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Schammasch - Contradiction



8.1 | 113 votes |
Release date: 22 April 2014
Style: Black metal, Death metal

Owners:

79 have it
9 want it
1 trades it


Disc I
01. Contradiction
02. Split My Tongue
03. Provoking Spiritual Collapse
04. Until Our Poison Devours Us
05. Crown

Disc II
01. The Inner Word
02. Serpent Silence
03. Golden Light
04. JHWH

Additional info
Recorded at Woodshed Studio, Germany in February 2013.
Additional recordings at Sanktum Studio, Switzerland in 2012 and 2013.

Staff review by
Ilham
Rating:
8.9
Extreme metal Easter eggs hunt. Can you find them all?

Read more ››
published 06.12.2014 | Comments (38)

Here's one of the few albums from this year that's actually deserving of all the hype it's been getting. The sophomore effort from this Swiss foursome is amazingly detailed and incredibly varied in its songwriting. At times takes a slow and trancelike black metal approach, with surprisingly beautiful solos to accompany. At others, pounds you into dust with a furious death metal crunch, and at other moments still is extremely relaxing in its attention to melody and atmosphere. A powerful blend of personalities, and a worthy addition to any extreme metal fan's musical library.

Perhaps one could say the diversities are... a contradiction?

Apothecary's picks | More picks ››

Found in 23 lists
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Comments page 3 / 3

Comments: 87   [ 5 ignored ]   Visited by: 479 users
11.12.2014 - 06:01
Soulhole

Written by mz on 11.12.2014 at 03:31

Extreme power tag is definitely a stain on this page


I know, but if it wasn't for extreme power I never would have gotten into harsher metal, and therefore never would have found this band. Oh the irony....
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12.12.2014 - 02:56
Rating: 10
mz

Thanks Che for the staff pick but I wouldn't call it neither melodic black/death nor hyped, seeing that apparently, people out of MS don't care much about it. Hell even here on MS we missed it for long time and only after that had a delayed appreciation.
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Giving my ears a rest from music.
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12.12.2014 - 04:26
Rating: 10
Diverge

Written by mz on 12.12.2014 at 02:56

Thanks Che for the staff pick but I wouldn't call it neither melodic black/death nor hyped, seeing that apparently, people out of MS don't care much about it. Hell even here on MS we missed it for long time and only after that had a delayed appreciation.

It's definitely hyped on Sputnik. I went on that site for the first time in a while the other day and it actually seems to be doing very well. Hence the "hyped" descriptor may be accurate.
As for melo black/death....inexecusable descriptor.
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12.12.2014 - 04:42
Rating: 10
mz

Written by Diverge on 12.12.2014 at 04:26


It's definitely hyped on Sputnik. I went on that site for the first time in a while the other day and it actually seems to be doing very well. Hence the "hyped" descriptor may be accurate.
As for melo black/death....inexecusable descriptor.


Duno, compare it to the (rightful) hype that Indian, Emptiness and many others are getting. I've seen many end of the year lists recently and non of them had featured it.
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Giving my ears a rest from music.
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12.12.2014 - 05:52
Auntie Sahar
Drone Empress
Seriously good shit. It reminds me a lot of Emptiness in the sense that the line between black and death metal is pretty blurred, and there's an excellent sense of atmosphere. Still completely different from Nothing But The Whole though, and the guitar leads are awesome.
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I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. “Come unto me” is a foolish word: for it is I that go.

~ II. VII
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12.12.2014 - 13:02
Rating: 9
Ilham
Giant robot
I'm with mz on this, I find the "melodic" tag misleading. There is melody in this album; but melodic black/death is... Dissection.
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12.12.2014 - 13:55
Koen Smits

It's a good album, but seeing all that praise here I think it's overrated.
Latest Teitanblood for instance is far better than this one.
I'd give this a high 7.
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RIP: Frank Vandenbroucke (6 nov 1974 - 12 oct 2009)

Written by Bad English on 05.04.2014 at 15:05

but spoil thius film is like spoil porn and say porn ends whit cum shot ...
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13.12.2014 - 12:25
MechanisT
Account deleted
I do too. Enjoyed this but nothing to get carried away with.
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13.12.2014 - 20:42
Auntie Sahar
Drone Empress
Written by Ilham on 12.12.2014 at 13:02

I'm with mz on this, I find the "melodic" tag misleading. There is melody in this album; but melodic black/death is... Dissection.

Eh, maybe it's just me then. I notice I tend to use "melodic" and "atmospheric" quite interchangeably, although the two can often be quite related I suppose
And yes, as far as "deserving of the hype" I mean hype within the context of Metalstorm, although I have seen some good mention of this one elsewhere as well.
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I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. “Come unto me” is a foolish word: for it is I that go.

~ II. VII
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04.01.2015 - 22:49
Rating: 9
Susan
Smeghead
While I've made up a new category in my heart called "Extreme Metal Fusion Album Of The Year" just so this album can win it, I feel confident recommending this to may fans of melodic metal as well. They'd have to be a bit opened minded about their metal, but just the tiniest bit. The beauty of this music transcends the sum of its parts.

So glad I heard this. So, so very fucking glad.
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"A life all mine
Is what I choose
At the end of my days"
--The Gathering "A Life All Mine" from Souvenirs
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04.01.2015 - 23:09
Rating: 9
Ilham
Giant robot
Written by Susan on 04.01.2015 at 22:49

So glad I heard this. So, so very fucking glad.

Very happy you liked this one. It's albums like these that make me think I shouldn't be that disappointed in the state of black metal post-DsO/BaN.
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02.02.2015 - 21:53
Rating: 7
Kuroboshi

Interesting evolution from their last opus. I prefer the debut, but this is very interesting as well.
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02.02.2015 - 23:40
Rating: 10
mz

Only a few more days to see if I upvote it to 10 or not.
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Giving my ears a rest from music.
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04.02.2015 - 04:04
Maco
Pvt Funderground
If only they could change the lame vocalist. I would have rated this a 9. Great music.
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Crackhead Megadeth reigns supreme.
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10.02.2015 - 22:16
Jaeryd
Nihil's Maw
Written by Maco on 04.02.2015 at 04:04

If only they could change the lame vocalist. I would have rated this a 9. Great music.

Really? I kind of like his raspy voice. It sounds like it's near-choking, but I think it fits the music. Anyway, if Inquisition gets a pass for lame vocals because the music is awesome, then I think Schammasch should too. (EDIT: after looking at your votes and comments for Inquisition, I see now that it was not the best example to use... so I guess I'm referring to other people who give Inquisition's crappy vocals a pass)

Anyway, this seems to be one of those albums that I find increasingly enjoyable the more that I listen to it. As cool as it is, I didn't think I would've listened to it this many times already. I'm not sure I even understand why--it's not something that blows my mind and gets a 10/10 on the first listen, but even so, I can't stop playing it.
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10.02.2015 - 22:44
Rating: 10
mz

Seriously guys, this have some of the vest BM vocal performances I've ever heard. Damn they are prefect for the music.
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Giving my ears a rest from music.
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13.02.2015 - 05:12
Unhealer
Eclecticist
Really late to the party it seems, but this is a fucking great album. Each song has it's own trick to keep you interested along the whole thing.
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13.02.2015 - 06:02
Fearmeister
Account deleted
Written by mz on 10.02.2015 at 22:44

Seriously guys, this have some of the vest BM vocal performances I've ever heard. Damn they are prefect for the music.


I think you've been listening to the wrong BM if you actually believe that.
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13.02.2015 - 07:04
Lit.
Account deleted
I find the vocals to be totally unremarkable in any way, shape or form. Not bad enough to detract from the music, but nothing stands out.

The real crowning achievement in this album is the music.
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13.02.2015 - 11:22
Rating: 10
mz

Written by Guest on 13.02.2015 at 06:02


I think you've been listening to the wrong BM if you actually believe that.


Except that you are wrong.
I find the vocals here to be almost on par with DsO, which has the best BM vocals I can think of now.
But I've observed that my taste in BM vocals is diffrent from the majority. I find weakling and darkspace (on II) to also have great vocals, but most people seem to bash the bands for those vocals.
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Giving my ears a rest from music.
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13.02.2015 - 17:20
Sang Dalang Abu

Written by mz on 13.02.2015 at 11:22

Written by Guest on 13.02.2015 at 06:02


I think you've been listening to the wrong BM if you actually believe that.


but most people seem to bash the bands for those vocals.

simple truly simple Everyone in this world have different taste of musics. Can both of you stop arguing ?
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15.02.2015 - 22:11
Rating: 8
Erik M.

Well, this is a nice surprise. Great black/death album. Reminds me of Emptiness at times, although this one has a less haunting/mysterious atmosphere to it.

About the vocals: they don't really stand out, but are far from bad. Just "good" I'd say. Nothing wrong with them.
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17.02.2015 - 20:57
Jaeryd
Nihil's Maw
Okay, objectively, this album is probably not worth a ten rating, but I can't stop listening to it and I'm seriously on the verge of giving it a 10 rating anyway. Not that votes/ratings are the end-all-be-all of the objective value of a piece of music (if there is such a thing). But yeah.
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01.01.2016 - 19:10
Rating: 10
Diverge

10'd it. Absolutely nothing wrong with the vocals.
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27.10.2016 - 21:17
Rating: 8
Paz
Nuclear Cowboy
This release has one of the lamiest packages ever. It looks cool. Yes. But it is really hard to pull out the disc from the sleeve
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27.10.2016 - 22:49
3rdWorld
China was a neat
Written by Paz on 27.10.2016 at 21:17

This release has one of the lamiest packages ever. It looks cool. Yes. But it is really hard to pull out the disc from the sleeve

Shit. Its Metastazis though, and will be fucking gorgeous anyway. He also did the art for the remastered version of their debut. Would be fucking cool collection to have all 3 albums now.
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27.10.2016 - 23:39
Rating: 8
Paz
Nuclear Cowboy
Written by 3rdWorld on 27.10.2016 at 22:49

Would be fucking cool collection to have all 3 albums now.

I don't have the debut, which is nothing special imo. But owning 2/3 of their discography is still a pretty good result
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