February 20, 2021 Poison the Parish resumes.

 

I wandered away for a minute because I purchased Fragile, the Saron Gas album.  No, just the streaming one from Amazon.  The album is $902.81.  I'm crazy, but not $900 worth of crazy. Does anyone else find the 81 cents sort of random?  Anyway, I was listening to classic Seether, Disclaimer II, and wondered what the Saron Gas versions sounded like by comparison.  That's for another time but was a great several days.  I certainly have a few things to say about Beer [the song].  I don't know why every song says [Explicit] on it.  Only about 3/4 of them are explicit.  If you find the word fuck explicit.  I'll move on.

7) Let Me Heal.  The bass sounds very grumbly at the start, like a throbbing motor.  [If it's not the bass, tell me.]  Almost a military march cadence until it smooths out into the chorus, "Please just let me heal"  The juxtaposition of the what the lyrics are saying, the somewhat passive poetry, and the music itself, more regimented and unforgiving, is very interesting to listen to.  And the last a cappella "On my own". Lovely.  I listened again and the music drops out just on the last word "own".  This is fascinating to me.  Most of me is loving this music with all my heart.  My intellect is, "Why was this chosen and not that?"  The music could have dropped out on the whole line, or the last two words but they chose the last one.  How deliberate are these decisions?  Is it a combination of deliberate choice and artistic sense?

8) Saviours.  Wow!  Starts with a bang and runs off like a freight train.  I love this one.  An expansion of the theme started in Fake It. "Fuck you, you're a poor imitation".  Lots of  extra sounds going on in this one.  And the end runs down like someone turned off the power.  How did you make that sound? Favorite line, "It's plain to see you are everything I hated you for."  It just drips with scorn.

9) Nothing Left.  Very heavy sound.  Dense music and voice. If it was a street, I wouldn't go down it.  I'd sense the danger and turn the other way.  Except then there's the bridge which is quite beautiful in the middle of the war zone of the rest of the song.

10) Count Me Out.  Starts almost friendly with "Perfume don't smell like daisies". Don't know where this one is going exactly, but "And everybody's aging, cause no one wins that war" is an ain't-that-the-truth moment.  Just wait.  Another one of my unscientific theories is that when you turn 18 time speeds up and compounds yearly until by the time you are 78 the years are going past like months used to. Really strong chorus and the instruments just blast.  And just when you think it ends, one last wanting it all chorus.  Terrific.  And that last line.  Every word a scream.  Another dissatisfied customer of Life.

11) Emotionless. I'm not sure about Emotionless.  The music is great.  The lyrics are great.  I especially like the instrumental part about a third of the way through.  The way that one note throbs upward.  A sparse vocal bridge follows.  What alchemy of the studio produces this vocal sound?  Can I sit in corner and watch you record?  I wouldn't ask but 5 or 6 hundred questions.  An hour.  So what am I not sure about?  I love the song, I'm not sure I want to understand the lyrics.  I don't know if I want to go where I think he is going with the lyrics.

12) Sell My Soul. If they'd subtitled this one "Country Song II" I wouldn't have been surprised.  I can almost here the saddle leather creak and smell the horse.  These next three songs are almost a mini album by themselves. They are a different enough side of Seether that if I just heard these three, I would think they played a different kind of music.  Well, except for the start of the chorus of Misunderstood.  Usually the vocals and music match each other blow by blow.  The music takes a supportive role in this one.  Not the quality, for sure.  Guitar work makes my little guitar heart jealous.

13) Feels Like Dying. Very strong one.  The words and the guitar line both capture that time, 3:00 in the morning, where everyone's asleep but you.  You are alone, slightly paranoid, a little scared.  Like you're on the edge of a cliff and you don't know if someone is behind you to push you off, or it's just you, leaning over too far and wondering if you should just...

14) Misunderstood.  Almost folk music at the start. Shaun's vocals are so clear in this one.  If you want to indulge in hearing the quality of his voice, this is the song to listen to.  An almost intimate sound.  Certainly the lyrics are.  Amazon music labels this one [Explicit]. Yeah, the meaning of the lyrics are clear as a bell. Love the lyrics. "Eating clean and meatless, I'll be in the corner with my dignity." Hopefully with a big, juicy steak.  [Note to self: listen to this again with better headphones, these crappy ones can't handle the bass line.  Sorry, Dale!]

15) Take a Minute.  Oh, here they are.  Seether is back again.  This song has so much packed into it.  Each section is a new flavor.  Deep, intense beginning.  Then that scream sound [I'll admit I don't love it, but its discordance fits the meaning of the lyrics].  Off into drums, bass and guitar, building back  up to the lightening crack of the chorus.  "Paint me villain" section, Seether music at it's uncomfortable and creepy best.  And then the guitar instrumental interlude after with a sound that feels like being alone in a canyon with your eyes closed just smelling the air.  Building back up into the anger and frustration of the end.

It really is The End. Except I have the pleasure of being able to listen to it again.  The depth and variety of the music and lyrics means that there is more to find every time I listen.  Bless you all for being willing and able to do this.  Your passion is a gift to us.