UMUR "Levitised Spirit" is the first demo release by Swedish death metal act Seance. The demo was independently released in August 1991. Seance formed in 1990 and was a fusion of the two thrash metal bands Total Death and Orchriste (both released demos in the late 80s). "Levitised Spirit" is the sole demo release by Seance, as they would soon be signed for the release of their debut full-length studio album "Fornever Laid to Rest" (released through Black Mark Production in June 1992).

The demo features five tracks and a total playing time of 17:42 minutes. Four out of the five tracks from the demo would be re-recorded and included on "Fornever Laid to Rest", only "Blood of the Saints" is exclusive to this release. Seance play a brutal and technically relatively complex US influenced death metal style, and it´s artists like Brutality, Suffocation, and Deicide you´re reminded of rather than contemporary Swedish artists like Entombed, Dismember, and Grave. So "Levitised Spirit" is a relatively unique Swedish death metal demo, although there are other Swedish death metal artists from those days, who also swore to the US death metal style rather than the Sunlight sound.

"Levitised Spirit" features a well sounding production job. It´s raw and brutal as it should be, but at the same time you´re able to hear all instruments and vocals in the mix. Seance were never the more original sounding band, as much of their sound an musical ideas were borrowed from the US scene, but "Levitised Spirit" is still a good quality demo release, and a 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is warranted.

UMUR "Awakening of the Gods" is the 3rd full-length studio album by Swedish death metal act Seance. The album was released through Pulverised Records in January 2009. Seance were formed in 1990 and released two studio albums before disbanding in 1998. Three of the five members who played on the band´s second full-length studio album "Saltrubbed Eyes (1993)" reunited in 2008: Miqūe Flesh (drums), Tony "Toxine" Vargfrost (guitars), and Johan Larsson (vocals, bass). They added second guitarist Rille Rimfalt to the ranks and recorded "Awakening of the Gods" as a four-piece.

Stylistically Seance pretty much pick up where they left off on "Saltrubbed Eyes (1993)". It´s relatively diverse death metal, with quite a few thrash metal influences in the riffs and rhythms (and even the occassional traditional heavy metal/hard rock influnced moment), but also a few nods towards deathgrind. The latter is a minor part of the band´s sound, but there are a couple of fast blasting parts featured on the album, which point in that direction. It´s not an album which follows a particular style/scene sound (for example old school Swedish death metal, or the more technical US variant), but it´s not a unique sounding release either. The vocals are deep growling, but the growls are unfortunately a bit one-dimensional in style. The instrumental part of the music is very well executed.

"Awakening of the Gods" features a raw and powerful sound production, and the songwriting is also of a decent quality. That doesn´t mean that it´s an outstanding release by any means, but it´s a solid release, which is enjoyable enough while it plays. It´s pretty much the same feeling I had listening to their preceding releases. Solid death metal, but not outstanding. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Saltrubbed Eyes" is the 2nd full-length studio album by Swedish death metal act Seance. The album was released through Black Mark Production in 1993. It´s the successor to "Fornever Laid to Rest" from 1992 and features the exact same lineup as the debut album. Seance was formed in 1990 and disbanded again in 1998, after releasing two full-length studio albums. Primary songwriter/guitarist Patrik Jensen and bassist Bino relocated to Gothenburg from Linköping, and the band weren´t able to continue without them. The former went on to achieve great success with The Haunted and Witchery.

Stylistically the material on the 9 track, 36:14 minutes long album is old school Swedish death metal, but as the case was on "Fornever Laid to Rest (1992)" there are US death metal traits in the music too, and "Saltrubbed Eyes" are by no means a "standard" old school Swedish death metal release (although "Skinless" reminds me quite a bit of Dismember). For that it features too many outside influences. When that is said the music on the album isn´t particularly original sounding either and the quality of the songwriting is pretty standard for the genre. It´s the type of early 90s death metal release which is effective and enjoyable while it plays, but soon forgotten after it ends. It really sounds a bit more negative than intended, because "Saltrubbed Eyes" is a quality release on many parameters, despite a few issues with the longivity of the album.

One of the great assets of the album is the strong musicianship. The band are generally well playing and especially lead vocalist Johan deserves a mention for his brutal growling delivery. The rest of the band are well playing too and as "Saltrubbed Eyes" also features a raw, powerful, and well sounding production, it´s only in the songwriting department the minor issues lie. A 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating i warranted.

UMUR "Fornever Laid to Rest" is the debut full-length studio album by Swedish death metal act Seance. The album was released through Black Mark Production in June 1992. Seance were formed in 1990 as a fusion of the two bands Orchriste and Total Death and disbanded again in 1998 after releasing two studio albums (they reunited in 2008). Several members of the band are also or have been members of Satanic Slaughter and Witchery. Guitarist Patrik Jensen is also a member of The Haunted.

The music on "Fornever Laid to Rest" doesn´t sound much like any of the above mentioned acts though. This is instead brutal US influenced death metal in the vein of music by artists like early Gorguts, Suffocation and Brutality. Morbid Angel is a valid reference too. It´s technically well played and delivered with fierce conviction, power, and rawness. A brutal assault on the ears, that features very few traces of melody. While there are other Swedish acts today, like Aeon or Spawn of Possession, playing more brutal US influenced types of death metal, it wasn´t as normal back in the early nineties and in that respect Seance stood out quite a bit.

"Fornever Laid to Rest" is only around half an hour long, but with music this focused on brutality, that´s a perfect length in my opinion. The album is well produced and the sound has great impact on how powerful the music is. "Fornever Laid to Rest" overall has a lot of great things going for it, but compared to the best output by the most prolific acts in the technically well played and brutal part of the US death metal genre, it´s not exactly a standout release. That doesn´t mean it´s not a good quality album though and a 3.5 star (70%) rating is still deserved.