by Stewart Mason

Originally released in 2004 by the Boston-area metal indie Losing Face, the debut album by post-hardcore supergroup Seemless largely dispenses with the hardcore and emo aspects of the members' former bands in favor of a return to a more traditional metal sound. Specifically, Seemless is a bit of a throwback to the immediate post-Nevermind era, when bands like Alice in Chains and Candlebox were melding Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin with the new flannel-clad sound of Pearl Jam and Soundgarden. Lead singer Jesse David Leach's outspoken Christianity lurks in the lyrics of tunes like "Lay My Burden Down" and "The Wanderer," but he smartly avoids proselytizing, and his forceful vocals almost never fall into the standard nu metal clichés. The songs, largely written before Leach joined, don't always fit comfortably with his lyrics and vocals: especially on the choruses, Leach's parts sometimes feel pasted awkwardly onto already-completed tunes, and the record as a whole never quite catches fire.