Seether

Seether writes heavy songs that keep hold of a tune, stacking thick, distorted guitars behind melodies that would still work played quietly. Shaun Morgan sings and writes them, and his delivery leans on feeling rather than technique; the roughness is the point rather than a by-product.

The band's roots are in nineties alternative rock and the debt is unhidden, with Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and Alice in Chains all audible in the guitar sound, alongside a taste for the more atmospheric end of that lineage. The songs deal mostly in grievance, hurt and unfinished arguments, delivered with very little distance between the writer and the material. Morgan has drifted away from strict verse-chorus construction over the years, putting more weight on bridges and less predictable shapes.

It is a durable approach because it is honestly held. Seether has kept the same broad sound for a long time, and the writing still sounds like it comes from somewhere real.