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.