Seether are a band I have a bit of a sentimental attachment to. As such I’ve always been a fan and stayed up with what they were doing. With that said I found their last couple of albums to be a little disappointing. They were muddled and somewhat hollow, almost like cheap imitation of themselves.
So naturally, I approached the bands latest ‘Poison the Parish’ with a bit of apprehension. As it turns out that may have been a tad unnecessary on my part. ‘Poison the Parish’ is the best album Seether have released in a decade since ‘Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces’.
There seems to be a renewed fire in the band and more importantly Shaun Morgan. This is a dark record thematically and an emotionally raw one lyrically. This feels like the old Seether in many ways.It’s sound dirty and broken, full of anguish and definitely the darker side of the human condition.
There are some lighter moments on the album, they help to ease things off a bit. But for the most part this is an album that sounds like it was written by people on the edge. Seether know their way around a hook, as evidenced by ‘Let you down’ and ‘Saviours’ and they know how to cut to the bone ‘Let me Heal’ is a prime example of that.
‘Poison the Parish’ is an album that asks you to really hear it and what it is saying. It’s like someone reaching out and asking for help. It’s the heaviest album I think Seether has ever written and I would argue one of their best. Killer grinding riffs clashing with fraught screams. This is an album that grows into itself over time and will have you in its grasp from the get go.
I don’t know what inspired this change in Seether or the need to go back to its roots, but whatever it was it has helped them create a monster of an album in the process. Seether have seemingly returned with a vengeance with their most consistent and vicious album in a long time and what a welcome return it is.
Poison The Parish is released today (12th May 2017) through Canine Riot Records.
