Seether - Holding Onto Strings Better Left to Fray
Artist: Seether
Album: Holding Onto Strings Better Left to Fray
Label: Wind Up Records
Out Now
Rating: 4/5
Seether’s latest album Holding Onto Strings Better Left To Fray was released in the U.S. last year to critical acclaim and how the South African rockers are bringing that record to the UK.
Fur Cue is not only the opening song on the record but it also happens to be one of the best due to the power and the intensity not only of the guitar work on the rack but also because of Shaun Morgan’s vocals.
Now Morgan is known for screaming a vast amount of the vocals on records that have gone before but that is almost none existent on this album - except for this opening track; they screams are sprinkled through rather than going over the top.
Hard core Seether fans may be a little let down as it perhaps not as heavy a sound as they were expecting but with Holding Onto Strings Better Left to Fray the band shows that they are more than just screaming into a mic.
And no song demonstrates that better than Here and Now which really shows off the softer side of Morgan’s vocals - which really do have a great tone to them.
Holding Onto Strings Better Left to Fray has shown that Seether have really matured as a band and seem more willing to try out new sounds - and that couldn’t be more evident that in track four country Song.
There is some great country sounding guitar work at the beginning of the track before the electric guitars kick in - it’s a contrast that works really well; this track is a personal fave for me on this record.
As we have come to expect from this band there is not just great vocals and guitar work on display here but also the song writing is superb.
Roses and Master of Disguise are perfect examples as both tracks tackle the ideas of betrayal and being late down in the former Morgan sings let me heal on my own, with those empty cruel promises"
Without a doubt the first half of the album is definitely the strongest as with three remixes on there the album weighs in at a lengthy nineteen tracks.
But the second half of the record is by no means as powerful as the first half - some times less is more and ten or twelve tracks would have been more than enough.
In all Holding Onto Strings Better Left to Fray is a great album that has seen Seether tackle string of different sounds and incorporate a wide range of genres.
The lyrics throughout the album do have an incredibly personal feel to them and these wonderful lyrics are brought to life by the vocal talents of Shaun Morgan, I am a fan of this new vocal style from him.
There is a real crisp and polished feel to this album and it’s a set of songs that just sweep you away because they are so easy to listen to.
Seether’s album Holding Onto Strings Better Left to Fray is out now
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw