Seemless
Self-titled
(Losing Face Records
Seemless is a band many of you have probably never heard of.
Collectively the band is a faceless entity, but taken in it’s parts, much of the band has been part of the elite hardcore/metal scene over the past few years: Vocalist Jesse David Leach, former frontman of Killswitch Engage; Drummer Derek Kerswill, formerly keeping beats with Shadows Fall; Former Medium bassist Kevin Schuler; Guitarist Pete Cortese, founding member of Overcast.
With a line-up solidly anchored in the metal community it would have been easy for Seemless to offer up a brutal release in the vein of any of the membe’s former bands. But instead, “Seemless” plays out more like an alternative-rock masterpiece right out of the height of the “grunge” era.
Throughout the band’s self-titled debut, hints of early Corrosion of Conformity swim around vocals similar to something from Stone Temple Pilots or Soundgarden  sounding like the bastard son of grunge and metal.
After a moody two-plus minute instrumental opener, the album tears open with “Something’s Got to Give,” with thick guitar and bass riffs tumbling over each other to a solid drum and cymbal-filled back beats. As Leach starts singing, it could really catch first-time listeners off-guard — a mix of Ed Roland (Collective Soul), Weiland (“Core”-era STP) and Cornell (Soundgarden) — moody, melodic and emotional all at once.
“Something’s Got to Give” sets the tempo for the album as the band tears through track after track, each one in a similar vein: an alternating slow-paced or up-tempo, grunge-tinged rock song. The bluesy instrumentation juxtaposed against Leac’s restrained vocals creates an interesting dynamic that can easily appeal to a plethora of listeners.
Occasionally the members’ history catches up with them, especially Leach as he lets loose with a nice scream here and there. Production-wise, “Seemless” has a nice raw feel to it at times and the band has embraced an old school mentality letting loose with guitar solos from time to time.
Overall, this release is great as a whole, with some great “moments” along the way: “The Wanderer” sounds like a cut off of Corrosion of Conformity’s 1994 release “Deliverance”; “Soft Spoken Sanity” has a killer guitar solo to close it out; “”Endless” is a great, slow-paced moody ballad in the vein of Alice in Chains with a nice, loud middle portion; Many of the songs have great drum-laden openings.
Seemless has offered up something completely out of left field in this day and age. If this had come out in the mid ’90s, it could have been easily overlooked. Yet, with little competition in this specific genre, the band feels like a breath of fresh air. Outside its native New England, I’m not sure how much “buzz” Seemless has generated so far, but with a national tour looming on the horizon and the band still with a wide-open future ahead of it, the band is sure to come into its own.
