Bands aren’t usually around for thirty years, and even fewer of them are able to keep a style reminiscent of that era for so long after their formation. The Seventh Season do so, while keeping together enough relevancy to maintain a decent album. Using a voice modifier that many would assume to be on a Britney Spears or Cher track, Yuri makes a solid rock track that can be as meaningfully enjoyed by the adult contemporary listeners as it is with the rock purists. On “Fall Within”, each track is cast in such a similar way that it becomes hard at times to discern different tracks, owing much to the heavily-distorted guitars (which more often than not become indistinguishable and odd tone to Yuri’s voice. Each track is arranged beautifully, and while there are dry spells when the deep end is only slightly represented (especially during most of the title track), each member of The Seventh Season contribute equally.
In trying to add an electronic element to their sound, I feel that The Seventh Season have sacrificed something of intensity that having unadulterated guitar lines would give them. “Desire’s” ending guitar solo is hampered by this, and a track that would have ended with a bang truly does end on this disc with a whimper. It is when The Seventh Season drop these electronics and reach back into their bag to bring out a sixties-sounding ditty where their true talent is shown, specifically the pop-rock ditty “New Day”, sounding as near a “Postman”-like song as they come. The penultimate track to “Fall Within”, the dreadfully tinny sounding “Morning” is hindered by fake-sounding synthesizers that threaten to make the entire disc insincere.
A more organic approach to “Fall Within” would have been a better course of action than the electronic-rock mix that The Seventh Season commits to this disc. Minor issues plague “Fall Within”, whether it be the unnecessarily mechanical drumming on “Pirate Song” or the aforementioned tinny-ness of Morning, yet do not significantly weaken the disc as a whole. Still, a simple comparison to the music that is paraded out as rock in this new era shows The Seventh Season as an extremely compelling band that is never afraid to mix a radio friendly song with an incredible devotion to musicianship. Two years have passed since this album was released, but have The Seventh Season moved on to the next plateau or just found themselves in a deeper rut with this unholy mishmash?
Top Tracks: Like Years Ago, Commando
Rating: 5.9/10
The Seventh Season – Fall Within / 2002 Self-Released / 12 Songs / http://www.theseventhseason.net / [email protected] / Reviewed 14 August 2004