OK - but not a highlight of SAMAEL

SAMAEL will always be a band which pervades their own thing and go its own way - and thereby inevitably sometimes offend. In my view, this "offend sometimes" the Swiss succeeded ABOVE, because somehow this is the album in the repertoire of SAMAEL, with which I will not really warm even after four years.

Certainly: mies in terms of "total rubbish" above is by no means. On the contrary, when the first runs, I was very pleased about the SAMAEL something nastier and harder than its predecessors sounded, and many a time I believed reminiscences still grandiose Samale albums like "passage" or "Ceremony Of Opposites "to hear. However, I realized over time that something ABOVE lifeless sounds and simply has no particular highlights. The good points of this album were already hinbekommen better of SAMAEL, the rest ripples more so in front of him - really in the memory remains at ABOVE little, it sounds sometimes very anxious, as wanted SAMAEL with this album conscious return to their early again, what simply not succeed particularly well. Sometimes you get the feeling that the musicians are not here with heart and soul into it, but sometimes better placed to deliver work to a scheme deliberately chosen - I'm at ABOVE somehow to the course, different sounding Rammstein album "Liebe ist für alle da "remembers in which Rammstein again wanted something tense to relate to the roots, which also succeeded only moderately convincing and not very exciting.

SAMAEL albums like "Reign Of Light" or "Solar Soul", which deutlichst differ from the SAMAEL early stage, sound, even after all these years still fresh and interesting because SAMAEL behind these works obviously stood - and also the evolution of the guys . impressively from Sion is ABOVE the other hand feels a bit like a step backwards, and nothing compared to the early phase of SAMAEL, on the contrary, but "passage" or the even earlier works inspire so precisely because they act very integrity - and striding back just fits front and rear not to SAMAEL.

All in all: Above is OK and still an album that his money's worth, the band is made to good songwriters and experienced artists to drive this album somehow against the wall - but throughout SAMAEL catalog it belongs to me not among the highlights.