Written by Alex Stojanovic TRACK LISTING Dead & Done Bruised & Bloodied Wasteland Dangerous Liar Can't Go Wrong Buried In The Sand Let It Go Failure Beg Drift Away Pride Before The Fall Written In Stone Release Date: August 28, 2020 Label: Fantasy Records / Website: www.seether.com |
Shaun Morgan - Lead vocals & rhythm guitars / Dale Stewart - Bass & backing vocals
John Humphrey - Drums / Corey Lowery - Lead guitars & backing vocals
Shaun Morgan has always been one of my favourite vocalists in hard rock. He's got a great tone, and a voice that can go from compelling and melodic, to downright pissed off and aggressive. Going into the album, the first thing I will say is that "Dead & Done" and "Bruised & Bloodied" should've been switched, because I find that "Dead & Done" isn't compelling or captivating enough to be an opener. "Bruised & Bloodied" on the other hand starts off with bass and leads into a hooky riff that will immediately capture everyone's attention. Plus, that chorus is so damn catchy. Other highlights include "Dangerous" and "Liar", while all the other tracks are very hit or miss. The chorus in "Beg" resembles the chorus in the Filter song "Hey Man, Nice Shot". Other than that, there honestly really isn't much more to say about this record.
The flaw with the album is the amount of songs. Several songs seem to mirror one another, and when you have 13 songs with not a whole lot of variety, the listening experience tends to get a little dull. I'm never expecting Seether to change direction. It's just that if you're going to continue in the same direction you've been going in since the beginning, reducing the amount of songs on every new album would enhance the listening experience. Like a maximum of 8 or 9 for the record, and if you have some more songs, maybe include those as bonus tracks on a special edition. My two cents.
I'll always be a fan of Seether, and will continue to check out any new music that's to come from them in the future. I just don't feel that they've made a studio record that comes close to the majesty of the first four albums. The songs just don't seem to have that much staying power anymore to me, and they're becoming a little too predictable. That being said, if you're a hardcore fan, there's no doubting you will love Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum.
Highs: "Bruised & Bloodied", "Dangerous" and "Liar"
Lows: More of the same from Seether. Could've cut out a handful of tracks.
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