ninehertz

Seum, from Montreal, have been plying their doom ‘n’ bass chaos for several years and numerous releases now, with a standout signature sound borne from a no-guitar policy. Parking Life is their latest album and is probably their best yet.

The title track goes first, with its swinging sludge groove and Steve Buscemi in Fargo sample, but the album really gets going on the subsequent Employee of the Month, with its cool rise and falling vocals and bass in unison proving especially catchy, before it settles into an infectious rhythm.

I’m not keen on novelty in doom, but I’ll give 666 Problems a pass – featuring Vincent Houde from Dopethrone, and adapting the Jay Z line to, I think, “but a riff ain’t one”, it is otherwise doomy in tone and nature yet with a punk urgency that recalls a band like Dystopia.

There are subtle changes in style and vocal approach on the remainder of the album that keep it fresh – Labrador is noticeably upbeat, mixing in a Dwarves-ish punk, while Sad Labbath runs along a sludgey Lightining Bolt path with sung vocals in a Mike Patton style.

It all ends with a heavy and downbeat cover of Always on My Mind, which is, to be honest, a little pointless. But no matter. Parking Life is the album Seum have always promised and now delivered, novel yet serious, heavy but with shades of light and bounce, and with an individuality that marks it out from the crowd.