.
"𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚊 𝚍𝚛𝚞𝚖 𝚖𝚊𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚋𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚢 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚒𝚐𝚐𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚙𝚘𝚕𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚣𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚊𝚕 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚖𝚞𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚢. 𝚆𝚎 𝚔𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚋𝚎 𝚊 𝚙𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚍𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚞𝚕𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚠𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚘𝚛𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗. 𝙰𝚕𝚕 𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚕𝚕, 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚊𝚌𝚌𝚎𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚌𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚌 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚘𝚗 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚗𝚜 𝚠𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚘 𝚒𝚝." — Vorph
On this album, the band opted for more intensive use of keyboards and industrial sounds, drifting from their Black Metal roots and progressing in a different direction. Lyrically the band abandoned satanic themes and veered more towards the occult and the cosmic.
While it differs from its predecessors, Passage can be credited for thrusting Samael from the underground scene and giving the band a much larger international audience.
The album was originally recorded with a 17-song track list but was later cut down to 11. The remaining songs can be found on the album Exodus. A second edition was later offered containing 10 classical piano compositions from the album on a second disc.
A video was shot in Berlin for the song Jupiterian Vibe directed by Andreas Marshall. The video received regular airplay on MTV's HeadBangers Ball. (Watch video)
A full European tour followed the release of Passage with support from label mates Moonspell and Rotting Christ.
Samael later co-headlined the 1997 Full of Hate Festival tour with Obituary, Entombed, Crowbar and Strapping Young Lad, who completed the line up.
Later on that year they took part Summer Metal Meeting tour festival across Germany alongside Kreator, Sodom, Exodus, Grip Inc. and In Flames.
That summer the band played for the first and only time at Dynamo Open Air in Eindhoven as well as Wacken Open Air, and Graspop.
Re-issue:
In 2007, a remastered, re-packaged, special edition was released containing the album's original 17 song track list.
Over a decade after its original release is still considered by many to be a pillar in the Black/Industrial Metal genre.
Note: The reviews shared here are for historical reference. The views and opinions expressed within are not always supported (in full or in part) by Into the Wells. — E.N. Wells
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