Band:	Dark Fortress
Album:	Séance
Style:	Melodic black metal
Release date:	January 30, 2006
A review by:	Undercraft

01. Ghastly Indoctrination
02. CataWomb
03. Requiem Grotesque
04. While They Sleep
05. To Harvest The Artefacts Of Mockery
06. Poltergeist
07. Revolution: Vanity
08. Incide
09. Shardfigures
10. Insomnia

I was already impressed with Dark Fortress previous effort, "Stab Wounds" so I decided to give a try to their "Séance" album. The cover art is anther masterpiece by artist extraordinaire Travis Smith, and it really encapsulates the whole mood of the album.

Dark Fortress is not your typical ultra fast-paced black metal band, they take their time to elaborate atmospheres in their songs, from bizarre string sections to screams in the background, Séance is a total listening experience. Music can be fast and aggressive or mid-paced and depressive; this bipolarity makes this album a worthy listen.

The album revolves around the conceptual idea of the direct contrast between the here and now and the hereafter, the fragility of human existence with its most striking weakness -ignorance, arrogance and false illusions- and the crass finality of death.
Paranormal beings and out-of-body experiences is just the tip of the iceberg in this highly elaborated and conceptual album.

The 10 tracks of the album last more than an hour, so you got plenty to pick, from the eerie opener "Ghastly Indoctrination" to the Doomish "While They Sleep", songs like "To Harvest The Artefacts Of Mockery" and "Revolution: Vanity" are more straight Black Metal songs while "Incide" and "Insomnia" follow a less traveled path in the realms of Black Metal.

Séance is a difficult album to digest, no doubt about it, you may need more than a listen to fully understand it, but is worth the while I assure you. I just read they're releasing a new album this year, I'll be waiting impatiently the results of their next step in evolution as a band.