Swiss industrial/black metal band Samael have released a new single, “Hail to the Sun,” the second piece of new music from the band since their 2025 single “Black Matter Manifesto,” — itself the first new Samael material in eight years. The band describes the new track as “an equally heavy and grand” song dealing with adversity and the act of seizing life’s opportunities.
In a press statement, Samael said: “In troubled times, it is good to come together around something meaningful to us all… and what better thing than the sun, which is one but experienced differently by each of us? ‘Hail to the Sun’ is an anthem that will see you through the summer and keep you warm when winter comes. The song is about overcoming adversity and seizing life’s opportunities.”
A full-length follow-up to Hegemony (2017, Napalm Records) has been completed. In a March 2025 interview with Finland’s Chaoszine, frontman Michael “Vorph” Locher confirmed the album was “pretty much recorded” and spoke about its musical direction: “It will have a strong bond to Hegemony, but it’s not the same. There is no experimentation with things that we’ve never, ever done before, but the mix is different, and there is a lot more guitar. It’s a lot more guitar-oriented. So, yeah, that’s one of the differences.” Swedish producer Daniel Bergstrand traveled to Switzerland in late 2024 to record vocals for the album, with guitarist Thomas “Drop” Betrisey confirming the recording was complete in a December 2024 social media update and calling the tracks “outstanding.”
Samael was formed in 1987 in Sion, Switzerland. Their 1990 debut Worship Him and the landmark 1996 album Passage — which introduced electronic and industrial elements into their black metal foundation — remain among the most influential releases in extreme metal’s crossover era. The current lineup is Vorph (guitars/vocals), his brother Alexandre “Xytras” Locher (drum programming, keyboards, samples, and percussion), Betrisey (guitars), and Ales Campanelli (bass), who joined in 2020 as the replacement for Pierre “Zorrac” Carroz.
