Seer – Volume 3 and 4 (Vol.III & Vol.IV) – Cult of the void Digipak

Seer – Vol.III & IV. This Vancouver sludge quartet’s 2016 debut album was a compilation of two EPs, hence its name, Vol 1 & 2. Vol III & IV is a rather more convoluted construction; not only has their numbering system belatedly switched to Roman numerals, but there were no corresponding short-form releases. So what constitutes a ‘volume’ on this 45-minute album seems unclear – except that the second half is mostly acoustic instrumentals, suffused in watery sound effects intended to summon elemental atmospheres. The first four songs are much heavier, lurching across metallic subgenres in a way that broadcasts Seer’s versatility and seems to gel in a very satisfying way. Sluggish chugs and dense chords flirt with the profundity of Neurosis, tentative synths and stoner doom!