The Seether of 2005 is a far different beast than the Seether of 2002. And nowhere is that heard better than on “Karma And Effect”, their brand new album, which showcases a band who retains the heaviness and searing emotion of their debut, but has gelled into a more fluid, vibrant unit. Not that the group wasn’t something of a force to begin with. Ever since releasing their debut “Disclaimer” in fall of 2002, the band has worked relentlessly, playing nearly 300 shows in 2003 alone. All this ...
The Seether of 2005 is a far different beast than the Seether of 2002. And nowhere is that heard better than on “Karma And Effect”, their brand new album, which showcases a band who retains the heaviness and searing emotion of their debut, but has gelled into a more fluid, vibrant unit. Not that the group wasn’t something of a force to begin with. Ever since releasing their debut “Disclaimer” in fall of 2002, the band has worked relentlessly, playing nearly 300 shows in 2003 alone. All this hard work helped their album go gold, but when 2004 arrived they were ready for something different. The band was all set to cut their second album, when they unexpectedly had a crossover hit single. Seether had re-recorded their ballad “Broken” as a duet between frontman Shaun Morgan and Amy Lee of Evanescence for the soundtrack of the action film “The Punisher”, and the tune tore up the charts. As it climbed into the Billboard Top 10, the band’s first album was issued in a new, expanded version called “Disclaimer II” – and it became the first debut album ever to go gold twice as this revised record also met that magic mark. Suddenly, they were in demand all over the world, so they scrapped their recording plans and toured Europe in the summer of 2004. Some of these new fans, attracted by the hit ballad, attended a concert only to find out that Seether was a brutal, pulverizing rock & roll band. Success can be a double-edged sword. Although it brings a great many pleasures - fame and fortune, of course, being first on a long list - it also comes with limits. Limits on time, perhaps even freedom, limits on how a band is perceived, by both fans and critics. It wasn’t that “Broken” gave the wrong impression about Seether – its brooding introspection is a key to the group’s emotional core – but during the two years between “Disclaimer” and their hit single, the group had gone through a metamorphosis. As bassist Dale Stewart says, “A lot happened - not all of it was good but it definitely was a crazy journey.” Quite frankly, during that time, Seether had become, well, more of a real band. There’s a reason for that: Seether now is a real band, a collection of individual personalities that form together to make a unique collective sound. When they made their first album, the band was just Shaun Morgan and bassist Dale Stewart, two South African expatriates augmented by pro drummer Josh Freese in the studio – a situation designed to only last the length of the recording session. As it came time to tour, Morgan and Stewart not only had to get a drummer, but they recruited another guitarist to add muscle to their sound. It’s hard to find the right musicians in any situation – players that fit as musicians and personalities – but to do it on tour requires a Herculean effort. After a lot of trial and error (they went through a long list of drummers) Shaun and Dale finally found their guys by sticking somewhat close to home. They found Pat Callahan in Philadelphia, when his local band was opening for Seether at the time. Callahan remembers anxiously awaiting the show. “I knew who they were, so I was excited. In the middle of our first song, here come Shaun and Dale standing right in front of me, just staring. I start messing up. It was bad, but as soon as I was done they approached me. I was, like, cool, I’m in!” Drummer John Humphrey was brought in on the recommendation of Seether’s front of house engineer, who used to work for John’s former band, the Nixons. No longer was Seether easy to pigeonhole as that rock band from South Africa – something far too many critics were eager to do. They were now a fully integrated, multi-national band. The new guys brought fresh vibrant ideas and the band was eager and ready to record their second album. And then “Broken” hit. “In that time that we released ‘Broken’ we wanted to be recording a new album,” says Stewart. “But in hindsight it’s probably a good thing. The album we have now I feel is so strong because we had a long time to write it. The sophomore album is always the tricky one. You have so long to do the first one and the next one you have to pump out in a couple months and it’s expected to be better than the first. We’re probably fortunate in a way: as much as (the delay) frustrated us, I think we have a better album to show for it.” “Broken” may have kept the group away from the studio, but that turned out to be a benefit, since it gave the group time to gel and time to write more songs – an additional seven, in fact, all of which form the core of “Karma And Effect”. These songs point out the crucial difference on this album compared to “Disclaimer”: It’s the sound of a band hitting its stride as a collective whole. No longer did Morgan bear all the weight on his shoulders – he had bandmates that were true collaborators, from composition to performance. Morgan says, “When you get into a writing environment and everyone’s sitting around hammering something out, then you really understand if it’s gonna work or not. I think we finally found the four guys that can survive and do this for many years to come.” As Shaun explains, what made the group work was that they played off each other’s strengths. “Pat is a great riff writer, Dale is good at making our ideas better. Then you add John into the mix, and he’s a really powerful drummer. When you’re in an environment when all four guys are playing together it makes it really easy to write stuff.” Seether went into the studio fully aware that “Broken” made them into an MTV-oriented band in some people’s eyes, but they were ready to prove that they were no pop group. They had not lost sight of what brought them success. “I think a lot of bands on their second albums freak out and don’t know what to do,” explains Shaun, “so they either go really, really poppy or do some weird, introspective Indian music or something. They become like Alanis Morissette, I guess. The thing is, we’re still a rock band and I think with this album we wanted to prove that even more than the last one. I think the last one was watered down a little bit for our tastes. With the recording and the sound of it, we wanted to make this a little more hard hitting.” Stewart concurs: “I think we wanted to go for more of a live sound, performance-wise as well as in mixing. We didn’t want it to be too produced – we didn’t want ten guitar tracks, we wanted two guitars, bass drums and vocals, like they used to be, like Pearl Jam records: an album that stands on its own without all the fancy tricks.” “Disclaimer” was the sound of a young band sorting things out. It was a brooding, bracing listen, filled with churning guitar riffs and guttural wails that kicked the listener in the ribs, but it wasn’t the product of a full band. “It was just Dale and I,” says Morgan. “I did all the guitars, I did all the vocals and Dale just did bass lines, and that’s pretty much what it was: it was a two-guy project. Now, it’s definitely a band thing.” And like any proper band, Seether moves quickly, recording “Karma And Effect” much faster than their debut. “The whole thing took us about three weeks,” says Morgan. “We always said it shouldn’t take longer. The first album took us two months to make, and it just seemed to me that it was unnecessary. There was too much emphasis on everything being almost machine-like in its precision. Which is not human and I think sucks the life completely out of it.” It’s not just that the method of the recording has changed, either. The band was taking more risks with what they were writing. “I think everyone was kind of experimenting a lot more,” says Shaun. “We’ve abandoned in some instances the traditional verse-chorus-verse form of songwriting. Definitely for some people that were a little more inclined to our poppier songs, it’s a little harder to swallow but that’s the point I guess. We want to be a rock band.” Pat agrees: “A lot of bands play it safe on their second record.” Fortunately, Seether didn’t play that card and created a vibrant and challenging record, one that presents a considerable amount of growth. “We just totally made the album for ourselves. Some of the songs are like nothing we’ve done ever before and then live, it’s even heavier.” That said, “Karma And Effect” is plenty heavy on record. It’s not just that the primal riffs have an air of inevitability – it sounds as if they were not written, but unearthed – but this road-tested quartet has the musicality to let bludgeoning rockers breathe, so they hit even harder. But even if they’re heavy, they’re not simple. “I think the songs are more intelligent,” Dale explains. “they have more clever parts, not what you’d expect necessarily. Which is always nice. I hate listening to stuff that’s too predictable.” Most surprising on “Karma And Effect” is that the band’s dark, churning riffs are counterbalanced by an increased melodicism that makes songs like “I’m the One” and the first single “Remedy” soar. This blend of heaviness and hookiness has given Seether a greater depth. Now, a little bit older and wiser and supported by a band who can articulate the angst in his lyrics, Shaun Morgan’s influence has become multidimensional; his angst is no longer monochromatic, either in its lyrics or its music. “Karma And Effect” is deeper, more adventurous, with lyrics that still come straight from the heart. “It’s all personal stuff,” he explains. “It’s not necessarily all about me, but it’s all stuff that’s personally effected me.” “The part of writing songs for me is where I get the serious side out. That’s why they’re sombre and angry and frustrated, because that’s what music is for me. I don’t need to write happy songs. Happiness is not an emotion I try to purge from myself. When I’m happy I try to hold that in as long as I can. When you’re angry or frustrated or afraid, that’s the stuff you want to get rid of. That’s why you write it down and, in a way, purge it. That’s why I don’t write necessarily happy songs.” These cathartic songs are precisely the reason why they’ve spoken to so many thousands of fans – Seether’s music articulates things people feel, but can’t articulate. For Shaun, that’s what’s made the turmoil of fame worthwhile. “The only comforting thing is I know in some way the music touched certain people’s lives. These people come up to me and they tell me their stories, how certain songs have helped them through certain parts of their lives like loss of a husband, a daughter, wives or friends, but also alternatively bringing boyfriends and girlfriends together.” One thing they miss the most in the wake of their global success is the opportunity to interact with these fans – and that’s why they’re anxiously waiting to get back on the road. “We’ve been to some towns six times,” explains Dale, and with that brings something approaching friendship between the fans and the band. “You know people by name, you recognize faces and people respect that. If you can come by and play enough and put on a good show and maybe hang out, there are people that appreciate that kind of thing.” Says Shaun, “That’s what we love to do anyway. Basically the album is just a way for us to get back out on the road and party. We want most of all to be able to play those clubs and get offstage and walk into the crowd and hang out with people. You can’t do that in an arena. We want to meet the people that are still at the bar when we finish.” And with “Karma And Effect”, they have a hell of an album to tour – it’s heavier than “Disclaimer” and more melodic, too…the perfect songs to deliver live. “Karma And Effect” proves that Seether is not only a band, but a band with a distinctive, captivating voice. For fans that have waited three years – and Stewart says “it’s about bloody time” they’ve released their second album - they only need to know one thing: “Karma And Effect” is worth the wait.
