Samael – “Promised Land”
From the album: Solar Soul

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Why this song doesn’t suck:
After an unforgivably long break in providing your weekly unshitty music fix, the Music That Doesn’t Suck series returns with a relatively new favorite. Well, at least for me. Samael is a band that has been around for quite some time, though I wasn’t introduced to them until fairly recently. From what I can gather, over the past 20 years or so Samael has been updating their style to a more electronic / industrial sound, slowly moving away from their black metal beginnings. I for one enjoy their current sound, so I have no complaints… though I’m sure their fans of old are loosing their shit as most diehard fans of bands going through a genre shift do. Understandable, though ultimately pointless… this album kicks ass.

While I can’t resist the screeching tone, causual strumming, or frenzied riffing of the king of all musical instruments, the electric guitar, I can’t help but be drawn to the mechanical sound of Industrial. It must be the geek in me that just loves the artificial, synthetic sound of an inspired industrial or electronica track. This seems odd since, technically speaking, the Industrial / Electronica sound isn’t all that far removed from the clicks-and-pops sound of many hip-hop “artists”.

Perhaps it’s because the sound is a little dirtier… less commercial or clean and much, much darker. A good track can take you on a journey, build up excitement, inspire you, energize you. The fact that many Industrial bands, such as Front Line Assembly, KMFDM, Ministry and Skinny Puppy also incorporate many metal elements into their music sure doesn’t hurt either.