SAMAEL: Sofia Photos, Video Footage Available

Fan-filmed video footage of SAMAEL's sold-out January 31, 2009 concert at Blue Box (capacity: 700) in Sofia, Bulgaria can be viewed below.

Check out photos of the show at Nedko.org.

A new SAMAEL track, "Illumination", is currently being streamed on the Swiss metal veterans' MySpace page. The song comes off the band's new album, "Above", which is scheduled for release in Europe on March 6 via Nuclear Blast Records.

"Above" track listing:

01. Under One Flag
02. Virtual War
03. Polygames
04. Earth Country
05. Illumination
06. Black Hole
07. In There
08. Dark Side
09. God's Snake
10. On The Top Of It All

Steve Markowski of Beyond the Dark Horizon recently conducted an interview with SAMAEL frontman Vorph. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Beyond the Dark Horizon: Give us more insight into "Above" and your plans on it being a virtual metal band.

Vorph: While we put the last touch on the album, we decided it will be a SAMAEL album. After 20 years we've tried to do an album that would represent what SAMAEL is all about and we did "Solar Soul". We feel now it is the right time to remember the people where we come from, and that's exactly what "Above" will do. It is like an enhanced version of our three or four first albums, maybe the missing link between "Ceremony of Opposites" and "Passage". With the "Era One" project we've tried to work on different influences, [and] with "Above" we stripped everything down. It is a metal album through and through.

Beyond the Dark Horizon: So you feel SAMAEL will be going back to its roots, in a sense?

Vorph: "Above" is a little bit of a tribute to our early years as a band and to our first influences. If you listen to our two last albums, you can tell our roots go beyond that but "Above" is a good résumé of what pushed us to start playing music in the first place.

Beyond the Dark Horizon: As for the upcoming album, what type of topics will be explored?

Vorph: Songs don't deal with specific topics this time, it is closer to the approach we had on "Eternal". But if I'll have to be a bit more specific about it, I'll say change, personal quest, sex and ambition are some of the pillars of the album.

Beyond the Dark Horizon: Was the writing process different on "Above" than previous recordings?

Vorph: Not really. Xy once again composed all the music and I wrote the lyrics.

In October 1988, SAMAEL released its self-produced seven-inch EP "Medieval Prophecy". 20 years later an official and strictly limited edition is now available on CD. It contains all the demos and rehearsal recordings prior to "Worship Him". Fully re-mastered and limited to 1,200 numbered copies, it comes as a deluxe digipack with rare graphics and liner notes and is only available through the SAMAEL online shop.

SAMAEL's eighth album, "Solar Soul", was released in June 2007 via Nuclear Blast Records.

"Into The Pentagram":

"Infra Galaxia":