SAMAEL – interview with Vorph (vocalist & guitarist)

Since the release of the last album “Hegemony” in 2017, the band has been somewhat stagnant. However, the spring of 2019 will start active period for SAMAEL… And about this I was talking with Vorph in this short interview…

Hello Vorph! In April, the next phase in the band’s activity will begin… 19th April Napalm Records will release the re-release of two albums “Lvx Mvndi” and “Solar Soul”. Why these albums?

„Lvx Mvndi” and „Solar Soul” are the albums we feel the closest to at the moment. They have similarities but they’re also opposed in a way. „Lvx Mvndi” is darker and deeper, while „Solar Soul” is a bit more superficial and up lifting but both album express a side of SAMAEL and together they show the whole spectrum of what we’re about.

Each of these albums will be additionally armed with bonus songs. “Solar Soul” will receive 9 additional tracks (including 2 remixes, 6 instrumental tracks and 1 concert piece), and “Lvx Mvndi” will get 7 bonus tracks. Will you reveal what will be these songs?

For „Lvx Mvndi” we added all the songs that were released on the „Antigod” EP with extra orcherstral songs „Lucifer” and „War Eternal”. The whole album is remixed and remastered by the same people who worked on „Hegemony”. For „Solar Soul” we added instrumental versions of song such as „Quasar Waves”, „Western Ground”, „Valkyries’ New Ride”… as well as the remixes from „Solar Soul” by Drop and „Slavocracy” by Xy.

The single promoting the re-edition of “Lux Mundi” is lyric-video “In The Deep”. Why this song?

We presented the album with „Luxferre” the first time it was released, this time we wanted to introduce it with a different tune. Also we decided to put „In The Deep” back in our set list on the upcoming tour, so it is a good way to refresh people memory about that song.

In turn, the re-edition of “Solar Soul” is promote by lyric-video to the remastered song “Ave!”. Vorph said that this song always works in concerts…

„Ave!” is one of my favorite track from „Solar Soul” but I can’t really say that it always work live, because the song is so massive and heavy it often leave the audience thunderstruck and after that, it is often difficulte to bring them back to life. But as we single it out this time, we might try to slide it back into our set list.

Napalm Records quoted your words like this: „It’s a titanic and monolithic song that always leave the audience mesmerized by its crushing power when we play it live. But I let you judge by yourself if you’re not yet familiar with that song…”. This was cause of my previous question… But if we talk about concerts…

From May you are going on a tour of Europe simply called “Hegemony”. Is this further promotion of the last album from 2017?

We didn’t tour for „Hegemony” yet, we only played festivals. So yes, in May we’ll finally be back on the road to support that album. We can’t wait ’cause its been so long since our last real tour.

The route will mainly cover Western Europe. Will fans from other parts of Europe also be able to see you this year?

The dates in May are just the first part of the tour, the „Hegemony Tour” will extend well into 2020, but we’ll certainly do a track in East Europe before the end of this year.

In addition to the songs from “Hegemony”… What will the setlist be?

We’ll of course play a good chunk of „Hegemony” but as the re-releases will be out then we’ll also put some focus on those two album, the rest will come from „Ceremony of Opposites”, „Passage” and „Eternal”.

Some time ago in the band were some personal changes. In connection with the departure of Makro, Drop jumped from the bass to the guitar. Then came Zorrac, a new bass player, whom I connect with HEROD (like from Rock Altitude Festival 2014 in Le Locle, Switzerland – https://www.metalcentre.com/2016/05/herod-rock-altitude-festival-9-2014/ ). Does Zorrac cater your requirements?

Zorrac is a good friend of ours, he was already part of our team as a guitar tech for years. As a musician, he’s very versatile, he was already playing bass with another band and guitar with Herod before joining SAMAEL. So, yes, he totally cater our requirements.

Everyone knows SAMAEL is another metal band in which brothers play. In your case, the family is always holding tight…

We started up as a duet, so even though we faced some line up changes lately the core of the band has remained the same. We trust each other and throughout the years we’ve always try to make this band the best we could. I believe we have today the best version of SAMAEL.

From several years you are under the wings of Napalm Records. Do you notice any difference after changing the label?

We were looking for a new collaboration and we wanted to start afresh. Napalm were interest in signing SAMAEL for a long time and when we finally sat together at the table we felt we were on the same page. We have a close relationship with the label and it matter to us that they care about our ideas.

It has been almost two years since the release of “Hegemony”. Fans are probably impatient in waiting for something new? Are some new songs creating?

We’ve spent some time working on the reissue of „Lvx Mvndi” and „Solar Soul”, now we’re preparing for the upcoming tour. We always collect new ideas but we haven’t yet started to work on new material.

At one time I visited Switzerland practically every year (as a tourist, visiting a lived mother there). Honestly, I fell in love with this country, and in principle in its monumental nature, small-town and rural architecture and of course in the traditional menu… As the headquarters of SAMAEL you point the city Sion in the Canton of Valais. I visited this city several times, its monuments. I could say that in the Canton of Valais all roads lead to Sion. For you the beauty of Switzerland is all the daily bread. Despite this, many Swiss people still visit various interesting places in their country. Does this result from loyalty to the country? Do you also appreciate your landscapes, nature parks and monumental mountains, among which you live everyday?

We are very lucky to live were we live, of course we’re still striked by the beauty of our surrounding. Valais lives from tourism and there is a reason to that, people want to experience the Alps and it’s wild beauty. Now, there is beautifful places everywere, for those who haven’t forgotten to look at what they see; don’t we say, beauty is in the eyes of the beholder?

On the other hand, you’ve toured almost the whole world, so you can compare… Where would you like to play a concert where you have not played yet?

There is still many places we’d like to play: India, China, Australia, Africa… everytime we play somewhere we want to come back, I think we could literally live on the road.

What is your attitude towards the Dignitas organization that helps terminally ill people in suicide?

I’ve already voiced my opinion on euthanasia before. To me, the right for people to leave life in a descent way should not be contested, this is a choice that belong to everyone of us and moralists should stay away from it. Suicide could be an act of folly but those organisations prevent that. Exit or Dignitas are there to ease the suffering of people who want to die by accompanying them to their end in the best possible conditions.

I asked because I know that topics related to people and their problems inspire you to write more than satanism or religion like formerly.

Great thank you Vorph for this interview. It really was an honor for me, also because SAMAEL’s music appeared on my path as a fan of Metal with the release of “Worship Him”…

Thank you Pavel!