In a recent conversation with Sam Acevedo of El Planeta Del Rock, Michael Locher, frontman of Swiss industrial metal band Samael – also known by his stage name of Vorph –, provided insights into the band's upcoming album.
Vorph reflected on the creative journey that led to their latest project, particularly how the band's approach has evolved over time. He emphasized that starting with the 2007 album Solar Soul, Samael deliberately shifted focus to reconnect with their core musical identity.
"We've tried, with 2007's Solar Soul particularly, to try to focus back on what we thought were the most important things in the band. Because on the two previous albums, 1999's Eternal and 2004's Reign Of Light, we were trying to experiment to have a larger spectrum in the band,” he explained.
“And that's great too. But at some point, we were afraid to get lost in having songs so separate from one another. And we focused back consciously with Solar Soul and we kept this for 2011's Lux Mundi. I think with 2017's Hegemony, we started to open it a little bit more again — not too much, but it's kind of making the floor, the ground zero for the next album, which is the one we are working on now.”
Vorph revealed that the band has been laboring over the new album for an extended period, with the writing process already well underway before the COVID-19 pandemic. The band worked closely with long-time producer Waldemar Sorychta, revisiting and reshaping the material multiple times during and after the pandemic: " We were actually meeting every month to play together and to check the songs together because we had no shows, but we wanted to keep the synergy and to see each other was something important. And so during that time, we had a lot of discussions about what we wanted to do, and how we wanted the sound to be. And then, even after that, there is maybe a third incarnation for some of the songs. Xy's (drummer Alexandre 'Xytras' Locher) still doing a lot of editing at the moment. Most of the recording is done. So we will mix this this fall if everything goes well. And hopefully early next year we can at least have one new song that we can present. Yeah, that's the idea."
When asked about the difficulty of selecting lyrical themes in a world that "seems to be sinking," Vorph acknowledged that the album likely reflects some of the current global discontent: “But, as mentioned, I guess most of the lyrics, they were written, like, three years ago or something. And then, of course, I corrected things, I changed them, because some of the songs, they've changed.
"And then, all of a sudden, you changed the title of the song and then everything went in another direction and I started to rewrite the lyrics. Some of it I kept. So, through all those changes, I think it's also kind of a reflection of what we're living — when I say at the moment, it will be like three years ago or now. Things haven't changed, really, and maybe not even for the best when they changed."
