''Poison the Parish'' is the seventh studio album by South African

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

Seether Seether are a South African rock band founded in 1999 in Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa. The band originally performed under the name Saron Gas until 2002, when they moved to the United States and changed it to Seether to avoid confusion wit ...

. It was released on 12 May 2017. It is the band's first album to feature a new band logo on the cover. The first single, " Let You Down" was released on 23 February 2017. On 23 March 2017, the band released a new track titled "Stoke the Fire". On 13 April 2017, "Nothing Left" was released. On 5 May 2017, "Count Me Out" was released. On 9 August 2017, the album's second single, "

Betray and Degrade "Betray and Degrade" is a song by South African rock band Seether. It is the second single off of their studio album ''Poison the Parish''. It peaked at number two on the ''Billboard'' Mainstream Rock Songs chart in December 2017. Background The ...

" was released. On 8 April 2018, the album's third single, " Against the Wall", was released.

Themes and composition

In response to being asked about the album's "heavier" direction than prior releases,

frontman The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

Shaun Morgan Shaun Morgan Welgemoed (, born 21 December 1978) is a South African musician. He is the singer, songwriter, and guitarist for the rock band Seether. Early life Morgan spent most of his early life in South Africa.Bottomley, CSeether: South Afr ...

said of the album's musical direction: He further expanded that the album's emphasis would be on "heavy guitars" and "loud drums", but not "...a lot of percussion in the background and keyboard parts and tons of strings in different places. There's a time and place for all those things, but I didn't feel like this was that time or place."

Reception

The album was generally well received, with critics praising the album's quality despite a perceived lack of originality.

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

was generally positive about the album, concluding that "''Poison the Parish'' doesn't deviate too far from the structural blueprints of prior outings, but it's hardly the work of a band just going through the motions. By attaining autonomy, Seether seems to have rediscovered their vitality." Similarly,

Team Rock ''Metal Hammer'' is a heavy metal music magazine and website founded in 1983, published in the United Kingdom by Future, with other language editions available in numerous other countries. ''Metal Hammer'' features news, reviews and long-form a ...

felt that the album was "a competent radio rock record that's a little too long and ends on a mediocre ballad. It won't be the last album of 2017 to fit that description, but it will likely be one of the better ones."

Track listing

Personnel

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes. Seether *

– lead vocals, guitar *

Dale Stewart Dale William Stewart (born 30 November 1979) is a South African musician, best known as the bass guitarist for the South African rock band Seether. Equipment Stewart is sponsored by Schecter and has a signature model, the Dale Stewart Aveng ...

– bass, backing vocals * John Humphrey – drums, percussion Production *

– producer *

Matt Hyde Matt Hyde (born June 19, 1964) is an American producer, engineer, mixer and musician. From 1982 to 1985 he attended Berklee College of Music in Boston. While still at Berklee in 1984, he obtained an internship at Pyramid Recording Studio in Bost ...

– engineer, mixing *Jordan Griffin – assistant engineer *Sean Badum – assistant engineer *Tom Baker – mastering

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2017 albums Seether albums