Samael - Rebellion
1995 Century Media
by Uncle Meat

Quick Summary:
Not wanting to keep their fans waiting after Ceremony of Opposites, Samael releases Rebellion.  Two new songs, three if you count the hidden track, two reworked versions and a cover comprise this EP.  As an album, its not bad.  As a step to see where Samael was going, its quite good.

Samael take their black metal sound and expand it on Rebellion.  The older songs get a much needed shot in the arm with a darker sound.  Rebellion, the song, sounds like it was dropped from Ceremony... record.  Static Journey was a sign of thing to come in Samael’s future.  A bit of industrial tossed into the metal mix.  You should own this.  

Website:  www.samael.info

Song Summaries:

1. Rebellion - Picks up where Ceremony of Opposites left off.  Short heavy bursts of black metal riffing.  Keyboard accent parts of the song, Vorphalack’s vocals are a nice in-between the whiney-shrill and the guttural cookie monster type of vocals.  The drum sound is particularly tight, not too over the top.  B+
2. After The Sepulture - Loses some of the atmosphere from its original recording.  Aside form the opening, the bass takes a back seat for the rest of the song.  B-
3. I Love The Dead - I haven’t heard the Alice Cooper version, but I can assume it sounds nothing like this version.  Starts off slow w/ just the piano.  Then builds up a little steam and gets more erratic as the song progresses.  The most straight forward rock song on the record.  B
4. Static Journey - Soundtrack music, white noise.  It would be interesting to play this song over some horror movie with the volume turned off.  Also makes great back ground noise for playing video games.  B
5. Into The Pentagram - Venomous.  A
6. (Hidden) Static Journey - The same as track four, but longer.  B+

Average Song Rating:  B+
Overall Album Rating:  B+

Also be sure to read:
Samael - Blood Ritual by Uncle Meat
Samael - Ceremony Of Opposites by Uncle Meat
Samael - Worship Him by Uncle Meat