''Passage'' is the fourth album by Swiss

industrial metal Industrial metal is the fusion of heavy metal and industrial music, typically employing repeating metal guitar riffs, sampling, synthesizer or sequencer lines, and distorted vocals. Prominent industrial metal acts include Ministry, Nine In ...

band

Samael Samael ( he, סַמָּאֵל, ''Sammāʾēl'', "Venom/Poison of God"; ar, سمسمائيل, ''Samsama'il'' or ar, سمائل, label=none, ''Samail''; alternatively Smal, Smil, Samil, or Samiel) is an archangel in Talmudic and post-Talmudic ...

, released on 19 August 1996 through

Century Media A century is a period of 100 years. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the Latin ''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c. A centennial or ...

. On this album, the band opted for more intensive use of keyboards and industrial sounds, drifting from their black metal roots and progressing in a different direction. Lyrically the band abandoned satanic themes and veered more towards the

occult The occult, in the broadest sense, is a category of esoteric supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving otherworldly agency, such as magic and mysticism a ...

and the cosmic. While it differs from its predecessors, ''Passage'' can be credited for thrusting Samael from the underground scene and giving the band a much larger international audience. The album was originally recorded with a 17-song track list but was later cut down to 11. The remaining songs can be found on the album ''

Exodus Exodus or the Exodus may refer to: Religion * Book of Exodus, second book of the Hebrew Torah and the Christian Bible * The Exodus, the biblical story of the migration of the ancient Israelites from Egypt into Canaan Historical events * Ex ...

''. A second edition was later offered containing 10 classical piano compositions from the album on a second disk. In 2007, a remastered, re-packaged, special edition was released containing the album's original 17 song track list. Over a decade after its original release is still considered by many to be a pillar in the black/

genre. A video for "Jupiterian Vibe" received regular airplay on

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

's ''

Headbangers Ball ''Headbangers Ball'' is a music television program that consisted of heavy metal music videos airing on MTV and its global affiliates. The show began on MTV on April 18, 1987, playing heavy metal music videos from both well-known and more obs ...

''.

Track listing

Personnel

Samael

* Vorph – vocals, guitar * Kaos – guitar * Masmiseîm – bass * Xy – keyboard, synthesizer, live & programmed drums

Technical personnel

* Waldemar Sorychta – production, engineering

Chart positions

References

1996 albums Samael (band) albums Century Media Records albums Albums produced by Waldemar Sorychta {{1990s-black-metal-album-stub