Poison the Parish＜限定盤/Bloodshot Red Vinyl＞

One of the most enduring acts to come out of the post-grunge boom of the early 2000s, South Africas 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 bands seventh studio long-player, and their first to be issued via frontman Shaun Morgans label imprint Canine Riot Records -- he also handles all of the production duties. A much beefier affair than 2014s 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 groups 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 doesnt deviate too far from the structural blueprints of prior outings, but its hardly the work of a band just going through the motions. By attaining autonomy, Seether seems to have rediscovered their vitality. ~ James Christopher Monger