Review Summary: Strong enough.
Similar to Disturbed, Seether is another band that is constantly mislabeled. Music critics and normal listeners the world are over are determined that they are post-grunge and in the same vein as Nickelback and Shinedown. This is partially true with
Disclaimer, as it is the only effort the band released that could fully be considered post-grunge, before the group moved on to a more alternative metal flavor. If one was to compare
Disclaimer with Breaking Benjamin’s
Saturate, they would find that
Disclaimer sounded more like Nirvana than Chevelle/Tool and they would be right. But enough quibbling about genres. Is this is a good effort?
Seether’s
Disclaimer is admittedly a heavier post-grunge record than most genre staples of the time. There’s a fair bit of screaming, the guitar riffs hit harder, and the lyrics are much darker. “Gasoline” wields a fierce guitar riff with blistering attitude, “Needles” describes the duality and resulting conflict of an addiction or unhealthy relationship, and the main riff of late-album spice “Pig” sounds like a slightly watered down
Break The Silence-era Staind riff. Vocalist Shaun Morgan growls and screams his way through these tracks, sounding most comparable to a darker Kurt Cobain or a lighter Sully Erna.
On the flip side, there are a fair bit of mid-tempo/slow, melodic numbers. Fan favorite and Seether classic “69 Tea” boasts a catchy guitar riff and nice (albeit simple) solo, a tempered but pleasing vocal performance from Shaun Morgan. Even the drums stand out by providing a flowing, rhythmic backdrop. Hit single “Fine Again” has an exceedingly catchy chorus, beautiful chemistry between vocals and cleanly-picked guitar, and some of the best lyrics all album. Easily one of Seether’s best and shouldn’t be missed. The drum-and-bass mid-tempo “Your Bore” is quite angsty, yes (“get the f*ck away” in the pre-chorus), but makes perfect usage of quiet/loud dynamics and has an extremely intense bridge.
And yes, this is the album with breakthrough ballad “Broken”, which sounds much better without Amy Lee and is an earnest number about heartache that features soothing acoustic guitar and another tempered (but nonetheless pleasurable) vocal performance. Speaking of lyrics, the record actually does have some cool moments. “Gasoline” is a sardonic, raging satire of the fashion industry and selfish, self-consumed females (wish I could play this at my school), while “Fine Again” contains “I feel a dream in me expire, and there’s no-one left to blame it on/ I hear you label me a liar, cause I can’t seem to get this through” which really sticks with me for some reason. The track also questions staying away from self-destructive habits if one’s life is already falling apart, and is admittedly thought provoking. However, some moments go from earnest brokenness to forced angst. “F**k It” literally just repeats the title over and over again until it begins to lose any force or meaning, and the repetition of “steal my pride” in “Pride” becomes quite grating.
Despite a good deal of filler and having a brooding, bitter tone, this is not a bad album. Some will label it as teen-angst screaming and nothing more, but there’s actually great moments here. My disclaimer? Some moments aren’t worth experiencing, but most are.
