Review Summary: Back to where I need to go.
Since their early 2000s inception, Seether have grown and tweaked with the times, pushing themselves in a different direction each album. Despite critics accusing the band of releasing “the same album over and over”, they’ve gone from lighter post-grunge to a heavier alternative metal to experimental alternative rock to a southern-rock tinged sound. It hasn’t always worked perfectly but it’s never ended badly and always been at least a decent listen. That being said, the album before
Isolate And Medicate just happened to be their weakest, with watered down filler and far too many ballads, though it was mixed with great material like “Country Song” and “Roses.” Still, Seether could do more, and I&M gave them the chance to show that again and maybe even measure up to killer sophomore release
Karma And Effect. Does it? Yes, as it manages to meld the best parts of each of the band’s previous records.
Opener “See You At The Bottom” brings back the lyrical and instrumental bite of “Gasoline” and manages to sound like a slightly heavier version of the song without totally ripping it off. There’s slight electronics in the bridge and Shaun displays some extremely fantastic screams mixed with menacing clean vocals, as well as a dark, brooding main riff. Immediately surpassing “Fur Cue” and “Like Suicide”, this is a great and very promising opener. Album highlights “Same Damn Life” and “Words As Weapons” follow with a HOSBLTF vibe, boasting catchy choruses and poppy undertones melded with distorted guitar riffs and grittier vocals. Both “My Disaster” and “Suffer It All” remind primarily of
Karma And Effect with their tense, anxious atmospheres, darker lyrics, and riff-centric structures, but the bass line in the intro and the guitar solo in the bridge of the former remind of
Finding Beauty In Negative Spaces, as does the poppier chorus in the latter.
Ballad-wise, Seether had fallen apart on the last record, trying and miserably failing to reach the heights of a track like “Fine Again”. Hit single “Nobody’s Praying For Me” is the only Seether ballad to date to even get close to reaching “Fine Again”, and is both thought-provoking and catchy without being filled with cheese. “Save Today” is a fantastic way to close the album, managing to be a beautiful ballad with some of Shaun’s best clean vocals yet at the beginning and a mid-tempo, hopeful rocker at the end. Lyrically, this is a very vulnerable album and at times is the most optimistic Seether has been without reaching into the cheese of the previous record, though dark and thought-provoking moments arise plenty of times and will satisfy fans.
Without a doubt, this is the best Seether album since
Karma And Effect. It knocks the previous two albums out of the water, and though it’s not perfect (held back by a couple of filler tracks), this is a notable contribution to the alternative metal world. Welcome back, friends.
