After Engel it was once again time for Swizz supergroup Samael to hit the stage. I say once again, because I was lucky enough to have been at the show earlier in the week as well, and had been thoroughly entertained (find the review of that night under Samael at the site). The bar was set, now all they had to do was to live up, or even top, it…

Still, not many people had arrived at the venue, although there were still a bit more than there had been for Engel. I didn’t worry too much about that though; I was here to see the band, not the crowd.
After a short intro this was exactly what I did, as they once again kicked off with Rain, and this was Rain performed better than I had ever heard it played live before! The energy was pumping (as it should be) and the sound was phenomenal! Somehow, I had the feeling this night would not disappoint…
Things seemed to work out better for the band this night as well; one apparent change was that their projector screen stayed up for the entire show. This gave that extra visual uplift which added the icing on top of the cake which the show was on its own.

Considering the greatness of the band before us, and the amazing performance they were giving (yes, I know. I’m a fan…), I was surprised at the cool response the audience was giving back.
To begin with there were only a few enthusiastic people headbanging in the front whilst all the others were hanging back at a respectable distance. More and more came forward as the show progressed, but it certainly didn’t get crowded, even in the front row.
Vorph (a.k.a. Vorphalack, a.k.a. Michael Locher) got a quite successful shout-along started for Black Hole, and after shedding his guitar for the later part of the set he made a better connection with the audience, helped along by the freer gestures and mimic this opened up for.

Speaking of Black Hole, once again the only song played from their latest album Above, I must say it went down great with the sound generously provided by KB. Heck, it sounded even better than it does on the album!
The most interesting point as it came to the songs however, was that Samael had played around a little with the set from the night before. Year Zero was now out, Ceremony Of Opposites had changed location, and after starting the set with a Passage song, it came as a well-fitted finish to return to this album with The Ones Who Came Before as the final track of the night.

I can’t think of these two gigs without comparing them to each other, and where the gig at The Rock easily won in respect of the audience, this was clearly the better for the band performance. A very fitting way to celebrate their 5 year anniversary since their first performance here.

Setlist:

Intro
Rain
Solar Soul
Reign Of Light
Infra Galaxia
Western Ground
Ceremony Of Opposites
Black Hole
Into The Pentagram
Slaveocracy
The Ones Who Came Before