Seether
Isolate And Medicate


2.5
average

Review

by Subho USER (8 Reviews)
June 28th, 2014 | 231 replies


Release Date: 2014 | Tracklist

Review Summary: Not Seether's worst album, but it could have been so much more.

”Words are weapons of the terrified”, Shaun Morgan points out in "Words As Weapons", the lead single of Isolate and Medicate. Well, if we are to judge by the lyrics of this album, it would seem that Morgan isn’t terrified, because words, in fact, aren’t his weapons -- not the strongest ones, at least.

Seether’s sixth album, Isolate and Medicate, begins with “See You At the Bottom”, a song that is all too familiar for their discography. Soft, grungy guitar picking, which leads into a wall of crashing cymbals accompanied with a repeated riff. The verse is slow, and the chorus is heavy, yet very catchy.

In fact, Seether’s trademark sound is found throughout this album, providing mixed results. When Morgan tries to add some new nuances to his singing - case in point, the high pitched, nasally voice in the hook of “Same Damn Life” - it doesn’t really work out. The song still has its positives, though, and the chorus is quite catchy, again. But are they only capable of making catchy choruses and nothing else in between? It seems that the answer is sadly yes.

Seether’s biggest strength has always been making songs that their teenage to borderline adult fanbase can easily relate to. But after 14 years of making songs together, they have officially run out of ideas. The lyrical themes in this album can be found in just about every other album they have to offer, and if you own Karma & Effect or Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces, those contain the better songs anyway.

With that being said, though, it’s not like you can’t listen to this album more than once. There are, like I said, many a catchy chorus and ear-soothing melodies. But they fail to really capitalize on some of that momentum.

“Suffer It All” begins very promisingly, but sadly - when it seems that the song is only just building - it goes into irritating repetitions. The ballads in the album are also sub-par. “Crash” is generic, starting with its name to everything that’s in it, while “Save Today” ends the album on a really low note. “Nobody Praying For Me” might as well have been a Nickelback cover. The collaboration with Van Coke Kartel on “Goodbye Tonight” feels totally out of place. It rather sounds like a Holding Onto Strings Better Left to Fray reject which – if you’re heard the album – is not a compliment.

But when you come to think of it, there are a couple of encouraging signs in the album as well. “Words As Weapons”, “My Disaster” and “Keep the Dogs At Bay” are all actually pretty good songs. “Burn the World” on the Deluxe Edition is also a solid bonus, and while they all follow the same formula, they get the pass because of being a little adventurous in this otherwise generic offering.

Long story short, Isolate and Medicate doesn’t have anything extraordinary to offer. I do think that a bit more perspective would ease the fans’ perception a bit, but only if they pursue the positives shown in this album’s best songs. A lot of promise was shown in quite a few songs but they ultimately fell victim to the desire of making the songs sound more marketable. This is not their worst album – in fact, it’s considerably better than the last one – but it could have been so much more.

Recommended Tracks: Words As Weapons, Keep the Dogs At Bay, Burn the World



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user ratings (250)
2.9
good
other reviews of this album
hobblepot (3.5)
Nothing original, but will please Seether fans and fans of the post-grunge genre in general...

Toondude (2.5)
Seether's living the same damn life....

bentheREDfan (4)
Back to where I need to go....



Comments:Add a Comment 
Subho
June 28th 2014


128 Comments

Album Rating: 2.5

Here's the album stream:



http://www.goldenmp3.ru/seether/isolate-and-medicate

Jasdevi087
June 28th 2014


8164 Comments


This review seems to pretty much sum up Seether from what I've heard.

RogueNine
June 28th 2014


5676 Comments


Yeah, I'd imagine there's nothing new here. Though the lead single was cool.

Subho
June 28th 2014


128 Comments

Album Rating: 2.5

@Jas Pretty much!



@Rogue Yeah, Words as Weapons is actually the best song on the album.

VheissuCrisis
Emeritus
June 28th 2014


1390 Comments


These guys really know how to write a catchy song, but would be better served releasing EPs.

stuck_in_decades
June 28th 2014


814 Comments


Definitely better than Holding Onto Strings, which isn't saying much, but it's still somewhat enjoyable.

BMDrummer
June 28th 2014


15164 Comments


I was thinking about reviewing this, good review though

KriegdemKriege
June 28th 2014


1544 Comments


"There are, like I said, many a catchy choruses and ear-soothing melodies."

Typo.

KriegdemKriege
June 28th 2014


1544 Comments


Also, it's really annoying reading italicized song titles. The general rule is to put song titles in
quotations and italicize the album title.

"And Nobody Praying For Me might as well have been a Nickelback cover."

The "and" is unnecessary here.

KriegdemKriege
June 28th 2014


1544 Comments


Serious issues with this paragraph:

"Seether’s sixth album, Isolate and Medicate, begins with a sound that is all too familiar for them; soft, grungy guitar picking, which leads into a wall of crashing cymbals, and a repeated riff. It is followed by a slow verse, which then morphs into a heavy, yet catchy, chorus. Yeah, it’s all there. But that doesn’t mean that See You at the Bottom is bad, though; in fact, it is quite catchy and lingers in your ears long after it is over."

Alright, I'm done. Sorry for triple posting.

Subho
June 28th 2014


128 Comments

Album Rating: 2.5

@VC That's actually a good idea.



@swords There are quite a few enjoyable songs, yes.



@BMD Look forward to your review, if you decide to write it after all.



@KK Thanks for pointing out the errors. On hindsight, it IS a jumbled mess of a para! Haha. Hope I did get my point across, though!

BMDrummer
June 28th 2014


15164 Comments


I might review it, but the thing is that I don't want to listen to it haha

TooManyFriends
June 28th 2014


3507 Comments

Album Rating: 2.5

i feel like one of the few people that enjoyed Holding onto Blablabla

BeerKhan
June 28th 2014


78 Comments


Haven't liked this band since their debut.

loneNLwolf
June 28th 2014


154 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

"And Nobody Praying For Me might as well have been a Nickelback cover."



Not really. However, "Keep the Dogs at Bay" sounds almost exactly like Nickelback's "Figured You Out".

Snake.
June 28th 2014


25376 Comments


lol holy fuck was there any hype for this album at all

Toondude10
June 28th 2014


15263 Comments

Album Rating: 2.5

It's an alright review and you'll get better as you write more. Look up some staff/emeritus reviews to get a better sense of what you're trying to write. I'm sure that there are others who could provide better/more feedback than me but that's just what I found.



Also, I'd rewrite that summary too, I find it awful.

AaronBatt
June 28th 2014


113 Comments


I have a feeling I'm gonna enjoy this. I really like Seether for some odd reason.

hassanguason
June 28th 2014


31 Comments

Album Rating: 1.0

I really like Seether but this album is bad, very uninspired. Karma And Effect is their best by far. After that I think only a few songs stand out, like "Waste" or "Yeah".

YakNips
June 29th 2014


20104 Comments


you got a vid of that?



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