The band was founded in April 1987 by Vorphalack.
It was formed by Vorphalack and Pat, both rooted from differents bands.
In 1988 at the beginning of the summer, Pat - the first drummer - left Samael to form another
band.
He was replaced by Xytraguptor, from the same blood as Vorphalack.
In October they recorded their 7" EP "Medieval Prophecy" with 3 tracks, including a cover of
Hellhammer: "Third of The Storm".
During 1989 the band did several gigs in Switzerland, France Germany and Poland.
At the end of 1989 they went to a studio to record the demo tape: "From Dark to Black", which
received a good response from the underground scene.
In March 1990 they recorded in Geneva the master of their forthcoming album "Worship Him". All
songs composed since the beginning of the band are included.
At the end of the spring Masmiseîm joined the band as bass player.
They did together a small tour in Eastern Europe during the summer.
In June, 1991 they made a contract with the french record company Osmose Productions for their
first full-length album: "Worship Him".
A black metal album full of fast and slow heavy rythms from the drums and the bass, with a
marvellous infernal guitar and some atmospheric effects from Xytras' keyboard.
In December, 1992 the band released "Blood Ritual" for Century Media, their actual record
company. An album similar to the previous one but with a lot more work associated.
In 1993 a new artist joined the band: Rodolphe H. - keyboard and sampler.
In early 1994 they launched "Ceremony of Opposites", an excellent album record in January of
the same year, which showed more maturity in the band's writings and the skills of Rodolphe H.
in the orquestral effects of his keyboard and sampler.
In early 1995 they released the EP "Rebellion", recorded and mixed in February. A spectacular
album due to Xy's programming. Vorphalack improved a lot his vocals, bringing out even more
feelings, as one can hear in Alice Cooper's cover: I Love The Dead.
I just love this album and recommend it even to the ones that usually don't like black metal.
In 1996, the last opus "Passage" was released. This album is quite different from the previous
ones, it's more melodic, and the only negative point in my conception was the usage of drum
machines, which I don't like that much, but I have to admit that these were greatly programmed
by the maestro Xytraguptor.
It's important to tell that, once again, Xy made all the music and Vorph wrote all the lyrics,
and yeah, Waldemar Sorychta (Grip Inc. 's axe-man) produced that symphony. To record Passage a
new guitar man joined the band, Kaos, and obviously Rodolphe H. left the band, leaving the
keyboard duties to grandmaster Xy (that worked hard as hell to get it done).
Samael signed a new deal with Sweden's Regain Records in April 2004.
SAMAEL
