Seether Does a Bang Up Job in Betrayal

Hooray for Seether for putting four on thw floor anarchy to work for the latest single "Betray and Degrade". You know the guys aren't playing with a full deck judging from the insane smile on guitarist/lead vocalist Shaun Brown's face. Someone needs to get that man to an insane asylum ASAP. On the plus side it works wonders for the fire and brimstone coming from the guitar. Are you feeling the juice from his instrument. It's as if all the layers of his psyche were pulled back to reveal a hot molten core. That intensity carries over into his performance vocally. The lyrics scream bloody vengeance, a dare for you and I to just try and stop him from burning the house down. The drummer in this search and destroy mission, one John Humphrey, takes the mid speed route and hones it to perfection. It sidles up to the vocals with that come hither glance. Backing guitarist Dale Stewart inserts himself into the mix with astounding results. It's meaty enough to want to wrap both hands around it sandwich style. On the whole Seether lets loose from every angle imaginable and scores with haymaker after haymaker. Let's glance at the lyric sheet shall we? Seems to underscore the intense psychic pain Shaun Brown is feeling, coupled with boatloads of tension. Shaun's a bit of a rub-it-in sort of guy in that he savors how emptiness defines the person he's mad at. Not only that he admires how the shallowness defines this person as well. Moving on, when Seether finds their groove there's no turning back. Edited chainsaw style the sound goes right to your skull and buries the saw deeper and deeper. The nightmare imagery runs ice cold, like something out of a slasher movie. The eerie feeling is unshakable, but don't let that stop you from inhaling the brutal brilliance at work here. Plenty to brag about for sure. Seether does a great job keeping the chord progressions lively and provocative. Not two words I'd associate with Seether but that's rock and roll for you. On the whole "Betray and Degrade" plays it down and dirty and scores big time.