Review by Felix on March 31, 2023.

The release of Samael's fourth longplayer "Passage" is already more than 20 years ago, but I still remember that I was very impressed after the first listening sessions. During the last years, the album fell into oblivion, but it is worth to rediscover this work. It houses great compositions that try to square the circle. Why? Well, Samael have chosen to present their tunes with an almost sterile sound (listen, for example, to the intro of "Angel's Decay"), but this does not mean that they are not able to create great feelings and songs with a remarkable depth. On the one hand, this is due to the help of Waldemar Sorychta. He produced this album and probably you know that he is rather a sound wizard than an ordinary producer. In other words, the mix of "Passage" is, despite its polished appearance, near to perfection. The album sounds powerful, massive and robust. Fortunately, the affinity for electric sounds does not stop the power of the drums and the guitars also play their role in a great manner while creating, in union with the keyboards, some pretty dramatic sections.

On the other hand, the band itself demonstrates its capability to write catchy songs that combine bombastic elements with cold intolerance. Furthermore, the pieces are catchy and equipped with many ominous parts that have the power to teach sensitive souls the meaning of fear. Finally, the album scores with an enormous intensity. All these features culminate in "The Ones Who Came Before" with its sublime chorus. Samael send greetings from a cold and dark galaxy, but this kind of greetings makes my spine tingle. Yet even less demonic tracks such as the melodically flowing "Moonskin" have their charm. This is not to say that this song will crush your skull, but it relies on a stable idea and does not offer half-baked material. Anyway, the tunes where the double bass insists on its right are the tracks that shape the picture of "Passage". Coherent leads meet atmospheric keyboards on an equal footing, but there can be no doubt that the general heaviness of the compositions reaches a more than solid level. Inter alia the great number of parts which create a maelstrom-like aura draw the listener into the songs due to their density, intensity and, well, heaviness. No doubt, the guys know how to thicken their sound in order to achieve the greatest possible impact.

Admittedly, the album suffers from the Samael-syndrome, but fortunately only to a small extent. Anyway, it is another record of the band whose second half cannot fully keep up with the songs of the first half. Yet the experienced formation avoids fillers and to build monuments like "Rain" or "Shining Kingdom" is anything else but a matter of course, even for undisputably great musicians. And Samael show their skills in many ways. It is, for example, remarkable, that more or less each and every number develops its own character, although they are all based on similar patterns with nearly standardized playtimes. Finally, and maybe this has been the greatest challenge that the Swiss artists mastered, "Passage" features a band that has modified its style in a comprehensible, credible and abssolutely convincing manner. Samael are not interested in stagnation, but they also do not surprise with experiments that stand in sharp contrast to the works that catapulted them into the focus of the scene. "Passage" makes clear that its predecessor "Ceremony of Opposites" was both: a glorious album which stood on its own feet, but the logical link between "Blood Rituals" and the here presented full-length as well. It can therefore be no doubt that the mid-nineties marked the golden age of Samael. I will listen again to "Passage" - and I won't wait until 2038 to do so.

Rating: 8.9 out of 10

Review by Jeremy on July 31, 2001.

“Passage” is a double CD. I hadn't heard a lot of Samael when I picked this up on the recommendation of a friend, and was somewhat overjoyed to find that I was getting an instrumental cd alongside the metal one.

The way this works: “Passage”, disc 1, is the Samael we know. It's heavy, full of industrial elements and orchestral noises. “Passage”, disc 2, is the majority of the songs on disc 1 redone with synthesizers. It's not as cheesy as it sounds.

Samael weave a splendid sound-scape, and I find “Passage” to be one of the few albums I listen to all the way through. The guitars are quite heavy, with a fat distortion topped off by metallic "crunch" in the top end. It opens with a killer riff, and holds your attention quite well throughout. The guitar is innovative without sounding too simple, and it's refreshing to hear a really thick guitar sound. I don't know if there IS a bass in this, and strangely enough, it doesn't seem to need it. If it's there, it's so far back in the mix that it's indiscernible. The keyboards play a much larger role. Most songs have a deep choral keyboard effect over the majestic riffs. This gives the entire album a grandiose feel - and you almost picture Vorph (however you picture him) standing in front of a choir. It just has this intangible power to it. Xy, the keyboardist, also programmed the drums on this. I've read that he spent twice as long writing the program for the drums as he would have writing the drums the old-fashioned way. To substantiate that claim, they're very good programmed drums. The bass is low and the snare is tight - they're done in such a way as not to detract at all from the overall effect, though if you pay attention, you can tell that they're not real. Track 5, ‘Jupiterian Vibe’ starts out with tribal-sounding bongos. Very different.

Vocally, this album is interesting. Vorph's voice isn't so much a growl as a low rasp, and he doesn't so much "talk" or "drone" as he seems to almost lecture. The effect changes with each song, but he almost seems to be preaching, giving advice, almost. It's a voice that I enjoy listening to, and I'm not sure why. His lyrics are also interesting. I've regularly described Samael as "the only metal band who sing about agriculture." And they do. The lyrics run the gamut from the more typical type of self-empowerment (‘My Saviour’) lyrics, to the outright sci-fi. This allows for a nice blend of styles across the album.

There's some bizarre vocals in ‘A Man in Your Head,’ which seems somewhat silly to me, but they're reminiscent of the "Viking singing" on some Black metal albums.

So many metal albums are produced so thinly that you need to boost the low end a lot. With “Passage”, I'm listening to it right out of my Cd-Rom into a good pair of headphones, and it's nicely balanced.

Notable moments on disc I: The intro to the album, ‘Rain.’ It's a killer riff, and the song's catchy. ‘My Saviour,’ track 4, flows very nicely. The pinch-harmonic riff in ‘A Man in Your Head,’ track 11, is quite good as well.

“Passage”, disc 2 is something that's gained quite a respectable spot in my CD collection. The keyboard versions of the songs off “Passage” (less a few, and plus a few others from the Exodus EP) aren't merely the original tracks stripped of guitar and drums. They've been entirely re-sequenced and had some impressive piano work laid overtop. The album is a good listen for anyone, but some metal-lovers might not like its softness and relative accessibility.

Notable moments on disc II: ‘Der Stamm Kains,’ track 6. This is a version of ‘Tribes of Cain’ off the Exodus EP, and it's fantastic. Gets stuck in your head. I've had metal-haters demand for me to play this song.

Bottom Line: “Passage” (both discs) is a bit of a triumph. It manages to hold a listener's attention through well-crafted music, with creative and interesting lyrics. Below the surface lies a metal album with a lot of soul. I know, "soul" is a bad term to use, but it's got it, whatever it is. Great albums, worth the trip, and listen to it on the way home.

Rating: disc I: 9 out of 10, disc II: 8 out of 10