Review by Adam M on December 26, 2014.

Schammasch perform a type of black metal that has a large focus on the evil aura it gives off. The music of the band is certainly the type that could be given a post tag and also one where that tag would only be partially appropriate. The overwhelming nefarious atmosphere this band creates is not unlike that of Deathspell Omega, but there is a certain flavour of recent Dark Fortress at play here as well. This band is sparser than either of those acts, but manages to create quite an encompassing feeling with their music regardless.

There isn’t too much going on at any one time with the music. It can be seen that Schammasch is a band capable of making moving music without an excessively large amount of instrumentation. Because the outfit is capable of bringing a uniqueness to their performances, they are capable of crafting worthwhile music that will appeal to a smaller segment of the entire metal industry. Guitar riffs shape and shift into various different forms that are always poignant and moving to behold. The vocals are of a similarly twisted nature that is appropriate for the music at hand, but often gets overshadowed by a different instrument. These dark sounds are complemented by a powerful production job that makes everything very clear to the ear.

Even when the music becomes overly subtle, its malevolent nature keeps it moving forward. This can be seen in Split My Tongue for example, where a simple, yet totally nefarious riff carries the song forward in an excellent manner. This song goes onto to build up into an album highlight overall. This is followed nicely the quality Provoking Spiritual Collapse, which largely echoes Celtic Frost material. These are just two of many great moments to be found on this lengthy two-disc piece. Even though a little bit of the fat could have been trimmed, Schammasch have certainly provided an immersive experience with Contradiction.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Review by Adam M on December 26, 2014.

Schammasch perform a type of black metal that has a large focus on the evil aura it gives off. The music of the band is certainly the type that could be given a post tag and also one where that tag would only be partially appropriate. The overwhelming nefarious atmosphere this band creates is not unlike that of Deathspell Omega, but there is a certain flavour of recent Dark Fortress at play here as well. This band is sparser than either of those acts, but manages to create quite an encompassing feeling with their music regardless.

There isn’t too much going on at any one time with the music. It can be seen that Schammasch is a band capable of making moving music without an excessively large amount of instrumentation. Because the outfit is capable of bringing a uniqueness to their performances, they are capable of crafting worthwhile music that will appeal to a smaller segment of the entire metal industry. Guitar riffs shape and shift into various different forms that are always poignant and moving to behold. The vocals are of a similarly twisted nature that is appropriate for the music at hand, but often gets overshadowed by a different instrument. These dark sounds are complemented by a powerful production job that makes everything very clear to the ear.

Even when the music becomes overly subtle, its malevolent nature keeps it moving forward. This can be seen in Split My Tongue for example, where a simple, yet totally nefarious riff carries the song forward in an excellent manner. This song goes onto to build up into an album highlight overall. This is followed nicely the quality Provoking Spiritual Collapse, which largely echoes Celtic Frost material. These are just two of many great moments to be found on this lengthy two-disc piece. Even though a little bit of the fat could have been trimmed, Schammasch have certainly provided an immersive experience with Contradiction.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Review by Fran on November 24, 2021.

Slayer is my favorite thrash metal band. Even if the genre was already coined, it wasn't until the Haunting The Chapel EP that things started going extreme in terms of high-speed tempos and the dissonant sense of melody. Pioneers putting the devil in music. This live album represents the end of the band's golden age that started with that EP. It was recorded shortly after the release of their last “classic” album and features the original line-up with Jeff on guitars and Dave Lombardo on drums.

Lombardo’s revolutionary Latino influence in thrash metal percussion is captured in all its glory, double bass drums sound absolutely pummeling as well as the intrinsic tum breaks. Tom's voice sounds strained naturally, screaming your guts out every night on tour isn't particularly good for vocal cords but his potency is intact and his attitude undisputed. Bass guitar is present on the mix, like it was in studio offerings before Reign In Blood where they turned its volume down considerably. When the guitars change leads, the bass fills the gap that rhythm guitar leaves. A crunchy low end is always pleasing in extreme metal. The guitars’ tone is sharp, acid, not that thick but has enough body to add the desired weight to the riffs and of course its distortion is completely raw and analog. Soloing is accurate and memorable, just like the studio takes. Contrary to Rick Rubin’s super dry trademark studio sound, this mix sounds very organic and the acoustic dynamics from the venue give a delicious, natural, immense reverberation.

The setlist consist of a compilation of the band's first six releases, balanced this way: 3 songs from the debut album Show No Mercy, 2 from Haunting The Chapel, the song 'Hell Awaits', plus the good half from Reign In Blood -Jeff’s songs- 2 songs from South Of Heaven and 7 songs from Seasons In The Abyss, the album they were touring for. This setlist is pretty much what they continued playing live for the rest of their carrier, just a couple of songs from the last album at the moment of the recording feel like fillers in here ('Expendable Youth' and 'Spirit In Black') the rest are all classics. Regarding the production quality, you can't hear a lot of crowd noise but the acoustics from an open-air festival definitely characterizes the mix a lot. The performance of the band is astonishingly solid, there are normal little errors but that just shows it wasn't edited much. What you can hear is exactly how the gig sounded that day, no studio overdubs.

Now that Jeff is dead and Lombardo left the band on bad terms, this album takes relevance as the only opportunity to hear such an extensive setlist live by the original line-up, the other options are the live tracks from Soundtrack Of The Apocalypse and Live Undead, none of them full shows. I'm taking 2 points away because of the song selection -the couple of fillers- and 1 point because the final master could have been slightly better, for a solid 9.7. This is the best live album from the most important band of thrash metal.

Rating: 9.7 out of 10