Holding Onto Strings Better Left to Fray - Seether

Today I want to talk about something that many bands seem to fail, genre transition.  Sometimes they do it to appeal to a broader audience, other times they do it to change from the usual.  Whatever the reason, Seether decided to try this out in this album, Holding Onto Strings Better Left to Fray.  Saying this, I cannot think of another band that has successfully accomplished this as well as Seether has.  A South African band, Seether planted its roots in the Alternative-metal genre.  They began commercial success and got some great hits in their first albums, but this album takes it all and pushes it forward.  Rather than transitioning completely, they decided to adopt various elements from other genres, creating a new and exciting listening experience, moving closer to the Alternative side with Metal undertones.

Some examples of this great musical combination are:  Here And Now, putting together the classic metal guitar with one that sounds slightly indie (it works, trust me) and even some soft piano at the end.  No Resolution, putting solid metal choruses in a soft-alternative rock song, including a nice tambourine in the metal segments (yes it works, you gotta trust me).  The most drastic example of musical morphing in this album is Country Song, a song with strong (you guessed it) Country music elements, while still instilling their own style.  The song that I can safely say that payed homage the best to their starting roots I must say is Fur Cue, a consistently strong alt-metal songs with a sweet vocal chorus.

Although the album has some forgettable tracks, it has a great repertoire of songs that deserve a listen.  It should also be an example to other bands that want to branch out to other genres (I'm looking at you, My Chemical Romance).  The album in itself brings beautiful memories from the first time I heard it, making this review all the more fun to do!  I hope you enjoy it!