''Ceremony of Opposites'' is the third album by

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

extreme metal Extreme metal is a loosely defined umbrella term for a number of related heavy metal music subgenres that have developed since the early 1980s. It has been defined as a "cluster of metal subgenres characterized by sonic, verbal, and visual tran ...

band

Samael Samael (; , ''Sammāʾēl'', "Venom of God"; , ''Samsama'il'' or , ''Samail''; alternatively Smal, Smil, Samil, or Samiel) is an archangel in Talmudic and post-Talmudic tradition; a figure who is the accuser or adversary (Satan#Judaism, Satan ...

. This is their second release with

Century Media Records Century Media Records is a German heavy metal record label with offices in Germany, the United States and the United Kingdom. In August 2015, Century Media was acquired by Sony Music for US$17 million. Background Century Media was founded by R ...

after leaving French label

Osmose Productions Osmose Productions () is a French independent record label created in 1991 by Hervé Herbaut, after he had spent three years running a small mail order company. They specialize mainly in death and black metal bands. Many of the groups who began ...

. Although the band's subject matter was similar to previous releases (references to

Aleister Crowley Aleister Crowley ( ; born Edward Alexander Crowley; 12 October 1875 – 1 December 1947) was an English occultist, ceremonial magician, poet, novelist, mountaineer, and painter. He founded the religion of Thelema, identifying himself as the pr ...

Satanism Satanism refers to a group of religious, ideological, or philosophical beliefs based on Satan—particularly his worship or veneration. Because of the ties to the historical Abrahamic religious figure, Satanism—as well as other religious ...

and

blasphemy Blasphemy refers to an insult that shows contempt, disrespect or lack of Reverence (emotion), reverence concerning a deity, an object considered sacred, or something considered Sanctity of life, inviolable. Some religions, especially Abrahamic o ...

), it also showed their first signs of interest in industrial music, a direction that they would take on future albums. It was produced by

Waldemar Sorychta Waldemar Sorychta (born 30 October 1967) is a Polish heavy metal record producer and musician who has lived in Germany since 1982. Career He initially worked with German thrash metal band Despair, founded in 1986. In 1994 he took part in the ...

, who also worked on recordings by

Lacuna Coil Lacuna Coil is an Italian gothic metal band from Milan. Since their formation in 1994, the group has had two name changes, being previously known as Sleep of Right and Ethereal, and they have recorded ten studio albums, two extended plays, two l ...

Tiamat In Mesopotamian religion, Tiamat ( or , ) is the primordial sea, mating with Abzû (Apsu), the groundwater, to produce the gods in the Babylonian epic '' Enûma Elish'', which translates as "when on high". She is referred to as a woman, an ...

Moonspell Moonspell is a Portuguese gothic metal band formed in 1992. The group released their first EP, '' Under the Moonspell'', in 1994 and followed up with their debut album, '' Wolfheart'', a year later. They quickly became the most recognizable meta ...

and others. In 2005, the album was re-issued with their 1995 ''

Rebellion Rebellion is an uprising that resists and is organized against one's government. A rebel is a person who engages in a rebellion. A rebel group is a consciously coordinated group that seeks to gain political control over an entire state or a ...

'' EP.

Critical reception

Upon release, ''Ceremony of Opposites'' was met with universal acclaim by both music critics and band's fans. In 2005, ''Ceremony of Opposites'' was ranked number 284 in '' Rock Hard'' magazine's book of ''The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time''.

Track listing

All tracks by

Vorph Michael Locher (born 7 January 1969), also known as Vorphalack or simply Vorph, is a Swiss musician who provides vocals and is a guitarist for the industrial/black metal band Samael. Biography Locher was born in Sion. He co-founded Samael i ...

and Xy. # "Black Trip" – 3:19 # "Celebration of the Fourth" – 2:53 # "Son of Earth" – 3:58 # "'Till We Meet Again" – 4:11 # "Mask of the Red Death" – 3:04 # "Baphomet's Throne" – 3:30 # "Flagellation" – 3:41 # "Crown" – 4:06 # "To Our Martyrs" – 2:37 # "Ceremony of Opposites" – 4:39

Personnel

* Vorph – guitar, vocals, arranger * Masmiseim – bass * Xy – drums, arranger * Rodolphe H. – keyboards, samplers * Carsten Otterbach – artwork * Mussorgsky/Ravel – sampling * Waldemar Sorychta – producer, engineer, mixing * Siggi Bemm – assistant engineer

References

1994 albums Samael (band) albums Century Media Records albums Albums produced by Waldemar Sorychta {{1990s-black-metal-album-stub