Awakening of the Gods

Albumrecensie

Awakening of the Gods isn't an album that succeeds because of its diversity or variety; after the first few tracks, listeners have pretty much heard it all. Nor is it an album that wins one over with nuance, musicality, craftsmanship, or intricacy; those are things one finds in melodic death metal and symphonic black metal, but they aren't part of the picture on Awakening of the Gods. And originality isn't a high priority either; Seance never pretended to be the most distinctive or groundbreaking death metal band in the world. But none of that is to say that Awakening of the Gods is a bad album; in fact, the album is — in its own formulaic way — an artistic success. In terms of over-the-top exhilaration and pure, unmitigated, gut-level energy, Awakening of the Gods gets the job done and does so with a considerable amount of passion. One thing that makes this early 2009 release creatively successful is the fact that Seance are not only unapologetic about what they do, they sound like they are downright proud of it. Instead of apologizing for their limitations on Awakening of the Gods, they enthusiastically celebrate them; this 36-minute CD never fails to sound totally focused. So even though the Swedish band's vicious recipe — insanely fast tempos, stereotypical "Cookie Monster" growling vocals, skullcrushing density, ultra-morbid lyrics — hasn't changed since the 1990s, Awakening of the Gods is a cut above many similar death metal releases that came out in the late 2000s. Awakening of the Gods is highly predictable, but it is still an exhilarating listen — at least if one has a taste for brutally harsh death metal.