First off, and this is a long time coming, 16
years between albums and Seance
has rebounded very nicely! So welcome back! Swedish death metal legends
in their own right, with only 3 albums, have amassed thousands of fans throughout
most of the world. A nice statistic for a band still relatively unknown
in the states. “Awakening of the Gods,” a fitting title for
a tremendous rebirth in the underground, consists of 11 new tracks and about
36 minutes play time. You would think an album so short wouldn't add up
to a pile of beans after such a long hiatus, but there is an abundance of
nice things to be said. With the departures of Bino Carlsson on bass and
Patrick Jensen on guitar, vocalist Johan Larsson has picked up the bass
duties and the band welcomes guitarist Rille Rimfält (Witchery) to
the fold. Rille actually replaced Jensen back in 1995, but no albums followed
until 2009's "Awakening of the Gods". To the album content now...
You might say that this is sort of a combination of their first two releases,
but I'd like to say this is a natural progression from "Fornever Laid
To Rest". The only difference, really, is the drums don't "throb"
the listener and the bass is more within the seams of the music this time
as opposed to the "Saltrubbed Eyes" album. Basically, the new
album is better produced. The technical breaks aren't as erratic as the
previous disc either, but there are loads of riffs and solos with the essential
technical Seance-like trademarks. There is an overall thrash metal element
added to the crease. Johan’s vocals are as guttural and brutal as
ever! The extent of the album artwork is the band’s logo, which I
believe to be one of the best ones in metal aside from maybe the Obituary
one. It's refreshing to hear these guys again, whatever the case may be.
They really have lost none of their touch. To have lost two key members
from their first two discs, that is quite a bold statement for the remaining
four guys. Some people just discovering the band may find this slightly
more than typical for the genre, but fans of the band should assume nothing
less than what they've heard before (with a few surprises). “Awakening
of the Gods” is an essential piece in the Seance catalogue!!
Rating: 85
Reviewed By: Thomas Mitchell |
