With their 5th album “Finding Beauty In Negative Spaces” finally gaining a UK release this month Seether will be hoping that this polished collection of post-grunge connects with the British audience in the same way as it has with our American cousin where the album has sold over 400,000 copies since last Autumn.
With its more radio friendly twist on the
sound of Seattle circa 1993 it's easy to see how this album
has found its success so far, especially as with the likes
of the excellent “Rise Above This” Seether have added a
touch of mid-period Foo Fighters to the mix as well and
would prove to be a successful single if released over
here. There's also a harder edge to the band as
well, “No Jesus Christ” fairly rattles along on a lolloping
bass line and the detuned main riff in “Breakdown” plays
nicely off the flanged sparse figures through the verses and
Shaun Morgan's voice has the right amount of power, clarity
and edge to give these songs an added dimension.
Its only when the band rest on tired formulas
such as on “FMLYHM”, which never-the-less is guaranteed to be a huge hit
live with a certain segment of the audience and be equally
popular in your average rock club at 1am with its “Fuck Me
Like You Hate Me” chorus that Seether let themselves down.
They really don’t have to go for the cheap vote to grab a
listeners attention, there's a lot more to “Finding Beauty In
Negative Spaces” than this.
John Lewins
