South African heavy metal band formed in 1999 by Shaun Welgemoed (vocals/guitar), Dale Stewart (bass/vocals) and David Cohoe (drums). The trio's original name was Saron Gas and under this title they recorded their debut Fragile. This rather old-fashioned style release was a surprise bestseller in the band's native South Africa owing in no small part to the inclusion of hit singles "69 Tea" and "Fine Again". The trio came to the attention of US label Wind-up Records and signed a lucrative international recording contract on the condition they change their name to the less provocative Seether. Cohoe left the band shortly after they arrived in America to begin work on new material and was replaced by Nick Oshiro. During this period, Shaun Welgemoed elected to change his name to the more pronounceable Shaun Morgan, the credit he used on the band's Wind-Up debut, Disclaimer. Eight tracks from Fragile made their way over to Disclaimer, albeit in re-recorded versions, while the most notable of the new tracks was album closer "Broken". Following the release of Disclaimer guitarist Pat Callahan was added to the line-up, while Oshiro made way for Kevin Soffera, who in turn was replaced by John Humphrey. A remastered version of Disclaimer, none too originally titled Disclaimer II, added eight songs and a bonus DVD to the original release. The album included a version of "Broken" recorded with Morgan's girlfriend, Amy Lee of Evanescence, previously only available on The Punisher soundtrack.
Reports of disagreements between the band and their label added to the tension surrounding the recording of the band's long-awaited new album. Officially released in May 2005, Karma And Effect propelled Seether into the US Top 10 for the first time in their career.
DISCOGRAPHY: as Saron Gas Fragile (Musketeer 2000)***, Disclaimer (Musketeer/Wind-up 2002)***, Disclaimer II (Wind-Up 2004)***, Karma And Effect (Wind-up 2005)***, One Cold Night (Wind-up 2006)**, Finding Beauty In Negative Spaces (Wind-up 2007)***.
VIDEOGRAPHY: Disclaimer II (Wind-up 2004), One Cold Night (Wind-up 2006).

Encyclopedia of Popular Music
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