Seer – Volume (vol.) 1 & 2 Digipak

Seer – Volume (vol.) 1 & 2 Digipak (Art of propaganda) Consolidating an existing 2015 EP with new material, Vol. 1 & 2 is the debut full-length from Vancouver’s Seer, drawing on the likes of Kyuss in molding their heavy, riffy stoner doom sound. There’s a charming, rustic aesthetic to the music. Practically brand new to the Pacific Northwest metal scene, Seer (not to be confused with the Pennsylvania stoner doom duo with the same name), released a single EP (Volume 1) that was planned to be followed by another named Volume 2, but as far as I can tell, they changed their plans and released both via Art of Propaganda under a longer album named -- what else? -- Vol. 1 & 2. This EP combination, as it turns out, fits together fairly well.

Vol. 1 & 2's sound, as it turns out, partakes equally of traditional doom and sludge. Bronson Lee Norton's vocals bounce between clean melody and a harsher roaring, all on top of immense riffs that march at a steady clip. On Glimmervoid, these are mingled with surprisingly delicate melodic phrases, while Cosmic Ghost spends almost all of its time on clean singing and instruments, only bringing the distorted part in the background, as if it is playing along in another room. Even the guitar solos on this one are clean, though mixed such that they override the background