Ceremony of Opposites is the third album by Swiss extreme metal band Samael.

Ceremony of Opposites
Studio album by
Released18 February 1994
RecordedJanuary 1994
Genre
Length35:58
LabelCentury Media
ProducerWaldemar Sorychta
Samael chronology
Blood Ritual
(1992)
Ceremony of Opposites
(1994)
Rebellion
(1995)

This is their second release with Century Media Records after leaving French label Osmose Productions. Although the band's subject matter was similar to previous releases (references to Aleister Crowley, Satanism and blasphemy), 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, who also worked on recordings by Lacuna Coil, Tiamat, Moonspell and others.

In 2005, the album was re-issued with their 1995 Rebellion EP.

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic     [1]
Best Black Metal Album91%[2]
Metal Reviews95/100[3]
Metal Storm          [4]
Rock Hard9/10[5]
Sputnikmusic     [6]

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.[7]

Track listing

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All tracks by Vorph and Xy.

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

Personnel

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  • 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

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  1. ^ Ceremony of Opposites at AllMusic. Review by Eduardo Rivadavia. Retrieved 16 August 2012.
  2. ^ "Samael (CHE) - Ceremony of Opposites (1994)".
  3. ^ "Samael - Ceremony of Opposites".
  4. ^ "Samael - Ceremony of Opposites review".
  5. ^ Wendel, Kai. "Rock Hard review". issue 82 (in German). Retrieved 1 June 2013.
  6. ^ "Samael - Ceremony of Opposites (Album review ) | Sputnikmusic".
  7. ^ Best of Rock & Metal - Die 500 stärksten Scheiben aller Zeiten (in German). Rock Hard. 2005. p. 99. ISBN 3-89880-517-4.