Style: Religious black metal
Primary Emotions/Themes: Praise be. Praise be to he who will bring us unto the light.
Thoughts: God. Man. Satan. Heaven. Earth. Hell.
Melody. Dissonance. Chaos. Atmosphere. Religion. Violence.
Gravenchalice's album Samael is an album that came out of no where for me and completely blew me off my feet. The music that is etched into these grooves is not only competent black metal, it takes my favorite parts of the genre and fuses them together to create one of the better entries into the realm of religious black metal that I've been exposed to in quite some time.
A majority of Samael is slower in pace. It lets a deep hatred for the divine fester and bide its time before waiting for the exact moment to strike. In these more measured moments the band does not relax... in fact they consistently sound like they are holding back. Holding back from a torrent of abhorrence flowing from their instruments towards an unseen foe.
Consisting largely of guitars, bass, drums and vocals the band creates an atmosphere with these simple tools that rivals the very best that I have heard. The guitars utilize both distortion and clean versions to weave complex melodies interspersed with dissonance. This interaction between order and chaos is part of what lends the music an air of restraint. At any moment the dissonance could take over, however it does not... they hold back.
The vocals are delivered in a slow rhythmic cadence... much like one would recite a chant or prayer. They have a near demonic tone to them, speaking clearly but coming from a source that is utterly infernal. The words that this mouth spews is mockery of all that is holy and sacred within the christian codex. It calls into question that which so much of this world calls holy, and offers an alternative perspective from that of the fallen angel.
The band has mastered the art of creating deeply moving atmospheric black metal. In these seven songs they cover every range of emotion that is akin to that of hatred. Abhorrence. Malevolence. This is exactly why black metal is my favorite genre, bands like Gravenchalice.
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