Artist: Sevendust
Title: “Alpha”
Label: Asylum/7 Bros Records
Release Date: 3/6/2007
Genre: Heavy Metal/Alt-Metal
Rating: 4/5
It is not common to find a band who sounds as fresh as their beginnings by the time that they hit their sixth album but such is the case with the one and only Sevendust. Now armed with a new label that is under their own creative control (the launched 7 Brothers, a division of Asylum Records) they present to their fans “Alpha” – an album that will forever cement why they are one of the most exciting groups in not only Alternative Metal, but in the genre as a whole. Once again, you will hear that singer Lajon Witherspoon is totally on point and one of the better singers in this genre. On the latest albums, we have found him singing with intense levels of melody but he is not your typical growler or screamer by any margin. We get that from drummer Morgan Rose who provides the necessary angst and rage from behind his kit as he performs gravity defying technical patterns at the same time. In my humble opinion, he is what more Metal drummers should be like as his skills are always commendable and stylish. The pair works well as far as the dynamics go in Sevendust and this is prevalent across the record – but mostly in the closer of the title track “Alpha”. The song “Beg To Differ” is definitely one that will set the crowd to fervor as one of their new favorites since the band once again shows how adept they are at fashioning a song that elicits crowd activity. On “Driven”, there is a lot of the feel that we found them doing on their last album Next; a record that I felt did not get enough attention even though it has been met with largely positive reviews.
“Alpha” also finds their no longer new guitarist Sonny Mayo becoming a perfect fit alongside John Connolly, and sounding like this was the band that he was destined for. It’s very simple to notice as you blast this CD out of the speakers that Sevendust has not slowed down much in the ten plus years they have been performing. Instead of remaining the same like some bands seem to do, they have matured musically and continued to experiment with the patterns of their style and stretch the melody to shapes that they are the masters of. I don’t think any of their fans would be disappointed in the results here and if you are not a fan already this CD also offers you the perfect jumping on point, as it is that accessible. The growing popularity of Melodic Metalcore like All That Remains and Burn In Silence could have their fans becoming acolytes of Sevendust as well. Favorites for me included “Confessions Of Hatred” which is one of the more conventional Metal tracks and “Deathstar” which just lines you up for the knock down of Metal that you are going to get from this one. They also offer what I believe is their first epic number in “Burn”, as this passes the nine minute mark. Sevendust has gained a large amount of popularity, and yet still seem to linger a little bit in the underground. Let’s hope this provides a little more of a prominent view on a very talented and hard working band.
Track Listing:
1. Deathstar
2. Clueless
3. Driven
4. Feed
5. Suffer
6. Beg to Differ
7. Under
8. Story Of Your Life
9. Confessions Of Hatred
10. Aggression
11. Burn
12. Alpha
Official Website: www.sevendust.info