Ozzfest bands cut out for Cuthbert.

Byline: LEWIS TAYLOR The Register-Guard

BEING A SOUTH African new-metal band in America can be frustrating at times, said Shaun Morgan, vocalist and guitarist for the trio Seether.

"Educated people still ask us if we ride elephants to work," Morgan said, speaking by phone from a stop near Minneapolis. "They think South Africa is just off the tip of New Zealand."

Seether may not have broken through all the cultural stereotypes, but the band is steadily smashing down walls with its music: an angry mix of metal and grunge which, like much of the current neo-metal fare, places an emphasis on melody.

After being signed to Wind-up Records, the label of the supergroup Creed, the band hopped onto the Ozzfest tour as a second stage act.

Seether comes to the Cuthbert Amphitheater on Wednesday for KNRQ-FM's Q-Fest, a heavy metal showcase featuring headliner Rob Zombie, former frontman of the metal band White Zombie. The show, a spinoff of Ozzfest, features Adema, Down, Ill Nino and Sw1tched, along with local opening act Northwest Royale.

Drowning Pool will not perform as scheduled because of the still unexplained death of lead singer Dave Williams.

For Seether, being picked up by the Ozzfest tour was both a professional coup and a chance to see a great show again and again. The Ozzfest tour never stops off in South Africa, which means that Morgan's first Ozzfest as a performer was also his first Ozzfest as a fan.

"We feel real fortunate to be on this tour," Morgan said. "These are bands that we used to listen to on CD."

Compared to the other Ozzfest acts, and to the groups lined up for Wednesday's Q-Fest, the Seether members look as if they got on the wrong tour bus. With relatively few tattoos or piercings, the trio seems almost clean-cut alongside the likes of devil musician Zombie and the Bakersfield, Calif., band Adema.

"We're probably the nicest-looking band," Morgan admitted. " Everyone else is all badass and dreadlocks. I almost feel kind of nerdy."

Seether's streamlined appearance, combined with its South African heritage, makes it a tough pill for some to swallow at first. Morgan said audience reaction to the band's emotionally varied music tends to follow a pattern.

"You start off and they're crossing their arms and nodding their heads, and then by the time you're done they're beating the crap out of each other (in the mosh pit)," Morgan said.

Although Rolling Stone magazine recently dubbed Seether "South Africa's answer to Creed," Morgan insisted the band owes little of its inspiration to that Christian crossover act. Seether takes its name from a Veruca Salt song and owes a heavy debt to the grunge acts of the 1990s. But the band also blends driving modern metal and pop hooks into the mix.

The group's major label debut, "Disclosure," includes mellower ballads such as the first single, "Fine Again," along with angry tales inspired by Morgan's difficult family life (`Driven Under," "Pig'). The record, produced by Jay Baumgardner (Papa Roach, Drowning Pool), was released Aug. 20.

If Seether's South African background has been a disadvantage, it has also toughened the band's skin. Formed in 1999, the group originally was known as Saron Gas.

Once Morgan realized the deadly connotations of the title, he change the band's name. The core band featured Morgan and bassist and vocalist Dale Stewart.

Morgan, whose difficult childhood was marked by his parents' acrimonious divorce and his extensive military schooling, found solace in music. As legend has it, at the age of 17 he found himself with a gun in one hand and a guitar in another; he decided then and there to devote himself to the latter.

"I made the decision, and from that moment on, I never looked back," Morgan said.

Morgan's adolescent angst found its way into his songs, and many of the tracks that appear on "Disclaimer" date back to that period. This lends Seether's music a feeling of pent-up rage, but, Morgan said he has since learned how to temper the anger with solid melodies and thoughtful lyrics.

"I like to concentrate on melodies; that's the main thing for the song. It's the groundwork," Morgan said. "If you don't have a good melody, it's not going to be a good song.

`Also, lyrically I try to be as honest as I can. I don't think people are doing that anymore. They're too scared to be honest with themselves."

After carving out a name for itself in the small South African rock scene, Seether was discovered by Steve Lerner, president of Wind-up Records. Lerner helped relocate the band to Los Angeles.

The group replaced its drummer with Nick Oshiro and began its assault on the American market, something that Morgan now sees as a long-term project.

"I think we've been able to get this far because, when we started the band, we had a vision of where we wanted to be," Morgan said. "From the word go, we've always wanted to end up one day at the Grammys, and even if that never came true, that was our goal. We've always just wanted to work our asses off until people (recognize) our music or our country."

Here's a brief look at some of the other performers featured at the Q-Fest:

Rob Zombie: The longtime leader of the metal band White Zombie, Zombie left his group in 1998 to pursue a solo career.

White Zombie's 1992 major label debut, "La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Vol. 1," had earned the band mainstream acceptance, but Zombie's solo debut "Hellbilly Deluxe" outsold all previous White Zombie records.

The following year, he released "American Made Music to Strip By" and later "The Sinister Urge."

In addition to forming his own record label, Zombie also has helped create a Rob Zombie action figure, and he made a feature film that's scheduled for a Halloween release.

Adema: Formed in the new-metal mecca of Bakersfield, Calif., Adema features Mark Chavez (half brother of Korn's Jonathan Davis) along with guitarist Mike Ransom, guitarist Tim Fluckey, bassist Dave Deroo and drummer Kris Kohls.

Along with its twin-guitar attack, Adema sets itself apart from the pack with Chavez's audible lyrics and plenty of live showmanship.

The group's self-titled Arista Records debut featured the singles "The Way You Like It," "Freaking Out" and "Giving In."

Down: This all-star heavy metal side project features vocalist Phil Anselmo and bassist Rex Brown from Pantera, guitarist Pepper Keenan from Corrosion of Conformity and drummer Jimmy Bower from Crowbar. Formed in the mid-1990s, the group released its debut album, "NOLA," in 1995 and then disappeared from sight.

In 2001, the band returned with its classic rock-meets-metal format. In March of this year, the group released the follow-up album "Down II."

Ill Nino: A New Jersey Latin metal band featuring mostly South American musicians might not sound like your average metal act. It's not.

Ill Nino began when drummer Dave Chavarri was touring with the band Soulfly. Chavarri contacted guitarist Marc Rizzo and vocalist Cristian Machado with the intention of forming a heavy Latin rock band that also paid attention to melody.

Guitarist Jardel Paisante joined up along with bassist Lazaro Pina and percussionist Roger Vasquez. The bilingual band got a boost from college radio stations in New York. In July 2001, it released its debut CD, "Revolution/Revolucion," on Roadrunner Records.

Sw1tched: This Cleveland metal quintet cites Korn, the Deftones and Incubus as influences, along with King's X, Prong, King Diamond and Alice in Chains. The group came together under the moniker Switch before being threatened with a lawsuit by a 1970s band with rights to the same name.

When Ben Schigel decided to take over vocal duties for the group, things started happening. In 2000, the group completed several demo tracks that grabbed the attention of major record labels. Sw1tched signed on with Immortal Records (home of Korn) and released its debut album, "Subject to Change," this year.

Entertainment reporter Lewis Taylor can be reached by phone at 338-2512 and by e-mail at ltaylor@ guardnet.com.

Q-FEST

WITH: Rob Zombie, Adema, Ill Nino, Sw1tched, Seether

WHEN: 1 p.m. Wednesday

WHERE: Cuthbert Amphitheater, off Leo Harris Parkway,Alton Baker Park 

TICKETS: $28 at the Hult Center box office or at any Safeway Fastixx outlet

ALSO: To hear music by Seether, call GuardLine at 485-2000 and select category 3475

CAPTION(S):

Adolescent angst fuels the music of Seether, featuring (from left) Dale Stewart, Shaun Morgan and Nick Oshiro. Fans can expect to get a kick out of the Bakersfield, Calif., band Adema, which is known for its showmanship. The band plays the Cuthbert Amphitheater as part of Q-Fest on Wednesday. Angsters of love