Samhain – Blind Devotion (CD Album – Aliens Production)
Genre/Influences: Industrial, dark-electro, IDM.
Background/Info: Slovakian Samhain trio struck back last year with a noticeable work entitled “One Minute To Twelve”. The album revealed a fascinating exploration of IDM, experimental- and industrial music. “Blind Devotion” is their newest opus, which is inspired by ‘the souls of innocent victims and their executors’.
Content: The sound of this album has evolved in a noticeable way. It’s less IDM-driven and more into a sophisticated industrial format mixed with dark-electronic atmospheres reminding to late Yelworc. It’s still very Klinik-al. Heavy sound blasts and overwhelming atmospheres are the main essence of “Blind Devotion”.
+ + + : It’s not that easy to define this work, but it clearly tastes like an intelligent industrial sound format. The tracks are sophisticated mixing pomposity and refinement. There are a few spooky vocals, which are totally matching with the sound approach. It all together creates a tormented atmosphere, which excels at a few cuts like “Commandments For The Restoration”, “Spahn Ranch” and “Aum Supreme Truth”.
– – – : I’m somewhat missing the more explicit IDM-side from the previous work, but I’ve to say this album remains characterized by impressive sound treatments.
Conclusion: Samhain has released two fascinating albums in two years time. The explicit care for great sound treatments and anguishing sound atmospheres both make this band worthy of examination. This is a project, which clearly deserves a wider recognition.
Best songs: “Commandments For The Restoration”, “Spahn Ranch”, “Aum Supreme Truth”, “The Narcosatanists”, “Ant Hill Kids”.
Rate: (8).
Artist: www.facebook.com/Samhain–music-1072520006194485
Label: www.label.aliens.sk / www.facebook.com/pages/Aliens–production–label/200028820052578
About Samhain
Samhain is a Slovak act formed in 1996 by Solo, Blazen and Peter Blazko; Blazko left in March 1997 and was replaced by Bob. The catalog includes the album “Violent Identity” in 2006 and, after a long gap, “One Minute To Twelve” in 2017 and “Blind Devotion” in 2018, both on Aliens Production. Samhain continued with “One Minute To Intoxicate” in 2020, the compilation “25 Years” in 2021, the album “Experiment” in 2022 and the single “The Carol Of The Bells” in 2025.
Support Side-Line
More people read Side-Line than ever, and there is still no paywall and no advertising. Readers pay for it instead - from $5 a month.
Why we ask
Advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. Unlike many news organisations we have not put up a paywall, and we refuse to add annoying advertising, so we need to ask for your help. Side-Line’s independent journalism takes time, money and hard work to produce, and we do it to push the artists we like, who are equally fighting to survive.
Handled by PayPal.
I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.
