Swizz black/industrial metal band Samael headlined the Metaldays Tuesday, a surprising and bold move by the newly re-established festival. Being a long-time top act on my playlist, I was happy to see them getting this kind of recognition, but it also surprised me as I would not have thought that they had the broad appeal of a headliner, being more a special cup of tea.
It suited me well though, and as they kicked the show off with two songs from Passage, my personal favourite album of theirs, I felt I was in good hands for the coming journey...

“Metaldays, let me see how it looks to have 10000 horns in the air!”
- Michael ‘Vorph’ Locher (vocals/guitar)

The band was really on fire, living up to their responsibility in the best possible way. Christophe ‘Mas’ Mermod literally threw his bass around whilst Alexandre ‘Xytras’ Locher was punishing his keyboards and the few drums he still operates with. Also Makro and Vorph were of course doing their jobs to the fullest, but it was without a doubt the two first who were the most physically active members of the outfit this fine evening.
Vorph proved an entertaining speaker as well as enigmatic frontman, as he dedicated Moonskin to all the lovers of the crowd, and said about Into The Pentagram that it might have been made some 20 years ago, but it was still the heaviest and darkest song ever – it is not surprising that the band has strong feelings for this particular song as it has re-emerged at several times through their discography.

Yes, Samael delivered a no nonsense and absolutely no bullshit kind of show, proving without a doubt that they were able to live up to the expectations of the festival management. There was really only one thing working against them, and that was the sound – it was as if someone had been inspired by the already god awful mix the band had on Above, and then decided to see what would happen if they ran it through a harvester and finally defecate on the remains. As you can imagine, this did not compliment the multi-layered and melodic side of the band in any way, but it was at the very least still possible to hear what they were playing, and this had to be enough.

It was doubtful that this was what scared people off, but for some reason Samael hadn’t pulled a huge crowd. Sure, there were a lot of people, but not nearly as many as there had been for such a trivial act as Alestorm earlier in the day, and those who were there were thinly spread across the grounds, taking things in quite easily without showing much engagement above approving cheers between songs.
Having had a beer or two by this time, I felt no shame in bawling along to the lyrics and performing the occasional dance step when the time was right for it. I can’t speak for anyone else of course, but I was having the time of my life, and wouldn’t have mind continuing this party long into the night! Still, it was also with some satisfaction to my twisted (to some) sense of humour that Samael chose to round the evening off with having Louis Armstrong proclaim that it indeed is a wonderful world as the outro music. As the down to earth kind of guy that he is, Mas took this opportunity to go into the pit to greet the frontline fans directly and personally.

Setlist:

My Saviour
Shining Kingdom
Flagellation
Soul Invictus
Luxferre
Into The Pentagram
Jupiterian Vibe
Slaveocracy
Reign Of Light
Moonskin
In Gold We Trust
Baphomet’s Throne
Rain
Infra Galaxia
Ceremony Of Opposites
The Truth Is Marching On