Seether Wields Its Words Convincingly

I love an album title that gets right to the heart of the matter. A big reason why music, both listening to it and blogging about it, gives me such a heady rush is the art of making an album title. Some are legendary because they make no sense to mere mortals. The Waitresses are a prime example. "Wasn't Tomorrow Wonderful?" could've only been birthed through copious drug use. Why? If tomorrow has yet to exist how can we tell if it's going to be wonderful or not? Other titles tickle me because they serve a wish fulfillment aim of sorts. South African alt-metal maestros Seether give us "Isolate and Medicate" a textbook example of one way to chase away the blahs and blues. Up first from said album is "Words as Weapons", a conceptual statement that pops up over and over again in daily life. One needs look no further than disgraced NBA owner and possible Hugh Hefner wannabe Donald Sterling for proof that this weapon can be socially destructive if it falls into the wrong hands. This hard charging stallion is comment worthy on numerous levels so I'll pop right into the fray. For starters, the direction lead singer Shaun Morgan's vocals take on a chord scale bring up somewhat chilling comparisons (in my embattled mind anyway) to "Mad World" the hypnotizing psychic probe brought to us by Tears For Fears three decades ago and later used as a star making vehicle for very gay, very proud, very fascinating Adam Lambert on American Idol. Whatever happened to that guy (stifled chuckle)? Listen carefully to a portion of the initial lyrics, namely "You keep living in your own lie ever deceitful & ever unfaithful. Then rewind to Curt Smith's defeated claim "All around me are familiar faces, worn out places, worn out faces." You get the same bouncy little progression loop dot-da-da-duh. Difference is Shaun jumps to the lowest rung on the ladder where Curt stumbles down as if he fell from a winding staircase. You have my permission to hint that I should be packed off to a rubber room for making comparisons that couldn't possibly exist except in the mind of some neurotic psychopath. For the record I resent your intimation. I'm not a psychopath (BA DUMP BUM CHING!!) Thanks folks, there's plenty of additional hilarity where that came from. Moving on to added enlightenment "Words as Weapons" scores worthy accolades as an engaging metal dagger to the gut. Reason being that at no point does this trio fail to stay on message. Focus, man. That's what helps put championship banners in the rafters. Seether lures you in, ups the ante, then bombards you with its awe inspiring intensity. The rules are either get out of their way or get trampled. John Humphrey bashes out a battle cry you'd be unwise to bet against. His adrenaline never sinks into the red. To sum up you get tons of miles to the gallon riding along with him. Shaun's singing pulls back from over the ledge histrionics. You don't need Cookie Monster vocals to get your point across the port bow. Shaun passes the test and, if you really want to know, throws some additional leverage into it. Dale Stewart pulls back audience reluctance thanks to an acoustic guitar designed to make frailties addressable. He climbs the fret effortlessly and that allows Shaun's intellectual argument to avoid getting lost in translation. As the trail winds along, John transforms from unbowed soldier to barely composed maniac. The stick tricks inch up in intricacy. John's rage serves to magnify Shaun's merciless ego carvings. Don't inconvenience Mr. Morgan with words honed to a laser sharp fineness. "Words as Weapons" draws blood regularly. Simultaneously it sets the stage for a healing process that promises to grow as it goes.