Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Seance - Saltrubbed Eyes + Fornever Laid To Rest

Underrated early 90's Swedish death metal brilliance.  What more do you need to know really?  I don't post alot of this stuff because it's fucking EVERYWHERE on the internet, but this band gets pretty short shrift in the profusion of fanboy jism surrounding (and coating) early 90's SWDM. When I bring them up, dudes always go "Oh yeah, I heard something from them once, it was really killer." No one really brings them up as an influence, you never see any bootleg T-shirts or patches from Mexico, and I don't think their 2009 return really shook anything up, though it WAS rather good.

Seance didn't make it's way onto my radar until after their second album, Saltrubbed Eyes was released.  Prior to that, it was pretty tough to make one band out from another in the great deluge of death metal releases that flooded the market between 1989 - 1992.  Saltrubbed Eyes, much like Samael's Ceremony Of Opposites, is one of those albums that will always stand alone for it's completely unique production style.  The bass is so forward in the mix, you almost can't make out the guitars at times.  I don't know if it's a result of EQing, shelving or a distortion pedal or what, but it absolutely works in the mix and makes for a kick ass album that sounds like it is going to rip your throat out 100% of the time.  I heard it on the college radio station around here and NEVER forgot the sound of that album.  I wore out a cassette copy and by the time I got a CD player, it was pretty hard to find.  It was one of the first albums I downloaded when I figured out how and it has always remained at the top of my list.  I strive to write riffs as heavy and as gripping as the opening of "13th Moon." 

Seance's debut album, "Fornever Laid To Rest," at the time was a pretty unremarkable release, just because it was one of a hundred records that year all trying for the same market share.  It featured the same Dan Seagrave cosmic horror thing going on for the cover and in the US it was damn near unavailable.  I think I saw one copy of it once and I don't remember seeing anything in any magazines about it.  I wasn't able to actually listen to it until I could download it some years later.  I eventually scored copies of both CD's on Ebay and they will have to be pried from my cold dead hands.  Surprisingly, they were NOT $80, more like $10 apiece.  Maybe no one was looking that week?  Either way, this album quickly rose to the top of my heap of favorites of early 90's Swedish death.  At the time though, it didn't have a weird production job or anything really to make it stick out of the pack, and that's a shame because it is a completely merciless album.  I don't think it's as heavy as Saltrubbed Eyes, but it should have been further ahead of the pack than it was.  I think it may have had more to do with the fact that Black Mark probably didn't have much in the way of distribution in the US, or much cash to promote it.  Around that time, Seance was probably hoping for table scraps from the label in the wake of the release of  "Hammerheart."  Still, both records (and 2009's "Awakening Of The Gods") are completely unfuckwithable death metal albums that should get WAAAY more attention than they do.  I've uploaded both of Seance's 90's albums in one .rar for your pleasure.  Hopefully someday they get their fair due, or at least a nice reissue. ...And yes, that's no typo, the first album is actually called ForNEVER Laid To Rest.

2 comments:

Mr said...

Thank fuck you're back man. I've just checked back today and found all your new posts after nearly giving up.
Stoked to read your stuff and can't wait to listen.
Hope the wedding is going well for you
Andrew

nothingwheel said...

Wow! Thanks. There's so many blogs out there, I forget that someone might actually be paying attention to mine.