Poison the Parish

by Seether

Overview

One of the most enduring acts to come out of the post-grunge boom of the early 2000s, South Africa's Seether have managed to remain true to their Nirvana/Soundgarden-loving roots while maintaining just enough forward-thinking momentum to stay relevant. Poison the Parish is the band's seventh studio long-player, and their first to be issued via frontman Shaun Morgan's label imprint Canine Riot Records -- he also handles all of the production duties. A much beefier affair than 2014's perfectly meaty but slick corporate Isolate and Medicate, the 12-track set -- there is also a deluxe edition that adds three more cuts -- is by far the group's heaviest outing to date, but Seether have always leaned harder on the alt-rock side of the post-grunge spectrum, so as per usual, all of that might is tempered by hooks aplenty. Opener "Stoke the Fire" does just what its title implies, delivering slow burn grooves and a circuitous lead melody that falls somewhere between Alice in Chains and Load-era Metallica. Follow-up "Betray and Degrade" fares even better on the earworm front, as does the stripped-down lead single "Let You Down," but things start to bleed together as the LP reaches its mid-section, with competent, yet largely forgettable midtempo offerings like "Against the Wall" and "Let Me Heal" hitting the breaks on what was initially a pretty wild ride. Luckily, things pick up again with the punishing "Nothing Left" and the unabashedly Nevermind-esque "Count Me Out" -- the brooding, acoustic-led closer "Sell My Soul" gets by on mood alone. Poison the Parish doesn't deviate too far from the structural blueprints of prior outings, but it's hardly the work of a band just going through the motions. By attaining autonomy, Seether seems to have rediscovered their vitality. ~ James Christopher Monger

Product Details

Release Date:	05/12/2017
Label:	Canine Riot / Fantasy
UPC:	0888072024700
Rank:	78705

Tracks

1. Stoke the Fire
2. Betray and Degrade
3. Something Else
4. I'll Survive
5. Let You Down
6. Against the Wall
7. Let Me Heal
8. Saviours
9. Nothing Left
10. Count Me Out
11. Emotionless
12. Sell My Soul

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Seether   Primary Artist

Technical Credits

Shaun Morgan   Composer