Sammath – "Triumph in Hatred"
Published: 2010.04.23
Folter/Apollon (2009)
"Triumph in Hatred" is an extremely brutal record. In fact, it is so brutal that initially, I was going to give it 1/6 because I could not understand it. I listened to it 4 times and I still could not find anything of redeeming value. No, that’s not true, right away one notices one redeeming quality on this CD: Magnus Agliareth (Magnificat) who laid some impressive guitar lead work on "TIH". At times it reminds me of latter era Death. But the rest just could not fall into place for me. I googled different reviews just to have a perspective before I was going to hand down the lowest score in my short reviewing career. And what I found was a hate/love thing. Mostly people either completely hated it, or praised it into the stratosphere. I have learned long time ago that that is an indicative of nothing else but a classic on your hands.
So I decided to give it one more try, because I really want to be fair in my reviews as I try to be in life. Somebody spent countless hours rehearsing and recording this, and, trust me, "TIH" is as fucking far from a sellout as you can possibly imagine, so obviously guys didn’t record this album to make tons of money on it. There’s not a trendy note on this CD, not a lick of metal core or some other emo. Nope, just pure, hateful as Al Qaeda, evil, Black Metal with excellent , balanced, production for a Black Metal album, something I always appreciate as a reviewer.
I waited ‘til nightfall, sat comfortably in my reclining letter chair, put on my ear buds and opened the Pandora box, that is Sammath’s 4th album. That did the trick. The songs began to open themselves up to me, revealing intricate, multiple riffs, melodies and even very catchy, headbangable parts. Although, admittedly, every song is cut out from the same cloth, the tracks do differ from each other. "TIH" is full of almost progressive ebbs and flows, if you open your mind and ears. Granted, you must be able to penetrate through the very hostile and stone cold sheer brutality of the section and monstrous riffs. I can imagine the drummer soaking his bruised and painful arms in lavender, water and honey just to get some relief from the constant and maddening pounding on the skins, because I believe that even Inferno from Behemoth would be doing the same after this performance! The album scores, then, very high on brutality and originality. I honestly cannot remember when was the last time I have heard something this extreme and actually liked it! And the vocals: they sound like a very evil, pissed off raven and are always extreme, if a little monotonous. In any case, they could not have chosen a better title – it perfectly sums up the music.
Another part that makes it such a special album is that within a very brutal, very fast and ultra-heavy (all at the same time, just listen to the riff opening the album!) frame Sammath managed to incorporate many different styles. I hear punk, thrash, death, and even slightly doom metal, although you can’t say they slow down for longer than a few seconds, unless, of course, Agliareth lays down an absolutely epic solo. The tracks start very originally, suddenly, and end just abruptly. There is absolutely no respect for convention here. Appropriately named "Burn In the Fires of Hell", for example, starts with the ‘raven’ gradually phasing out of the void, with increasing volume, to culminate in a frightening “AAAAARH” and the song starts, a brutal, but varied and even, at times very melodic, slab of superb extreme metal. That marriage and constant play between the beautiful, melodic and extreme, cold and hateful is what makes this album stand out from the pack. Pretty much every track has its own identity, but you must spend countless hours dissecting this record to catch that nuance.
I don’t remember last time I was ready to trash a record only to come to love it and appreciate it to such an extent as to award it the highly coveted, and yes, often controversial, perfect score. But listen to "Interlude Torment" and the ingenious harmonics with the ending, where the electric guitar passages are interwoven with gentle acoustic strumming, not unlike Death’s "Crystal Mountain" from the classic "Symbolic", or the catchy, though absolutely demented, "Damnation". And how can I fail to mention "Blazing Storm in Steel" with its middle part reminiscent of latter Death era albums followed by earsplitting, razor-thin solo, and an abrupt ending, which feels like someone pulled the plug before Sammath could stop it! And finally, the closer "The Dead Lay Torn" where the craft approaches fucking Emperor in the scope, musicianship, variety and execution!
There’s so much to explore on this very versatile and original, multi-genre yet decidedly Brutal Black Metal, record that my review could not possibly cover it all. I merely highlighted the parts I found the most compelling, the rest you can discover for yourself. Don’t let the rip-your-head-off-and-shit-down-your-neck brutality of this album chase you away. It is more than worth careful and thorough exploration.
The record has some minor flaws and may feel a little monotonous at times, which would justify 5/6 score, but the startling originality in both design and execution easy elevate it to the highest throne. One of the most original metal records I have ever heard and the best thing I have heard this year. Awesome job, Sammath.
www.sammath.nl
www.myspace.com/sammath666
www.folter666.de
Composed by Dethster4life
6/6
www.imothep.no
