Seance

Seance may be the best Dark Fortress album. It combines the misanthropic, deathly, and bitter themes of Stab Wounds but finds a niche in a more specific atmosphere. If you liked Stab Wounds, I'm pretty sure you'll like Seance, as it feels like a very appropriate sequel to that album.

Have you ever had one of those nights where you're all alone in some building or house? Maybe you're suffering from insomnia so you decide to do random things to keep yourself occupied. Your body is a mere corpse as your mind is still fully awake. As the night continues on, two are in conflict with each other. Or maybe you're stressed out about something. Maybe you're showing a lot of fear. There are loads of internal conflicts in your head which lead to negative thoughts - thoughts of anger, depravity, misery, fear, and more. While the night lags on and you can't fall asleep, your sanity levels drop gradually until you completely lose your mind. Hallucinations become reality.....

...This is what comes to mind whenever I hear Seance.

An interesting point is that the album does a certain transition that makes this perception fairly observable. "Ghastly Indoctrination" starts the album off well with a tranquil ambience that quickly builds up - that is, the beginning of the night. Tracks like "Requiem Grotesque" and "Revolution: vanity" symbolize the insanity continues to snowball as one completely loses their mind within the void of the dark night. The dreariness found in these tracks are incredibly legitimate. They're very Xasthur-like, but only in the haunted sense. These tracks are anything but depressing or isolationist. Then the last track, "Insomnia" fits well as the "conclusion" to the story. Interpret this song how you want, but the melodic passages and catchy riffs make me think of one's defeat against the wrath of insomnia and nocturnal wandering, right before the night ends.

There would be a huge awkwardness if Seance had all these cool ideas but the actual music and performance was subpar. Fortunately, Dark Fortress is a talented group and they fail to disappoint here. Azathoth's vocals are best here - in the first two Dark Fortress albums, his voice was kind of just "there" and didn't really enhance the music. Here, I think he's found the perfect style of music for his skills. His agonized shrieks are no slouch and only fit to sharpen the atmosphere the band is trying to make. The guitars are even more impressive. The songwriting gives the guitarists several opportunities to provide climaxes in the song. A good example would be in "Catawombs." A solo comes in unpredictably but when it hits, you realize that they couldn't have done it any better. Even better is the overall pitch of the guitars. The sound is elongated and "laggy" to fit misery-inducing mood of the album, It's a bit hard to explain, but if anyone has heard Bethlehem's Dark Metal album, then it's just like that. If riffs could have character, Dark Fortress knows how to make it happen.

Don't think Seance is in any way depressing. Instead, it's extremely maddening, mournful, and mysterious - but easy to access. The production is clear for everyone and no instrument really overshadows the others. Next time you're miserable and alone at night and you feel your sanity starting to wither, put this album on. You'll appreciate the company (misery loves company, eh?) as well as the strong musicianship and superior songwriting.