Last fall we had the pleasure of premiering a new EP by the Vancouver band Seer. Entitled Vol. 5, it reflected the continuation of both the lyrical narrative that has run through Seer’s releases to date and the evolution of the band’s sound — which has become increasingly difficult to pin down. Vol. 5 encompasses varied strands of doom, sludge, black metal, and more — and no two of the tracks on the EP are quite alike.
Of the two middle tracks on the EP, which together form the bulk of the run-time, “The Face of the Earth Was Darkened and a Black Rain Began to Fall” is, in the band’s words, “an apocalyptic funeral dirge featuring more twists, turns, and layers than one might expect from sprawling, ‘big riff’ songs of this nature”. “A Primordial Entity Observes from Across the Cosmic Expanse”, on the other hand, “is a more straight-forward rock and roll tune with heavy emphasis on occult-rock guitar leads”, and it features interplay between harsh and clean vocals.
What we have for you today is the debut of an official video for that latter song, one that interweaves scenes of Seer performing live on November 3, 2017, at the Astoria in Vancouver and movie excerpts that suit the music’s occult aura — and are NSFW.
Consistent with the band’s own descrption, “A Primordial Entity…” does have a lurching, rocking gait, and vocals that move from jagged, blackened snarls to rising clean singing. The music has a heavy, heaving undercarriage and generates an atmosphere of arcane menace and approaching catstrophe. It swells in intensity, achieving a kind of frightful grandeur, and a growing air of terror and triumph.
Enjoy the video below, and check out Vol. 5, along with Seer’s other releases, via the Bandcamp links below.
Bandcamp:
https://seerbc.bandcamp.com/releases
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/seervancouver