Samael "Passage (2007, Century Media Records, Remastered, Limited Edition, Digibook)"

Passage is the fourth album by Swiss industrial metal band Samael, released on 19 August 1996 through Century Media.

On this album, the band opted for more intensive use of keyboards and industrial sounds, drifting from their black metal roots and progressing in a different direction. Lyrically the band abandoned satanic themes and veered more towards the occult and the cosmic.

While it differs from its predecessors, Passage can be credited for thrusting Samael from the underground scene and giving the band a much larger international audience.

The album was originally recorded with a 17 song track list but was later cut down to 11. The remaining songs can be found on the album Exodus. A second edition was later offered containing 10 classical piano compositions from the album on a second disk.

In 2007, a remastered, re-packaged, special edition was released containing the album's original 17 song track list.

Over a decade after its original release, Passage is still considered by many to be a pillar in the black/industrial metal genre.

A video for "Jupiterian Vibe" received regular airplay on MTV's Headbangers Ball.

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Vorph; all music is composed by Xy.

1. Rain 04:00  
2. Shining Kingdom 03:37  
3. Angel's Decay 03:37   
4. My Saviour 04:08
5. Jupiterian Vibe 03:22  
6. The Ones Who Came Before 03:42   
7. Liquid Soul Dimension 03:41
8. Moonskin 03:56
9. Born Under Saturn 04:18   
10. Chosen Race 04:07
11. A Man in Your Head 03:43
12. Exodus 03:47   
13. Tribes of Cain 03:33  
14. Son of Earth (Re-recording '96) 04:37   
15. Winter Solstice 03:33
16. Ceremony of Opposites (Re-recording '96) 05:03  
17. From Malkuth to Kether 04:31  
18. Static Journey (hidden track) 03:35

Time:  01:10:50  

Features digitally remastered material and bonus tracks taken from the Exodus EP. Includes a 28-page mediabook, new artwork and layouts, and liner notes by Vorph. Limited to an undisclosed number of copies.

"Static Journey" is the same hidden track found at the end of the Rebellion EP, but without the extra minutes of silence.

Recording information:

Recorded at Woodhouse Studios, Germany, spring 1996.