Tighter Seether hits road

The band will offer its new album’s material along with surprises.

By JOHN BENSON

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

Out of the darkness and into the light is the direction the members of hard rock act Seether are heading these days.

The past two years have been quite trying for this trio, which incessantly toured its 2005 effort “Karma and Effect.” Finally off the road last year, Seether vocalist Shaun Morgan went to rehab while guitarist John Humphrey had pressing medical issues.

“It was one thing after another that just started adding up,” said Humphrey, calling from a tour stop in Green Bay, Wis. “Initially at the end of the ‘Karma and Effect’ tour, Shaun had some things to take care of. We stepped down from the Staind tour that was supposed to happen in the fall of last year. With that, we kind of rolled into a much-needed hiatus.

“Soon Shaun started feeling better again and started getting into the songwriting process and started working. Then I had surgery on my back to remove a herniated disc. So I had surgery to recover from. I spent Christmas with a walker, learning how to walk again and getting my strength back.”

In the spirit of the adage what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, Seether approached the recording of its third studio effort “Finding Beauty In Negative Spaces,” which is due out Oct. 23, with renewed enthusiasm. 

“Personally we’re a much tighter group,” Humphrey said. “We’re brothers, we’re friends and have been through a lot of stuff together. I think that kind of comes out. I think the sound is cohesive, and it picks up where ‘Karma and Effect’ left off. There are some songs that are going to be different and some songs I feel we took some chances on.”

Fans can look forward to the powerful “Rise Above This,” which Humphrey feels is similar to the track “Sympathetic” from the band’s 2002 debut, “Disclaimer.” In fact, he said the new song has a “1979” Smashing Pumpkins feel. One other new song of note is the mature “Walk Away From the Sun.”

Then there’s the ballad “Breakdown,” which Humphrey said is Morgan’s answer to former girlfriend Amy Lee (lead singer of rock band Evanescence), who called him out with her pointed “Call Me When You’re Sober.”

“That’s the token ballad and will probably be a single,” Humphrey said. “Lyrically — ‘You saw whatever you want/But you can’t break me down’ — it’s a very classy road to take. You’d think the answer song would be this agro heavy song and it isn’t. It’s a well thought out and articulated piece of music. It’s a great song.”

Seether is on a fall tour, which brings them back to Cleveland for a Sunday show at the House of Blues. Fans can expect to hear all of the group’s mainstream tracks, as well as new material and even perhaps a surprising cover of Amy Winehouse’s “Rehab.”

“I know it sounds like something that wouldn’t fit us well but we kind of turned it into Seether,” Humphrey said. “It works really well. It sounds like Seether meets Nirvana.” 

While Seether guitarist Pat Callahan left the outfit last year, the band feels as though its spirit has been renewed, with “Finding Beauty In Negative Spaces” perhaps breaking the band into bigger circles.

“Yeah, absolutely, I mean musically I feel like we’ve grown, and we love doing what we’re doing,” Humphrey said. “The whole goal is to take our music to the masses, and I think there is a lot more of goals to be achieved. We hope we definitely cross the goal line with this one.”