Craft Recordings has partnered with Seether to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their Gold-selling debut, Disclaimer, with an expanded reissue on vinyl, CD, and digital editions.
Set for release on January 20, 2023 and available for pre-order today, the deluxe 3-LP or 2-CD set includes the original 12-track album (featuring such enduring hits as “Gasoline,” “Fine Again,” and “Driven Under”) plus a previously unreleased live show, captured in its entirety at New Hampshire’s Hampton Beach Casino in 2003. Rounding out the bonus content on Disclaimer (Deluxe Edition) is a rare 2002 live acoustic cover of Nirvana’s “Something in the Way,” which was first issued as a B-side.
The 3-LP edition is housed in a deluxe triple gatefold jacket, while both physical formats also include new liner notes from Katherine Turman, an acclaimed music journalist, producer, and co-author of Louder Than Hell: The Definitive Oral History of Metal.
Formed in Pretoria, South Africa, in 1999, Seether (originally named Saron Gas) instantly hooked fans at home with their blend of alt-metal, grunge, and heart-on-sleeve lyricism. At the turn of the millennium, not long after releasing the South Africa-only Fragile, the band (originally consisting of vocalist and guitarist Shaun Morgan, bassist Dale Stewart and drummer Dave Cohoe) caught the ears of Wind-Up Records, who brought the trio to the US to record their international debut.
In the whirlwind weeks between pre-production in New York City and recording in Los Angeles, the band gained a new name (borrowing their permanent moniker from Veruca Salt’s 1994 alt-rock hit) and lost a drummer, when Cohoe chose to return home. As the band auditioned new drummers, veteran musician Josh Freese (The Vandals, A Perfect Circle, Nine Inch Nails) stepped in to lend his talents in the studio.
Over the next four months, Seether recorded new material, plus seven selects from Fragile, with producer Jay Baumgardner (Bush, Shinedown, Papa Roach). Several songs dated back to Morgan’s teenage years, including the brooding “Fine Again,” written after his parent’s divorce. “69 Tea,” meanwhile, was one of Morgan’s earliest compositions as well as the band’s first single in South Africa.