Seneca - Reflections
Rating
RIYL
Glass CasketWhitechapel
The Devil Wears Prada
Release Date
03/31/2009
Label
Lifeforce RecordsTracklist
1. Optical2. Pale Horse
3. Black Gold
4. Carousels
5. Birds
6. Illusions
7. 29th Day
8. Creator
9. Your Heart In My Hands
10. Names And Faces
11. Reflections
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Normally being a band for seven years and only releasing one album wouldn’t keep you on many people’s radar. Somehow Charlotte, NC’s Seneca has made it work, though, as their 2004 self-titled release made big enough of a splash (with the production of Jamie King behind it) to keep some attention. So five years and only a couple of tours later, what the hell have Seneca been doing since Alternative Press called their debut “…what metal should be”? Crafting Reflections, their second full length out in March on Lifeforce Records.
There’s a really big part of me that doesn’t want to like Reflections. Its catchiness borders on being occasionally too simplistic, the vocals betray a maturity level of a seventh grader, and much of the album sounds like Glass Casket-lite. Plus over half of the album’s songs are under three minutes long and feel underdeveloped, which prompts the question of why it took them five years to write it. But then the less serious side of me listens to this record, and I can’t help but quasi-pit dance at the huge breakdowns and hum along with the clean vocals. The boys in Seneca know what they are good at and when they do it well they shine. What they give you is spine-crushingly heavy metal with guitars that zig and zag before eventually imploding into huge breakdowns and an impressive vocal range that sounds equally appropriate bellowing and growling as it does belting out high harmonies.
Lead single “Black Gold” starts out with decent verses and a chorus before landing one of the best hooks heard in 2009. Corey Page has a nice set of pipes and this song shows the band knows how to make a hit. Tracks like “Birds”, “29th Day”, and “Creator” positively haul ass and sound perfectly fine without any of the padding some of the other songs would have benefited from. And while “Pale Horse” and “Carousels” both fall victim to questionable clean vocal breaks and the former a generic one-chord breakdown, they show the band reaching for an important new level of depth.
Things aren’t all bread and butter, though, and there are instances where Seneca show they require some growth. “Your Heart in My Hands” is a Norma Jean rip-off that never decides if it wants to be a catchy anthem or a straight up mosh jam, while “Illusions” sounds almost exactly like a Between the Buried and Me interlude. We could have done without the boring instrumental opener and closer too. These guys need to find a steady lineup and to start touring consistently. Once they do, the headlines will follow.
--Dan Strobel
Comments
Spokane, Washington
just listened to this in its entirety yesterday. pretty impressive release!
Current Listenings:
7 Horns 7 Eyes - "Throes of Absolution"
Horse Feathers - "Cynic's New Year"
Andrew Bird - "Break It Yourself"
Sigur Ros - "Valtari"
Rocky Votolato - "Television of Saints"
Janus - "Nox Aeris"
Blues Traveler - "25"
Atascadero, CA
yea i grabbed this yesterday I think after hearing the first song or two on myspace and can't wait to check it out.
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Kansas
liking this...
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PA
Thought this was really mediocre. Singing parts didn't fit and were overly corny at times. The last album had much better melodic parts as well. Disappointing.
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Lehigh Valley, PA
Just got this today. It's great! A definite step up from their last album.
WOW! these guys are still alive. Awesome! I am so getting this.
ARIZONA
I like the other Seneca better
Holt, MI
Just listened to it through on the way to class... Liking it a lot. But man, holy bass drops Batman! Too many. Bass drops are supposed to be like the mystery bar in a pack of Airheads: It's exciting because there's so few.