SCHAMMASCH
Bio:
Located in Basel, Switzerland, Schammasch was formed in 2009.'Schammasch' being Šamaš, the sun god from Akkadian / Babylonian mythology.)
With little attention to the question of genre from their inception, the band regarded their actual body of work as what is most artistically significant; although their roots can be found in forward-thinking black metal whilst balancing a razor sharp hybrid of dark atmospherics, doom and Hermetic mysticism.
After a year of carefully crafting their art, Schammasch released their first album Sic Lvceat Lvx on an underground Swiss Black Metal label and unveiled their live show alongside international extreme metal acts like Jex Thoth, Temple of Baal, Vorkreist, Evoken and Forgotten Tomb. Their ambitious debut garnered considerable praise from many corners of the extreme music world, in print and online. Legacy magazine in Germany quoted : „On a work of art like this one, there's only one recommendation: goeth and buyeth and you shall not regret it! 14/15"
As the first Swiss band to join the Prosthetic roster, Schammaschrelease their second opus Contradiction as a double album in 2014, which was recorded and produced by none other than Tripkyton / ex-Celtic Frost guitarist V. Santura. A sprawling, epic work over 85 minutes, presented with the majestic arkwork of artist Valnoir of the Metastazis Studio in Paris (Paradise Lost, Alcest, Ulver.) The album gets high attention from magazines like Metal Hammer UK, Terrorizer, RockHard GER and many more. Metal Hammer describes „Contradiction" as "cerebral and utterly absorbing and one of the most overwhelming albums of the year".
Later this year the band's first international tour starts off, supporting Dark Fortress and Secrets of the Moon, receiving great response from crowds all over Europe. At the same time their video clip „Golden Light" is released, again including Valnoir as a co-producer and William Lacalmontie (Corrections House, Church of Ra, Godflesh) as main producer. Appearing on countless best of 2014-lists to the end of the year including RockHard's best of sampler, „Contradiction" turned out to be a truly commanding work of significant importance, both to extreme music in 2014 and to the rich heritage of forward thinking Swiss metal in general.
In 2015 Schammasch fully concentrate on the process of songwriting for their 3rd album, following and continuing their path with utter focus and fervour, to finally enter Woodshed studio again in summer, starting the first of many long recording sessions. In September the new album is finally mixed and mastered, this time also including Michael Zech as a co-producer, who is well known for his production work for Triptykon, Secrets of the Moon and Ascension.
The band's third album is entitled „Triangle", a monolith consisting of three LPs each 33:30 minutes in length, each differing in atmosphere and style, each standing for one of three stages of the album's strong concept. This very unique concept is visually presented by a series of four photographs (one Box, three sleeves), each an incarnate statement of the concept's stage, taken by Ester Segarra (Watain, Electric Wizard, Bloodbath) in London to the end of 2015.
„Triangle" will be released in April 2016, shortly after followed by the band's second video clip „Metanoia", which will be produced in February, in the midst of Iceland's astonishing landscapes. Now teamed up with the booking agency District 19 (Apshyx, Bölzer, Enthroned), Schammasch are eager to release their third opus, with highest expectations for the media's response and many possibilities to present their art on stage.
Schammasch Website
Schammasch @ Bandcamp
Schammasch @ Facebook
Schammasch @ SoundCloud
Schammasch @ YouTube