Seether POISON THE PAR(LP/EX - (M) (ONLINE ONLY!!)

One of the most enduring acts to come out of the post-grunge boom of the early 2000s, South Africa's Seether have managed to remain true to their Nirvana/Soundgarden-loving roots while maintaining just enough forward-thinking momentum to stay relevant. Poison the Parish is the band's seventh studio long-player, and their first to be issued via frontman Shaun Morgan's label imprint Canine Riot Records -- he also handles all of the production duties. A much beefier affair than 2014's perfectly meaty but slick corporate Isolate and Medicate, the 12-track set -- there is also a deluxe edition that adds three more cuts -- is by far the group's heaviest outing to date, but Seether have always leaned harder on the alt-rock side of the post-grunge spectrum, so as per usual, all of that might is tempered by hooks aplenty. Opener "Stoke the Fire" does just what its title implies, delivering slow burn grooves and a circuitous lead melody that falls somewhere between Alice in Chains and Load-era M