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Samael - Lux Mundi



7.7 | 184 votes |
Release date: 29 April 2011
Style: Electro industrial metal

Owners:

197 have it
23 want it


01. Luxferre
02. Let My People Be!
03. Of War
04. Antigod
05. For A Thousand Years
06. The Shadow Of The Sword
07. In The Deep
08. Mother Night
09. Pagan Trance
10. In Gold We Trust
11. Soul Invictus
12. The Truth Is Marching On

Staff review by
Daniell
Rating:
8.2
It takes an enormous amount of talent to be able to churn out album after album containing a similar number of songs of similar length, arrangements and structure and to keep the listener interested, especially since the last album of this somewhat unified dynasty is the best one in the last fifteen years. Passage, Eternal, Reign of Light, Solar Soul, and now Lux Mundi - if you look closely, you will notice that 100% of all the songs from these five albums basically have the same length - from 3:12 to 4:55. No shorts, no longs, basically no variety - no guitar solos, no long instrumental passages, no intros, no outros. Metal music stripped down to its essence - verse, chorus, bridge, rinse, repeat.

Read more ››
published 11.07.2011 | Comments (5)

At first sight, or, to be precise, at first listen, Samael made their new album using the same template as usual. But this time the result is exceptionally good. It takes enormous skill to compose twelve songs of similar structure and make them all sound different and unique. And incredibly catchy too, if that is possible with harsh vocals and customarily hateful anti christian lyrics. Those Swiss heretics are as hell-bent on hating religion as usual, but the whole background to their hate, all those marching rhythms, intricate and inspired keyboard passages and abrasive rasps mix together to form some of the nicest surprises of this year so far. Their best since Passage.

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Comments

Comments: 26   Visited by: 669 users
23.12.2010 - 07:48
IYAD

I hope it s not same ABOVE...
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29.04.2011 - 16:48
Kenos
Account deleted
This is undoubtedly a good record, probably better than "Above", it's mid-paced, martial, powerful, yeah... But my impression is that Samael have run out of original/fresh ideas after "Reign Of Light" (which was truly excellent), and since "Solar Soul" they've been rehashing the same formula again and again and again...

"Ceremony" and "Passage" were true masterpieces and "Eternal" was the ideal evolution towards a lighter (formally and conceptually speaking) and more electronica-based metal. "Reign Of Light" brought nothing new to the table but it was still a huge improvement on Samael's experimental ground: the band just wanted to explore further their new identity and they did it wonderfully.

Then they went downhill. "Solar Soul", while being not bad (there are still some great tunes), is only an inoffensive recycling of the previous works; it sounded great at first, but became stagnating after few listens. "Above" drastically focused on impact with a huge wall of sound, but again, it was nothing more than a digression. Still not bad, imho, but far from the band's true potential.

Now we have this "Lux Mundi", and once more there's nothing new under the sun (err, whatever). I really appreciate the partial return to their roots with a Passage-like mood and atmosphere, but hey, isn't this just a nostalgic recall? Plus, "Solar Soul"'s and "Reign Of Light"'s vibes are always there, giving the songs a very martial (and overall predictable) structure, which we've already heard from Samael so many many many times before. Come on guys, that's the third album in a row lacking new ideas. This shit is good, but that's not enough coming from a band like you.
I know you can do better, I know you can still DARE.

7,5/10 but I give it an 8 just because it's better than "Above".
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02.05.2011 - 18:10
MechanisT
Account deleted
Written by Guest on 29.04.2011 at 16:48

This is undoubtedly a good record, probably better than "Above", it's mid-paced, martial, powerful, yeah... But my impression is that Samael have run out of original/fresh ideas after "Reign Of Light" (which was truly excellent), and since "Solar Soul" they've been rehashing the same formula again and again and again...

"Ceremony" and "Passage" were true masterpieces and "Eternal" was the ideal evolution towards a lighter (formally and conceptually speaking) and more electronica-based metal. "Reign Of Light" brought nothing new to the table but it was still a huge improvement on Samael's experimental ground: the band just wanted to explore further their new identity and they did it wonderfully.

Then they went downhill. "Solar Soul", while being not bad (there are still some great tunes), is only an inoffensive recycling of the previous works; it sounded great at first, but became stagnating after few listens. "Above" drastically focused on impact with a huge wall of sound, but again, it was nothing more than a digression. Still not bad, imho, but far from the band's true potential.

Now we have this "Lux Mundi", and once more there's nothing new under the sun (err, whatever). I really appreciate the partial return to their roots with a Passage-like mood and atmosphere, but hey, isn't this just a nostalgic recall? Plus, "Solar Soul"'s and "Reign Of Light"'s vibes are always there, giving the songs a very martial (and overall predictable) structure, which we've already heard from Samael so many many many times before. Come on guys, that's the third album in a row lacking new ideas. This shit is good, but that's not enough coming from a band like you.
I know you can do better, I know you can still DARE.

7,5/10 but I give it an 8 just because it's better than "Above".


You know, you've got everything here for a nice little review. Why not giving it a go after the 3 month guest review restriction wears off?
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02.05.2011 - 18:28
Kenos
Account deleted
Written by Guest on 02.05.2011 at 18:10

You know, you've got everything here for a nice little review. Why not giving it a go after the 3 month guest review restriction wears off?


That's not a bad idea, but my english is pretty lame.
By the way I've just written and published a review of LM on another website (in my first language of course); guess I should only translate it decently...
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02.05.2011 - 18:32
MechanisT
Account deleted
Written by Guest on 02.05.2011 at 18:28

Written by Guest on 02.05.2011 at 18:10

You know, you've got everything here for a nice little review. Why not giving it a go after the 3 month guest review restriction wears off?


That's not a bad idea, but my english is pretty lame.
By the way I've just written and published a review of LM on another website (in my first language of course); guess I should only translate it decently...


Your english is fine and, if I may, pretty badass. Your review will totally be worth checking out, since you've got so much emotion vested on it.
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02.05.2011 - 18:44
Kenos
Account deleted
Written by Guest on 02.05.2011 at 18:32

Written by Guest on 02.05.2011 at 18:28

Written by Guest on 02.05.2011 at 18:10

You know, you've got everything here for a nice little review. Why not giving it a go after the 3 month guest review restriction wears off?


That's not a bad idea, but my english is pretty lame.
By the way I've just written and published a review of LM on another website (in my first language of course); guess I should only translate it decently...


Your english is fine and, if I may, pretty badass. Your review will totally be worth checking out, since you've got so much emotion vested on it.


Hey, thanks mate.
I'll wait for this restriction to wear off then; meanwhile I'll try to scribble down a few lines...
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02.05.2011 - 19:10
MechanisT
Account deleted
Do that, Kenos. Waiting for the review.
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04.05.2011 - 14:22
NocturnalStalker
Metal Addict
"Above" was a disappointment to me so I was a bit sceptical of this album but... It turned out to be quite good. True, they got nothing new to offer but most of the songs are satisfying. There is no use waiting for a new "Passage" so why not enjoy this one?
----
"And we are not who we think we are
We are who we're afraid to be"
- Lux Occulta "The Opening of Eleventh Sephirah"
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07.05.2011 - 04:57
steelminion01

FINALLY PASSAGE HAS A FULL FOLLOW UP
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10.05.2011 - 22:04
Destructhor

Nice I can feel the 90s dark spirit of black metal..
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22.05.2011 - 02:08
They returned to industrial metal finally
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02.06.2011 - 21:08
Rating: 9
Vonpire

Brilliant!
----
Beware the Shadows of Dusk
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10.06.2011 - 12:22
garmling
Account deleted
Just wonderful album...I enjoy every song!
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10.06.2011 - 12:48
Rating: 8
Daniell
_爱情_
Written by Destructhor on 10.05.2011 at 22:04

Nice I can feel the 90s dark spirit of black metal..


Where exactly, because definitely not on this album?
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10.06.2011 - 14:14
Marcel Hubregtse
Grumpy Old Fuck
Another letdown by Samael. I'd better stick to their first four masterpieces.
----
Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal

Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight
Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.)
05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996

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10.06.2011 - 15:07
Rating: 8
Daniell
_爱情_
Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 10.06.2011 at 14:14

Another letdown by Samael. I'd better stick to their first four masterpieces.


Blood Ritual was shit, so 3 masterpieces
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10.06.2011 - 18:34
Marcel Hubregtse
Grumpy Old Fuck
Written by Daniell on 10.06.2011 at 15:07

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 10.06.2011 at 14:14

Another letdown by Samael. I'd better stick to their first four masterpieces.


Blood Ritual was shit, so 3 masterpieces




1. worship him
2. Blood ritual
3. Ceremony Of The Opposites.
4. passage

and there is already quite a gap between 3and 4.
It seems that Blood Ritual is too dark for most people
----
Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal

Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight
Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.)
05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996

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10.06.2011 - 18:40
Rating: 8
Daniell
_爱情_
It's not dark, there is no music that would be too dark for me. I simply think that songs there suck.
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10.06.2011 - 20:01
Rating: 7
BitterCOld
The Ancient One
Passage was awesome. I prefer Above to anything since... so we'll see 'bout this one.
----
get the fuck off my lawn.

Beer Bug Virus Spotify Playlist crafted by Nikarg and I. Feel free to tune in and add some pertinent metal tunes!
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14.06.2011 - 08:46
bluegreengod
Account deleted
I haven't listened to these guys for like 10 or 12 years, maybe longer and seem to remember them being a black metal band. From what I've heard of this one it's really good, probably better than the old stuff.
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28.11.2011 - 09:29
Rating: 8
pazuzuovbabel
Pazuzu
Compared to "Above" , this is a Masterpiece ... its nice to see Samael back on track and doing good music, specially with more "aggressive" sound
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28.11.2011 - 19:40
Troy Killjoy
perfunctionist
I never understood the hate for Above, I thought it was a pretty decent album. Like 6.5/10 decent, not outstanding. But it seems it's kind of a fun album to kick while its down.
----
"Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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12.12.2011 - 04:57
Slinky666
Account deleted
They have been at work since year 1988 and this is all they can? Clearly they are struggling.
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14.04.2012 - 20:17
Rating: 7
Xytraguptor

I like their experimental Industrial side. And while they did everything perfectly up until Solar Soul this here just does not stand out. I know that they wanted to continue their Industrial style after Above again but I guess they lost something on the way to this. It's not memorable except for 2-3 tracks. I don't know what happened.
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24.10.2012 - 16:14
Introspekrieg
Totemic Lust
Finally encountered the meatier tracks... not bad at all.
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26.03.2015 - 19:00
vadgris

Stunning!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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