I discovered this great Swiss band in 2014, when the second album Contradiction was released, and I immediately loved their music. Now Schammasch, formed in 2009 in Basel, two years later have come to the third album Triangle and have once again proved to be a seminal band in the modern black metal scene. Above all, Schammasch prove to be to be a band that always conceives extensive works: Contradiction was a 2-CD album, while Triangle, as the title suggests, consists of as many as three CDs; besides, the symbolic value of numbers is accurately studied: the total playtime of the album is 100 minutes. Everything on this album is morbid, insane, breathless and the general atmosphere is made more dismal by low-pitched guitars. The wise use of clean vocals gives particular intensity to the album, as in “Metanoia”, perhaps the climax of the album, in which a seemingly calm clean singing is backed by a furious and destructive riffing.
From the thematic and musical point of view, the three CDs constitute as many thematic units and each one has a title: “The process of dying”, “Metaflesh”, “The Supernal Light of the Void”. It is a path through which Schammasch explore the meaning of existence, death and afterlife, and they do so even by using quotations in Latin from the Vulgate, the Latin Bible; in some points also French is used. The suffocating fury of the first moment calms down in the third moment, the moment of light, which is so to speak more incorporeal and ethereal than the other two ones: almost entirely instrumental, musically lighter, almost ambient at some points. As regards the production, it is simply sumptuous, while the musicianship of this band is top-notch; these latter points also explain why Schammasch are one of the most important bands today.
To conclude, Triangle is a mastodontic work, an absolute masterpiece and a milestone of modern black metal.
Notes:
Triangle was released on April 29 2016 on Prosthetic Records.
Tracklist:
Disc 1 - The Process of Dying
Crepusculum
Father's Breath
In Dialogue with Death
Diluculum
Consensus
Awakening from the Dream of Life
Disc 2 - Metaflesh
The World Destroyed by Water
Satori
Metanoia
Above the Stars of God
Conclusion
Disc 3 - The Supernal Clear Light of the Void
The Third Ray of Light
Cathartic Confession
Jacob's Dream
Maelstrom
The Empyrean
Personnel:
Chris S.R. - Vocals, Guitars
Boris A.W. - Drums
M.A. - Guitars
A.T – Bass
Text by Herjann
herjann@unholyblackmetal.com
From the thematic and musical point of view, the three CDs constitute as many thematic units and each one has a title: “The process of dying”, “Metaflesh”, “The Supernal Light of the Void”. It is a path through which Schammasch explore the meaning of existence, death and afterlife, and they do so even by using quotations in Latin from the Vulgate, the Latin Bible; in some points also French is used. The suffocating fury of the first moment calms down in the third moment, the moment of light, which is so to speak more incorporeal and ethereal than the other two ones: almost entirely instrumental, musically lighter, almost ambient at some points. As regards the production, it is simply sumptuous, while the musicianship of this band is top-notch; these latter points also explain why Schammasch are one of the most important bands today.
To conclude, Triangle is a mastodontic work, an absolute masterpiece and a milestone of modern black metal.
Notes:
Triangle was released on April 29 2016 on Prosthetic Records.
Tracklist:
Disc 1 - The Process of Dying
Crepusculum
Father's Breath
In Dialogue with Death
Diluculum
Consensus
Awakening from the Dream of Life
Disc 2 - Metaflesh
The World Destroyed by Water
Satori
Metanoia
Above the Stars of God
Conclusion
Disc 3 - The Supernal Clear Light of the Void
The Third Ray of Light
Cathartic Confession
Jacob's Dream
Maelstrom
The Empyrean
Personnel:
Chris S.R. - Vocals, Guitars
Boris A.W. - Drums
M.A. - Guitars
A.T – Bass
Text by Herjann
herjann@unholyblackmetal.com
