The Seas - Give up the Ghost

The Seas

​Give up the Ghost 
self-released; 2015

3.6 out of 5

By Ted Rogen

The four-piece band The Seas comprised of Michael Sliter (vocals), Logan Powell (guitars), Jeremy Williams (bass) and Richard Sester (drums/samples) started rocking out in late 2009. In 2011 the band released their debut album A Separation and just this year released their follow up Give Up The Ghost.

At their core the band plays rock music but flirts with electronic elements as well. It’s heavy and falls into a hard rock/metal category. The band has taken inspiration from bands like Nine Inch Nails, Tool and The Deftones. You can hear some of that influence within their music but it’s not obvious and I don’t think anyone would confuse The Seas with any of the aforementioned bands. 

Sliter is a dynamic singer who brings a lot to table. He can pull off a sweet sounding Thom Yorke style falsetto and when he strains and stresses his vocal chords he has an inflection similar to Chris Cornell. I think most people will appreciate his style considering Yorke and Cornell are widely recognized as some of the best rock singers to grace this planet. 

The band recorded Give Up The Ghost at a professional studio and the proof is in the pudding. It sounds great overall but there were some elements, which really stuck out. The bass tone throughout worked very well with the music. It sounds big and robust but you could also hear it cut through and hear some of frequencies within the mid to high range. 

The songwriting is solid and thought there was just enough variation to keep things interesting throughout the album. One of the highlights was the second track “Across The Earth” which is atmospheric yet rocks out hard. You can probably hear the Chris Cornell inflections on this song I was talking about earlier. “Mistakes” has an ominous vibe during the verse but when the chorus rocks it's as if they are trying to penetrate the darkness. The band implements electronic percussion elements on “Heterochromia” that give it a NIN feel. 

The highlight of the album may very well be the title track. It’s a great song and thought the falsetto vocals during the subdued section was slick. The band gradually builds up crescendo only to be brought back down again.

The only minor issue I could see is that the album is a bit long. This album is intense and at thirteen songs I will wager some people may have had their fill by the ninth song. I realize listening to album from beginning to end is becoming somewhat of a lost procedure but still has some merit in my opinion. 

Give Up The Ghost works on a number of different levels. This band has got the goods. Recommended.

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