1. Greetings to SAMAEL and thank you for the opportunity of doing the first interview for our medium. The history of SAMAEL is long and intricate. Could you please summarize your history and point out the most important events?

We started out at the end of the eighties as a duet first then as a trio. Our first release was a 7" EP called "Medieval Prophecy" three years later in 1991 we released our first album "Woship Him". Since then we went on a quest for identity culmulating with our album "Passage" which put the first real stone to our fondation."Reign of Light" (2004) is another step toward the realisation of our sound. We release our latest album "Lux Mundi" in May 2011 and we're currently touring Europe in support of it.

2. The beginning of the band dates back into 1987. You started very young. Do you still remember the circumstances behind the band’s birth? What made you and your brother to start playing music?

We both wanted to have our own band but when we tried playing together we felt it was the best thing for both of us to team up on a commun project. My first motivation was to play shows and it took me sometime to start enjoying the creative process as much as the live performance.

3. After your old-school period you started to experiment with electronic and industrial music. Each of the first albums sounds differently but since “Reign of Light” your music hasn’t changed drastically. Which albums do you personally consider to be groundbreaking or being a milestone in band’s discography? Are you still proud of your earliest efforts?

If I would have to choose a few album which represent the band's evolution I would probably pick "Ceremony of Opposites", "Passage", "Reign of Light" and "Lux Mundi" which is both a conclusion and a begining. We always try our best and if the thing I'm the most proud of at the moment is our latest album I can still look at our earlier material with a straight face.

4. How much did your approach towards composing of music changed throughout the years? It is obvious that you have improved as a musicians but what about your personal approach?

Since "Ceremony of Opposites" we found the best way to work togheter with Xy, he's doing all the music and I write the lyrics. Even though we're the sole composer of the S A M A E L's music, it is still a band effort and the participation of Mas and Mak has been important on "Lux Mundi".

5. On the previous album “Above” it seems that you took a step back. This album is more metal sounding. Have you felt an urge to create more traditional, heavier music? What was the intention behind the creation of the previous album?

"Above" was first meant to be a side project, our intention was, as you mentioned, to create an album which was 100% metal and when everthing was done we decide it could fit the S A M A E L catalogue if only at a counter point to the "Era One project" which also ended up on the same catalogue.


6. The actual recording “Lux Mundi” is a bit different though. Could you give us an idea how was the album created? What was the main idea and how did its realisation went. Despite the title of the album this album is the darkest you have ever created. Was this an intention?

We work on "Lux Mundi" pretty much the same way we worked on "Reign of Light" or "Solar Soul" the difference comes mainly due to the fact we mix the album with a different person. We all have our idea of what we call dark, I personaly think "Lux Mundi" is a very well balanced album between light and darkness, in any case one doesn't go without the other.

7. Over the years your line-up has not been changing radically. But guitarist Kaos and keyboard player Radolphe played with you for a quite long time. Why did they leave the band? Are they still playing in some other bands?

We didn't keep in touch with them but I don't think they're still playing music. I know Kaos had a couple of project when he left the band but I've heard he gave them up not long after departing from S A M A E L. As for Rodolph he couldn't stand the touring schedule and the last thing I know is that he's working in a computer firm.

8. You play live quite often and you visited Czech republic several times as well. What do you like about our country? Do you plan to tour in support of the new album? Hopefully you won’t miss Czech republic… By the way it is interesting that during those years you have never released any live album/dvd. Isn’t this going to change?

I like the individuality of the people I've met in Czech republic, they seem not to follow trend as much as in other countries. We'll play Prague in a few days (06.09.11) and I can't wait to be there 'cause I love the city. Century Media release a live DVD in 2003 called "Black Trip" but it is true that we're speaking about releasing a new DVD since a few years now and we might actually do it sometime next year.

9. But talking about the visuals. You made a videoclip for a one song from your new album. Tell us something about it. About its creation, responses of fans etc.

We choose the opening track of the album "Luxferre" for the video. There is no big thougth behind it, we just went to Sweden to performe the song a few time in a studio so there‘s no script, it's just us playing that song. I like the way it turned out, I think the quality of the image is of a high standard.

10. You also often remix songs. Can we expect a full-length album made of remixes or you would like to keep it for EP’s only? By the way, why did you re-recorded the song “Into the Pentagram”?

Xy often spoke about doing a remix album but he never seem to find the time to do it. Before the release of our new single "Antigod" we were asked by the record company to have some kind of bonus tracks attached to it. We first thought about recording a cover but Mak came up with the idea to re-record "Into the Pentagram" ; this is the fourth time we record that song in 1988, 1990, 1995 and 2011 all version are very much representative of the band evolution and the last version is actually the one we play live nowaday.


11. “Lux Mundi” is the third album released by Nuclear Blast so I guess that you are satisfied with their work. Or is it just because of a long-term contract? Is the cooperation good?

Nuclear Blast are doing a good job and we can't complain about it. Our contract with them is over after "Lux Mundi" but it is probable we'll extend it for the future.

12. SAMAEL will soon celebrate 25 years long existence. That is an incredible anniversary. Do you plan anything special how to celebrate this event?

We haven't planned anything special we'll keep touring for "Lux Mundi". Playing live is a celebration of our music in it's own right.

13. During those years you surely have lived through good and bad moments. Have you ever come to a moment when you thought you should end the band? On the other which moments have been the best for you?

When Kaos left the band we didn't have a remplacement and we start working on another project, it was a time when everything could have ended; in fact we didn't play any show in 2001 neither record new S A M A E L music; it is only the next year when Mak join the band than we somehow got a new start.

There is a lot of good moments and satisfaction playing with S A M A E L I cannot point at one in particular, tonight show might be one of them.

14. Thank you for your time and answers. I wish you the best for the future and hope to see you again in Czech republic. Now you have an opportunity to convey a message to your fans and especially to the greatest die-hard SAMAEL fan from our republic whom I know very well…

Thanks to everyone who buy "Lux Mundi" and support S A M A E L you allow us to live our dream and we never forget that!