SEETHER: "Holding Onto Strings Better Left To Fray"

Rating: 7/10

Label: Wind Up Records 2012

Review by Alan Holloway

I have to say that normally we wouldn’t be too bothered about a bonusfied re-release, but as we never covered Seether’s latest when it was released last May it’s only fair that we give it a spin now it’s been spruced up with bonus tracks and a DVD, something that will not doubt see some fans justifiably annoyed at having to shell out for a second time to get the new bits.

So what we have here is the original 12 track album, and it’s really quite a good one. Seether are from South Africa but sound like they grew up listening to bucketloads of Nirvana and Metallica, and have forged a heavy, powerful sound that mixes the old school with elements of The Foo Fighters and Nickelback. Shaun Morgan has a very powerful voice, and the songs on the album are uniformly strong, with some made for radio (like the very chart friendly but still heavy “Country Song”), and others made to rock out to, such as the blistering opener “Tonight”. It’s a little unfortunate that the rockers are outnumbered, as the album could certainly do with a little more meat on it’s bones. Nonetheless, there’s plenty to like if you like a bit of contemporary rock with the occasional bite.

In addition to the original release, the main disc has 4 new tracks and 3 remixes of existing ones. The remixes include an absolutely ghastly club type mix of “Country Song” that should have been strangled at birth, a dance remix of “Roses” that sounds like it was done by a retarded monkey and yet another rock/dance mix for “No Resolution”. In all seriousness, these make a mockery of the band and their fans and should never have been put here. I hope against hope that the band themselves didn’t authorise it, because if they did they have gone way down in my estimation.

Elsewhere, the four bonus tracks (“Dead Seeds”, “Yeah”, “Nobody” and “Effigy”) are pretty much in the Nickleback vein and pretty good as a result. There’s also a DVD which throws in five surprisingly effective live acoustic tracks along with teo blistering live versions of “Remedy” and the ever present “Cowboy Song”, which crops up for the fourth time, although as it was a massive hit for the band it makes sense (apart from the remix, natch).

If you haven’t heard Seether, or just missed this album for whatever reason, this is a good way to get involved. It’s not the most dangerous album you’ll ever buy, one of those that looks freaky and mad from the cover and the title, but once you play it is actually quite cuddly despite the big riffs scattered about. Nothing really new, but still entertaining and catchy, Seether are a band worth looking out for (especially if you are seeing Three Doors Down in the UK, as they are the support).

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