By wildwoman1313
Cruising down Ocean Boulevard last summer with the radio loud, my daughter and I were singing along to “Rise Above This”, that catchy, upbeat tune by the alternative metal band, Seether. “Rise Above This” was receiving huge airplay at the time, completely winning over that Taylor Swift-loving child of mine. What tainted this precious mother-daughter moment then was the nagging thought that perhaps Seether were selling out. I mean, she was nodding her head, snapping her fingers, harmonizing for Pete’s sake.
“Rise Above This” is the second single from Seether’s 2007 album, Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces, and the second consecutive number-one song for the band. (“Remedy”, from 2005’s Karma and Effect, was the first, though I can’t recall ever hearing it blaring from a boardwalk speaker.) Despite its optimistic lyrics and melodic-yet-heavy sound, “Rise Above This” was written by Seether frontman Shaun Morgan to help his brother Eugene overcome depression. Morgan decided to treat the dark subject matter with a melody that would make the song more listener-friendly than most of the band’s music and therefore accessible to those similarly afflicted. Ironically, Eugene, who was on tour with his brother’s band in support of the album, jumped from an 8th floor window of the Radisson Hotel in Rapid City, South Dakota, in August 2007, where Seether were staying while on tour. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Seether got their start as Saron Gas in 1999 in Johannesburg, South Africa, playing parties and universities. They released their first album, Fragile, in 2000 and, based on its success on the South African Charts, were signed to Wind-up Records. At the label’s request, the band changed their name to Seether in 2002 (Saron Gas being a homophone of sarin gas, a deadly nerve agent discovered in Nazi Germany during World War II) with the release of their first record, Disclaimer. The band chose the name Seether in honor of the Veruca Salt song of the same name.
Although fair-weather fans may be acquainted with Seether via radio or through Morgan’s relationship with Amy Lee of Evanescence, a union that produced the ballad “Broken” and put Seether on the map, what lies beneath the band’s occasional foray into the mainstream is some pretty heavy stuff--songs with titles like “Needles”, “Eyes of the Devil”, “FMLYHM” (an acronym you can coax out), and “Fixx It”, a song that by turn snakes through your head then whacks it with sledgehammer-like blows. Seether’s music originates from the bleaker end of the emotional spectrum, is backed by plodding, gritty, and at times brittle guitar riffs, and is driven by Morgan’s angst-rich snarls. Anyone who owns a Seether album knows they are a far different band than their Top 40 records would suggest.
That Seether choose to release something from time to time that resonates with the masses is not so much a strategic move into mainstream as it is simply a matter of creative freedom. Explains Morgan, “I used to think more about what the fans thought, but ultimately I wound up stunting myself creatively. The point of being a musician and writing music and being in a band is that I can write an optimistic-feeling, accessible song if I want.” And when Seether occasionally come up for air, they never fail to bring a few neophytes back down with them.
As for my daughter, she turned up her nose when urged to listen to more of Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces and regressed to her usual disdain for anything harder than, say, that s**tkicker, Kenny Chesney (no offense intended.) And that’s okay. After all, I’ve spoon-fed her once before.
Seether most recently covered the 1984 single “Careless Whisper” by Wham!, roughing it up some by replacing the sax with guitars. Their version of the George Michael classic hit the top five on both the Mainstream and Modern Rock Tracks charts. If you haven’t yet heard it, check out their website for download information and to watch the video.
There’s a rumor going around that with 2009 marking Seether's tenth anniversary, a new release has been negotiated with Wind-up Records to mark the event with unreleased tracks and demos, including those from Saron Gas, but exact details have yet to be confirmed.
Seether have just wrapped a tour supporting Nickelback and plan to take the rest of the year off to write and record the follow up to Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces. However, the band are set to play a handful of shows during the remainder of the year, including July’s Chippewa Valley Music Festival and Quebec City Festival.
