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Rating: Tampa is considered the lightning capital of the United States; it seems that in summer, thunderstorms are a daily occurrence, with dazzling bolts tearing through the gloomy sky at the speed of light, and you start counting how many seconds later the deafening rumble of thunder will arrive. I am not exactly sure what the connection is between this climate and the birth of death metal in Florida, but certainly when the sky turns black something changes in the human soul.
All this talk to say that Seance are definitely weather-sensitive, their style of death metal typical of those coming from the Tampa Bay area — no wait, something doesn't add up, better to start over…
Chilly winds blow across the Swedish lands, the scarce sun never manages to chase away the cold, you have to cling to something to move forward. The bottle is an easy solution, but death metal too is a valid alternative. Clanking guitars like frenzied chainsaws, that hardcore attitude never too concealed, chaotic sounds, and plenty of atmosphere, this is the left-hand path, the journey that every Swedish death group must follow, like Seance, born and raised in Linköping. No, but something is not right here either…
The truth is that Seance is indeed a Swedish group, but they sound like an American band. The sound is clean and dynamic, rich in tempo changes, the darkness that emerges is antiseptic and distant, as if their music is a third-person narrative, telling someone else's story. On the other hand, Swedish death, as well as Finnish or more generally European death metal, is more passionate, much more imbued with feeling, experienced firsthand, at least that's what I have always thought about the difference in attitude between the two sides of the Atlantic, and the only exception that comes to mind are the Death, but then again, Death is the Death Metal Band.
Floridian style, therefore, for these five Scandinavian guys, starting already from their debut album, powerful and well-played music that recalls Malevolent Creation and especially Brutality, who actually debuted a year later despite being formed three years earlier. Cover art by Dan Seagrave, like all the greats of the genre, and plenty of attitude make this album a minor classic, missing just a pinch of personality, that something extra that makes the group recognizable from all the others.
Nonetheless, a recommended listen for fans of the genre, a record worth discovering, at the right time but perhaps in the wrong place.
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