At one point or another, I have owned most of Samael’s releases with the exception of Eternal and Worship Him. Out of this catalog, the only CD I still have in my collection is the first one I ever heard, Ceremony of Opposites. While I have found the rest of Samael’s releases kind of unremarkable (Blood Ritual, notably, was sold back the day after I bought it), Ceremony holds a special place for me as it was either the 2nd or 3rd extreme metal album I ever heard (the other two being Amorphis’ Land of a Thousand Lakes and My Dying Bride’s Turn Loose the Swans). Besides that, I still consider it one of my favorite albums ever, because of the exceptional songwriting and the overall atmosphere of pure concentrated malevolence. It’s also one of the few metal albums that I consistently relate to lyrically, as its depictions of alienation and the “glory of humiliation” have often been a comfort in trying times. With all of this in mind, I made the trek down to Denver to check out Samael along with Strapping Young Lad (who I’ve seen before), Cathedral, and local band Thro-Cult.

I had only a vague idea that Thro-Cult was a Black Metal band, after seeing their name dropped on message boards and reading a rather extensive bio on the concert promoter’s website. Thro-Cult doesn’t bring anything particularly new to the table as far as Black Metal is concerned, but they certainly have full mastery over the classic paradigm. Their set reminded me a bit of Naglfar or the newer Immortal albums, plenty of blasting with a good dose of thrash and a certain melodic sensibility. I was glad to see a stateside BM band play so confidently and proficiently and I was even more excited to see it from a Denver band. I hope to see more of these folks.

My second first impression of the evening was from Cathedral. As with Thro-Cult, I knew sort of what to expect as I had heard their name mentioned as an archetype of stoner doom alongside bands like Electric Wizard and Orange Goblin. Cathedral certainly has this groovy sludge style nailed and they mix it up (or drone it down, depending on your perceptions), with a few deliciously ponderous cuts as well. Their singer reminds me of Robert Plant, or perhaps Chris Robinson of the Black Crowes trying to be Robert Plant, yet he finds a unique style in there somewhere. I think a lot of the crusties up here in Boulder could seriously get into a band like Cathedral if they’d give something a chance besides the String Cheese Incident and all the other jam/new-grass/ “roots” stuff.

Strapping Young Lad is a band that I’m always impressed with live, but I’ve never been inspired to buy any of their stuff. I’ve seen them twice, including this show, was thoroughly entertained both times, and felt no need to go beyond that. The show was crazy as always, Townshend’s stage banter was amusing (particularly regarding the slightly shoddy mix), the music was tight, but somehow it never gets to me. I suppose it’s sort of like being asked out by someone who has everything going for them, but they still don’t curl your toes for some indefinable reason. Or maybe it’s more like a one-night stand who leaves before you get up: it was fun, but you don’t really care that you never got their phone number. Metaphors aside, maybe I just don’t get it, but at least I know I’m in for some fun when SYL rolls in.

As I mentioned at the outset, I am a little conflicted about Samael, but the show was top-notch. Samael has a massive sound and they exude a stately confidence onstage, Vorph especially. The setlist was predictably slanted in favor of newer works, but there were a couple of cuts from Ceremony present, notably “Son of Earth” complete with a new electronic four-on-the-floor beat in the coda courtesy of their new set-up (which can be also be heard on the Exodus EP). I wished I could have heard more vocals, but that’s my own fault for being right at the stage.

I was a little worried at the possibly negative reaction to Samael’s instrumentation, though. For those not familiar, Samael’s drummer Xytras switched to keyboards several years ago and now programs most of the drums on an Akai MPC2000, leaving himself about ½ a kit onstage to bash on at certain times. This gives Samael’s aesthetic a certain electro quality that wouldn’t be out of place on a bill with acts like Hocico, Front Line Assembly, or KMFDM, but that could present a bit more of a hurdle for a metal audience because, let’s face it, we metalheads tend to be purists. I ultimately couldn’t tell if anyone was put off by Samael’s synth set-up, but I was probably too busy rocking out to notice.

The show was awesome, but in hindsight it occurs to me that Samael seems unwilling to fully embrace the sonic potential that their current line-up possesses. I’m not suggesting that they should take a detour into pure electro or Rammstein-esque dance metal, but I really think that the overall sound could be made a lot more interesting if Xytras would venture outside of the presets in his equipment. One of the main reasons I have never been able to get into Samael’s later recordings is that they sound thin and antiseptic compared to the oppressive atmosphere of Ceremony, and this could be helped immensely by digging up some dirty analog sounds and some crushing gated snares, or even just layering some cool atmospherics. To my mind, the whole cyber-metal aesthetic falls a little bit flat if it isn’t wholly embraced, like in Red Harvest for example. I understand that Samael has been working on new material, so perhaps Xy will finally let his rig realize its full capabilities instead of just acting as a surrogate drummer.