Band:	Salem
Album:	Strings Attached
Style:	Death metal
Release date:	July 2005
A review by:	Undercraft

01. A Moment Of Silence
02. Anno Domini
03. Coming End Of Reason
04. Dying Embers
05. Winter's Tear
06. Ha'ayara Bo'eret
07. Eyes To Match A Soul
08. Slave
09. Old Wounds
10. Hour Glass
11. The Fading
12. Recall
13. Old Wounds [guest vocalists version]
14. The 2nd Coming

Salem is definitively on of the most underrated bands in the entire Metal scene, and while mediocre bands are in the big leagues by now, Salem remains a mystery to many Metalheads. We at Metal Storm intend to change that immediately.

Salem has previously released 4 albums and instead of releasing a "best of" they decided to record a collection of previously released material rearranged to be executed with one of the most respected string quartets in the country, the ICSQ String Quartet.
The result is a delightful piece of art that surpasses any expectations I could have. This album will definitively go to my top 10 of 2005.

Salem has experimented with many styles, like Doom, Gothic and Death Metal, this album is the living proof of the evolution of the band. The album starts with "A Moment Of Silence" mid-paced song with a lot of Gothic overtones like the use of a women choir (not available on the first version of the song). The strings sound exquisite in each moment, and they mould perfect with the music.

"Coming End Of Reason" is one of the best song from the "Collective Demise" album, now the song gets revamped with awesome arrangements so we can enjoy the male-female duet. "Winter's Tears" show us the versatility of Ze'ev Tananboim, he can handle the clean vocals as good as he handles the grunts/screams, this song sounds the softer, catchy side of Salem.

Salem has always been a lyrical band, their lyrics express the suffering and struggle of the Jewish people, and they included one of their most controversial songs to date here, "Ha'ayara Bo'eret" (The Town's On Fire) is a song about the holocaust, when it was released back in1994 in the Kaddish album, caused a stir of emotions in Israel and the issue made it all the way to the Israeli parliament, a truly powerful statement and a magnificent song.

My favourite song in the album is definitively "Eyes To match A Soul", while is not the most brutal song in the record, it really moves something within you, this is the third version of this song, and trust me, after you listen this one, you can't go back to the previous ones. I could go on and explain each song in the album, but I won't, because I don't want this to be boring and pointless.

Perhaps Salem just did their best move recording this album, I think this is definitively the album that is going to open the gates of the world for this fantastic band. If you haven't heard Salem yet, please don't waste more time and get this album now. Lovers of symphonic, aggressive, meaningful music will adore this.