Ceremony of Opposites

Ceremony of Opposites

Track Listings

1. Black Trip

2. Celebration of the Fourth

3. Son of Earth

4. Till We Meet Again

5. Mask of the Red Death

6. Baphomet's Throne

7. Flagellation

8. Crown

9. To Our Martyrs

10. Ceremony of Opposites

Tracks:

Black Trip
Celebration Of The Fourth
Son Of Earth
'Til We Meet Again
Mask Of The Red Death
Baphomet's Throne
Flagellation
Crown
To Our Martyrs
Ceremony Of Opposites

Customer Reviews:

Wonderful.......2007-02-17

The Ceremony of Opposites part of the album is very good. Where it shines though is on Rebellion. Oh, I love Rebellion. I think the best songs Samael ever made are Static Journey and Rebellion. Ceremony of Opposites is the first merging of keyboards to death metal by Samael. Rebellion continues that trend. I very highly recommend this album for any fans of death metal.

Misanthropic black metal.......2006-11-04

If you know black metal, you know that it is not just a 'sound' but more like a concept. Samael's Ceremony of Opposites does not fit the traditional 2nd wave sound, even though they reached their peak during this time. Instead Samael has taken black metal to a whole new level, somehow making the music clear and frightfully aggressive while retaining critical elements of melody and musicianship.

The album's best song is definitely 'Black Trip' and lets you know what Samael is all about. The first half-second swells into a blistering attack of intense double kick and a crushing guitar riff, which eventually moves into a highly fluid and syncopated verse riff. After a short three minutes of pure aggression, the song ends with the ominous 'I await the coming of my death'. This is easily one of my favorite songs, and could be perhaps the most intense album opener in extreme metal. The only album-openers that compare are 'In Shadows And Dust' and 'The Ambassador Of Pain', both by Kataklysm.

I hope I have convinced you of the magnitude of this album. Unlike other black metal albums that one would be inclined to listen to privately and contemplatively, you will want to crank up this album and release all your energy to it.

AMAZING MASTERPIECE .......2005-09-17

This is one every Black/Death/Doom/ fan must hear to know just what an amazing job has been done on this cd. Here are 10 tracks of extraordinary, dark and meaningful yet not for one second sounding pretentious. It is almost excruciating to listen to Vorph's cries of anger. This is not a band that is trying to just sound good, these guys puth forth a believable hate for christianity, and not by writing music that concentrates on demons, but rather being realistic in every way possible. When I get goosebumps while listening to music, I know I've stumbled unto something amazing. Just buy this cd, you won't regret it for a second, actually you'll be glad you did. And this release also has the mandatory follow up EP Rebellion. What a package.
The thing I really like about Vorph's vocal use is it has appeal and real emotions behind it, not like Deicide(I used to really enjoy listening to Deicide when I was younger, but it does nothing for me now, especially since I refuse to waste my time with such repetitive emotionless crap lacking everything a hard album should offer, except speed, but making the songs fast is not all there is to making an album hard).

There are no real stand out tracks here, which is good because it retains its wholeness to stand much higher than many other albums, even by Samael. I woke up this morning with the lyrics of Son Of Earth, that is how powerful this album and band are. In my review of the Samael album 'Eternal', I said "Ceremony Of Opposites was always my favourite but this album(Eternal) has grown on me much more". I'm not really sure I can stand by those words, as there will never be another album as soul piercing as Ceremony Of Opposites. This may not have the epic sound like Eternal does, but it has something that eternal lacks entirely, and that it a pure hard, rough like a thousand sandstones under your bare feet. The way Vorph spews forth the lyrics on this album, and the words he has chosen are so bold and effective. The last track on Ceremony Of Opposites(which is the title track)makes my skin crawl. But don't listen to that song before hearing the others, as it only has that effect after listening to the entire album. This album must be listened to in its entirety to be fully appreciated. Adding Rebellion onto the same disc is rather a catch 22 in my opinion. Being a really nice addition to Ceremony Of Opposites on hand, but after listening to the Ceremony Of Opposites album in its entirety I like a little bit of silence to get my breath back. It really is a breath taking experience.

Excellent artwork for an album well deserving of it. The cover is so matching to the music, its almost part of it. I couldn't imagine any other artwork being used on Ceremony. This is art at its finest, both musically and graphically.

"We're a part of everything as everything is a part of us" is the cryptic response issued by Vorph, Samael's guitarist and vocalist, when questioned about whether or not he associates Samael with the notorious trappings of black metal.

Hymns of blasphemy and attrition.......2005-04-10

Nothing in any musical genre captures the spirit of pure, envenomed agression like Samael's earlier releases. Burzum and Beherit are the only bands that even come close. Needless to say, this release isn't for the casual melodic black CoF, Dimmu fan. Yet those who aren't afraid of a bit of noise and blasphemy will find Ceremony Of Opposites to be a masterpiece of the highest degree.

F*@king g00d.......2003-10-25

nothing like the usual black metal out there. if you're a dark throne fan, then don't bother. This is not "pure" black metal (as some people put it), but none the less its different, and deffinetly worth a listen to. very catchy riffs, kinda have a digital thing about them, but not too electronic...just very precice i spose.
If 'anthems to the welkin at dusk' - emperor, appealed to you then its for you, also if your into dimmu borgir, this is just what you want.
Also...listen to opeth people!!!!!!! for those of you who haven't yet listened to them...please do! your missing out...STILL LIFE!!!!!!!!!!

Average customer rating:

Incredible
Venom of God
One of the band's best works
Perfect Keyboard Driven Black Metal

Ceremony of Opposites
Samael
Manufacturer: Cogum
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music
ASIN: B00000I2I3
Release Date: 1998-12-02

Customer Reviews:

Incredible.......2006-02-07

This is one of my favorite albums of all time. Every track here is incredible. Crown is probably my favorite song of all time of any genre. The lyrics to that track are amazing as are the lyrics throughout. This album gets my highest recommendation.
I do not know what (if any) the difference is with the import version. I had purchased this when it was originally released.

Venom of God.......2005-05-15

What can one come to expect from a band named after the `venom of god'? Death-Metal excellence. The slow, skullgrining riffs rip the soul asunder, & then suddenly shifts into a necro-velocity sending the mind reeling into a euphoric frenzy. The gut-wrenching guitars, the bone-pounding thunder, the growling damnation in a bestial, demonic voice.

Satanic Forces seem to flow through this band. In every blast of the drums, in every chord of the bass & guitars, in every indignant & exhaulting word, the feeling is there.

The cover features the thorn-impaled head of a bloody jesus in the midst of excrutiaton. Within the cover, one finds a rather clever depiction of the Yin-Yang, beseiged with two serpents, each with the black & white representative spheres as eggs in its mouth. This can be taken to mean the black viper as signifying the darkside, as it holds the blindlight under its power, as it thrusts upwards in domination.

Amongst other underworld topics, sado-masochism is expressed, & a tribute to dark warriors who have been persecuted from ancient to current times.

Ceremony of Opposites is a superior Black Metal production. It will bring the daemons into your household, as they pour in from your speakers. Keep an eye out for these minstrels, for their other infernal unleashings, which may form veritable chapters in a sonic grimoire of nightmarish manifestation.

One of the band's best works.......2005-05-05

Ceremony of Opposites is a step in a new direction for Samael. Gone are the 6+ minute songs from Worship Him and Blood Ritual, opting for shorter, more direct songs that don't waste a single beat.
The first thing I noticed was that this album is relatively short. Also, the songs are very homogenous, you can listen to the entire album and the breaks between the tracks sound as though they need to be there; think of the album as a 35-minute masterpiece.
Samael has tinkered around with keyboard tracks on earlier releases, but had yet to integrate them into the regular songs; i.e. some tracks on earlier albums were keyboard only, whereas now they are an integral part of the song and help create what at the time was a very original atmosphere. The only complaint I have about the keyboards is that they sound a little bit on the weak side and need to be mixed higher, and the keyboard samples used are not very realistic sounding, but still 'fill the gaps' well enough not to knock any points off.
Vorphalack really stands out with not only his vocal performance, but also the subject matter of the lyrics themselves. Songs like Mask of the Red Death, Son of Earth and Crown really shine, not just in the lyrics but also the delivery.
The album is produced fairly well, the bass stands out, the drums a incredibly clear. The guitars, while sounding much better than on Worship Him or Blood Ritual, have a digital edge that really fits the mood, without the intensity that they have on Passage.
The first track, Black Trip, starts off as a fast-paced song, only to have the entire album slow in tempo. This is not a bad thing however, as Samael has always excelled in creating amazing arrangements without having to use blast beats every two minutes. The result is an impressive piece of work that has more than enough to sustain itself. I bought this album about 8 years ago and it still impresses me in it's originality mood as it did in 1997.

Perfect Keyboard Driven Black Metal.......2003-07-26

Though beginning as a great pure black metal band, with the addition of a keyboardist/sampler, Rodolphe H., Samael started a musical revolution/ Samael is the true father of the post black metal genre, with their sadistic mix of evil sounding synth keyboards and hash and cold satanic black metal. Differing greatly from their Norwegian counterparts (not necessarily better though), Samael have really created the sound of this album from scratch, up until here, no one had done this genre of music correctly. Guitarist / screamer Vorphalack really shines on this album. Though similar, his voice has taken on a whole new feeling of darkness on this album, unilke the brutal extremity he went the two predecessors to 'Ceremony of Opposites', 'Blood Ritual' and 'Worship Him' (though still extremely good records. To add to the alluring and powerful keyboards, Masmiseim (bass) and Xytras (drums) create such a deep and heavy atmosphere with their insturments it just boggles the mind. Not to mention the wonderfully written lyrical content. Song highlights are "Black Trip", "Celebration of the Fourth", and "Crown". All in all, Samael's third album 'Ceremony of Opposites" is a true masterpiece of black metal, that both purists and non can enjoy. A true classic that should be attained at all costs.

Music Info:

Music Info

music info

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