There are not many albums that take you on a real sonic journey anymore. Well, here is one, coming from a French band that I have never heard of before. That doesn’t mean these guys are novices, though. They have connections to bands like Ministry, Senser, KMFDM and France’s number-one hard industrial act, Treponem Pal. But what kind of sonic stew has Fiend stirred up on Seeress?

I can’t say I’ve heard anything quite like this before. In simplest terms, it seems to mix a hard industrial feel with Sabbath like heaviness and the spacey weirdness of the heaviest Hawkwind. Even that description doesn’t do the project justice because Fiend often pulls a musical rabbit out of their hat that turns things upside down. Listening to this, I heard traces of Prong, Hawkwind, Alice In Chains, thrash and death metal, Swans and Monster Magnet. It shouldn’t work but somehow it does and it rocks like hell.

This may not be the easiest disc to find but believe me, it’s worth the hunt if you’re tired of cookie cutter crap and are looking for heavy music with its own identity.

This review is available in book (paperback and hardcover) in Music Street Journal: 2019  Volume 1. More information and purchase links can be found at: garyhillauthor.com/Music-Street-Journal-2019.

A scratchy static noise creeps for a minute before giving way to a raging, angry burst of musical fury. The vocals of Heitham al Sayed are clean but very ticked off. The bass and drum interplay here is super intense. It slows down to plodding heaviness and then slows even more to a slow bass lick. Strange spacey noises and plaintive vocals play over the bass, and then we return to the original metal hammering which now seems even more powerful. This track is strong, but this is just beginning of the trip and only hints at what’s to come.