SEVENDUST GET READY TO MAKE THE ALBUM OF THEIR CAREER
Wednesday, October 14th, 2009 at 1:30pm by Vince Neilstein
Or at least we hope. As Axl pointed out to me one time, it’s not that Sevendust have managed to outlast their nu-metal peers and persevere through hard times; even terrible bands like Static X and Dope have done that. It’s that Sevendust have somehow managed to avoid the critical backlash that was bestowed upon nearly everyone else from their era of metal. Maybe it’s because they’re a cut above most of those bands, because they’re so fucking great live, or because they never reached the level of popularity and/or ridiculousness of many of those bands; I think it’s all of the above. Even after a string of 3 very mediocre and rushed albums written without musical mastermind Clint Lowery in the band, Sevendust have somehow managed to retain their integrity through it all.
But now Clint is back in the band, and they’re recording their first album since early 2007’s Chapter VII: Hope & Sorrow, with producer Johnny K behind the boards. There’s a lot of anticipation, but there’s also a ton of pressure.
No disrespect to Clint’s fill-in Sonny Mayo who did a fine job live, but Clint Lowery could write better riffs and more complete songs whilst taking a dump than Sonny Mayo did on any of the three records in which he participated. As for John Connolly, he always struck me as more of a “riffs guy” than a “songs guy”… which is fine, so long as you have someone else there to piece it all together, which Mayo certainly wasn’t. So there’s a lot of hope and anticipation that this forthcoming record will be the best the band has released in sometime. But on the other side of it, now that Clint’s back there’s also a lot of pressure; can they deliver? Will the album be up to snuff?
As for Johnny K, the guy’s produced some albums I absolutely loathe. But sonically he’s unfuckwithable, and he definitely seems like a “songs guy” too… so perhaps the band is trying to get back to what they were doing on Animosity and Seasons which would be absolutely A-ok with this guy right here. Apparently the band did pre-production and wrote with Clint’s brother Corey, who played with him in Dark New Day as well as being a one-time member of Life of Agony, Stuck Mojo, and Stereomud. I’m not sure how that will manifest itself in the final product, but it’s interesting to note.
I’m optimistic the band can do something good, or at the very least better than the last 3 records (Next, Alpha and the aforementioned Hope & Sorrow). The Clint-written Dark New Day album was a gem, as was his Hello Demons… Meet Skeletons solo record released last year. The guy is just a great songwriter, plain and simple, and it turns out he can solo his balls off too (as he did on the DND record). From the second of two studio reports Clint’s posted on the Webernets, it would seem that all is dandy in the Sevendust camp and everyone is getting along. The record is tentatively going to be released in early 2010… I anxiously await.
Check out the Day 2 studio update below in which you get to see the studio environs, and then below it watch the band jam out to some Van Halen in the Day 3 update.
-VN
My favourite Sevendust albums are actually the last 2, to be honest I thought it kinda sucks that Clint came back and they just booted Sonny out. But all their stuff’s good, so I’m sure the new album won’t disappoint.
I really dig the first 2 Sevendust albums even if home had some Nu-metal parts it was a great album. I started to move on after Animosity.
Sevendust is like a guilty pleasure of mine. When someone says something about Sevendust I usually say…Meh, they are lame but secretly I like some of the stuff off of Home/Seasons/Animosity but I like to keep that under wraps.
Animosity was the best, then they steadily declined. Hope this next one’s good :)
I fail to see the delineation in acceptability between bands like Dope / Staticx and Sevendust. The guys in Sevendust seem much less douche-y, but describing their music as a cut above their contemporaries seems like a pretty hollow compliment.
That’s what I was thinking. It’s like describing them all as turds and then saying Sevendust is better because it’s got a piece of peanut in it. It’s still all shit.
I didnt know anybody still gave a shit about this band. Apparently I am wrong
*Correction*
“I didnt know anybody EVER gave a shit about this band. Apparently I am wrong”
I concur. I stereotyped these guys in the “Band thats made the same album over and over again” category, you know like Godsmack.
I hated this band even when I liked numetal.
Plus you guys are missing out on a golden opportunity to relink to that picture of Kristine Randalls boobs.
They absolutely SLAY live
I didn’t really like Sevendust that much back when they were still semi-relevant… I saw them live, and they were decent, but I was mostly there for Drowning Pool at the time (back when Dave was still alive). I had no idea Sevendust was still around.
Sevendust is good, but no better than Static-X. The genre hate is strong on this site.
Sevendust are better than Static-X. Hell, Dope are better than Static-X. Their last 2 albums are just dire.
Dope sucks and always has. Static-X has had one bad album – Cannibal – and the rest have been pretty damned good.
Cool to see some 7D support. Maybe, the best hard rock band out there. And yes they are awesome live, just senn them last fall. Few bands can match their sound and intensity live… I thought Alpha was pretty good for their 1st record w/out Clint, and H&S was great. Always look forward to when they put out something new.
I’m trying to remember what any Sevendust song sounds like, without clicking over to YouTube, and totally failing. At their peak they were second-tier, middle-of-the-road and utterly unmemorable, and now they’re a band I can’t believe are still around. In fact, to me they’re one of those bands I’m shocked has actual fans – to me Sevendust are like Daughtry or Seven Mary Three, some faceless boring band that gets played between songs people might actually want to hear. I can’t imagine anyone getting excited by the prospect of a new Sevendust album.
Meh, it’s forgettable because it all runs together into one long, cd-length song when you don’t break it up with other bands. They’re decent, but not listen to the whole album at once good.
Static-X’s first 2 albums > anything by Sevendust
hahahaha…okay guy
Even though sevendust isn’t my thing anymore, it’s true that they’re the one numetal band I can’t really fault. They still tour everywhere, and their album output is impressive. Although I predict the new album will sound exactly like I think it’s going to.
THANK YOU, VINCE!! Finally, someone else who dug that Dark New Day record as much as I did…those guys should have gotten way bigger than they did. In fact, I’m gonna put on some DnD right now…here’s hoping the new ‘Dust will kick that much ass.
They haven’t gotten the backlash because people don’t care.
No truer words have been spoken today.
The last 2 Sevendust albums are much better than Dark New Day’s album.
I will totally agree with the DND album, it rocks still today regarding SevenDust,, well I will sat their first album was good then I lost interest in them,, I heard they got a dude from a tv show to sing on their last record.. I think it was a dude from RockStar SuperNova or American Idol wichs Suckssssss ass.. Lets see how this new record comes out :(
I think “Home” was their best, they fell off HARD on “Animosity”, and finally started to come back with “Next”, but they did make WAY too many albums in a short period. 3 in 2 & 1/2 years? Just too much. I’m not really sure what to expect with the new record, since I thought they started to get good again after Lowry got the boot, but maybe that was just a coincidence. I like to give bands the benefit of the doubt, so we’ll see.
I like Sevendust’s first album. Terminator is still a pretty awesome song.
I preferred both the Dark New Day album and the acoustic solo EP by Lowry more than most anything by Sevendust. I have found too many of their songs to be droning and hard to differentiate from each other. But that’s just one man’s ears, and I haven’t caught them live.
Why does this band still exist? They are nothing more than a Collective Soul rip off.
disagree. I think dope is better (in relative terms) than sevendust, at least from what I remember..
I like this band…collective soul? are you nuts?
ugh
While I liked the general sound of the Dark New Day album, it struck me as having a bit too much polish, and I’m saying that as a guy that generally likes a somewhat polished sound. Clint sounded great on that record, but I just couldn’t dig the singer. Obviously he wasn’t supposed to be Lajon, but I think I would subconsciously compare the two singers, which is horribly unfair, but that’s how it is.
I thought the three Sonny-era albums were at times heavy for the sake of being heavy. Next was a bit uneven, Alpha was hard hard hard, and Chapter VII had the most dynamic of the three. It seems that without Clint, Morgan sort of decided he’d use WAY more double-bass to cover up for the lack of Clint riffs (and vocal harmonies — a huge loss). The result was a lot more percussive and staccato riffs and less melody.
Also, my friend asked me if I wanted a frozen banana, and I said, “no, but I want a regular banana later, so…yeah.”
As much as I’m not THAT big a fan of their music, LaJon DOES sing his fuckin’ ass off!
Sevendust are brilliant… They do not have 1 bad song… I could listen to (and have) their whole discography in a row…
The latest 2 albums are the best they have done IMO… they are heavier.
Cant wait for this album
Super pumped now that Clint’s back.
I really dig Vince writing positively about Sevendust. They struck me as a band that would be shit on by Metalsucks standards. But yeah, the band kept going.. I saw them 3 years back and they annihilated.. I may have never seen a small venue going absolutely insane like they did. I also thought the last few discs were marginal… really hoping this new one shapes up. My fave has gotta be Seasons, even though it’s their lightest
This band, and it’s fans, blow hard!
Corey Lowery was never a member of Life of Agony. You’re confusing him with Joey Z.
I’ve seen Sevendust live four times, and I can safely say that they are one of the finest bands touring today. To say they are under-rated would be an understatement, and surely, they are not deserving of being branded “nu-metal.”
I’m glad Clint’s back. Sonny was great the two times I saw him with the band, but Clint makes the band for me. His songwriting is what always set the band apart from everyone else. Without him, the band suffered, and it showed in their last three albums.
On a side note, I got to see Clint and Corey perform under the HDMS moniker back in January to a crowd of about 20 and they sounded phenomenal. Talent truly does run in this family.
Static-X used to be a good band. Wisconsin Death Trip is still one of my favorite albums to this day. They’ve just gone downhill since that album. Machine was decent. Shadow Zone blew. Start A War was meh. Cannibal was Static-X trying WAY too hard to be heavier than they really are. Haven’t really heard Cult of Static but from the samples i’ve heard on iTunes, it’s marginally better than Cannibal but they won’t ever be able to capture what they had on Wisconsin Death Trip.
Sevendust on the other hand, i’ve never been a huge fan of. They’re not a bad band my any means but I’ve just never been that big into them. For me, they’re a band that you can pick up a greatest hits album from them and be satisfied with just that.
Sevendust is amazing!!!!!!