Seeker: Unloved

I suppose that most new bands dream of large audiences, huge sales, and a certain amount of fame and fortune. Seeker, a relatively new band, is one of those bands. Not only are they hoping to make a lasting impression, they also want to rise to the top of their side of the scene. I'm not sure that their music has the broad appeal to sell in the millions, but it will certainly leave a strong impression among deathcore fans, possibly even reaching beyond them. I don't like everything I hear from Victory Records bands, but these guys have a definite edge. What will come of them remains to be seen.

Having only formed in 2011, the band has so far only released an EP called The Antagonist. With Unloved, their first full-length release, the band demonstrates their hunger for fast, raw, and aggressive heavy metal. I suspect that the music here is meant to convey something of the live show, especially the powerful delivery that Bryce Lucien brings to his vocals. Listening to him, it's easy to imagine him on stage shrieking into the microphone, his body mirroring the depth of his anger. The lyrics, of course, are impossible to follow without a lyric sheet, but the message is clear—this is genuinely angry material, fuelled with equal parts rage, despair, fury, and passion. Lucien's vocals are like a raw nerve, exposed and provoked. The rest of the band is right there with him, pounding out deathcore rhythms at a blistering pace. I liked the way this album made the most of a somewhat limited range of materials. The best tracks—"Unloved," "Dominance," and "Escape"—make good use of the guitars, especially when they create that cool pitch-bending sound that mirrors a machine head unwinding a string rapidly. I also liked that heavily distorted sweeping sound they highlight here and there.

With this album, Seeker has delivered a strong introduction to what they do best. They don't mix things up musically very often, but they seem to have successfully found a way to capture interesting variations on aggression and rage in ten short songs.

Track Listing:
1. Alone
2. Pale Death
3. Unloved
4. Regret
5. Dominance
6. She
7. When Hope Fails
8. Salvation
9. There is Nothing
10. Escape

Added: February 8th 2014
Reviewer: Carl Sederholm
Score:
Related Link: Band Label Page
Hits: 1613
Language: english

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