Band:	Schammasch
Album:	Contradiction
Style:	Black metal, Death metal
Release date:	April 22, 2014
A review by:	Ilham

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

Extreme metal Easter eggs hunt. Can you find them all?

If Deathspell Omega, Celtic Frost, Triptykon, Blut Aus Nord, Behemoth, Negură Bunget, Secrets Of The Moon, Watain, Temple Of Baal and many more hadn't transfigured what they had received from their predecessors into works that would later define entire ideologies, aesthetics and genres within metal, this review wouldn't exist. Literally. I couldn't have written it without the titles of the best works by the aforementioned bands from which Schammasch draw inspiration. Without them, Contradiction would certainly not be the best illustration of the famous Aristotelian maxim: "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts". I am aware I will remain very cryptic in this review. I felt it would be a shame to list its millions of genre-transcending qualities and thus lose myself in hyperboles endless praise.


With dexterity and perfectionism, Schammasch are sculpting the throne on which they deserve to sit, overlooking the myriad landscapes their album forces you to travel through, following the dark path the fathers of the orthodox age previously set out for them. It is faith alone you need, because as soon as the first prayer resonates, their unholy chants of darkness rattle your inner mental cage like very few black metal acts know how to. That's how they managed to conquer all the doubts I could have had after discovering the cover and the length of the album.

This mystical beast is made of the most outstanding guitar work and most gut-wrenching vocals materialising the howling of the god they hate, his screams of anguish, and his last words as the Luciferian quartet proceeds to drown him in ashes. Accompanied by an expert production that meticulously highlights the different levels from which you can enter and exit the dense Contradiction, Schammasch manages to shine thanks to exemplary songwriting which could spark jealousy in the hearts of the progressive metal gods every slave feels compelled to serve.

The natural born philosophers amongst you will most likely be attracted to the passionate lyrics advocating elevation through apostasy, as you can only keep coming back to discover more of the hidden homages and references to their fellow inquisitors of Satan and tellers of morbid tales.

If it is a monument in metal you seek, look around you.