When a band stays together for 26 years, it’s an impressive accomplishment. And to consistently tour and release new music during those years is a huge achievement. This is exactly what Sevendust has done during those 26 years. Their last release All I See Is War from 2018 was a fantastic album and to follow up on that for their 13th studio album was not going to be an easy feat. Yet, Lajon Witherspoon (vocals), Clint Lowery (guitar), John Connolly (guitar), Vince Hornsby (bass), and Morgan Rose (drums) not only made it look easy, they nailed it.
Sevendust once again worked with producer Michael “Elvis” Baskette, who also produced All I See Is War, on the new album delivering 13 tracks that old fans and new fans will love for the hard hitting riffs, beauitfully clean vocals, heartpounding drums. The album delivers a great mix of metal and ballads combined plus nostalgic and new sounds that provide those sounds the Sevendust fans family know and love.
The opening track of “Dying To Live” immediately brings out guitar and drum riffs more from their self-titled Sevendust (1997) and Home (1999) than their recent music. And I loved it! As a fan of Sevendust since their first album, the nostalgia poured through me hearing those sounds before the song picked up into the new sounds. With a beautifully written chorus and Lajon once again delivering some spectacular vocals this opening track is an absolute hit. It’s the perfect song to get your blood pumping and the mosh pit moving. The second track “Love” has a kick-ass bass beat from Vince and is more reminiscent of All I See Is War. But, when we get into “Blood From A Stone” the Sevendust family is going to hear a familiar riff that sounds right out of “Waffle” from Home. And they use it so well. This may be one of my favorite tracks off the album.
When we reach the fourth track “Feel Like Going On” we hit the first ballad. One of the things I’ve always loved about Sevendust is their ability to thrash so hard and be able to create such tranquility on their albums. This song both musically and lyrically is so heartfelt you can’t help but grasp onto it and hold tight. “Kill Me” has that feel of a ballad, but is the song that brings the heavy on over the first. It’s a truly solid song. I also put “Nothing Left To See Here Anymore” in this category and this is probably Lajon’s best vocals on the album. You can hear how much he pours his soul into his song.
Every album has that one sleeper song on it. The song usually placed towards the end of the album that becomes one of your favorites that you wonder why it’s so far down the list. For me, I think there’s two on here for different reasons. The first is “Desperation”. This song will bring the Sevendust family back to the roots of their music with riffs from Clint, John, and Vince. Morgan’s drumming is exactly what you want to hear from a Sevendust song and Lajon gives us a small taste of that clean vocal scream we all love so much, especially at the end of the song. The other one is “Alone”, where Sevendust had me enraptured with the lyrics and up and down pace of the track. Superb work.
But, we can’t ignore the shining star of the album, which is the last track. Sevendust drops in our laps a cover of Soundgarden‘s “The Day I Tried To Live”. I’ll be honest here. I feel for any band to do any cover of a Soundgarden is either you bring it or don’t bother because, well, Soundgarden! And what does Sevendust do with this song? They bring it! From the opening guitar riffs in Sevendust‘s sound to Lajon‘s crooning to power vocals in this song is perfect.
What we have in Blood & Stone is a solid album for the Sevendust family and for those new fans who never listen to them before. Though, we’re overlooking the most important element of this album. Live show playability. Could you listen to these tracks and wonder whether or not they would make good live songs? The answer to that is “Hell yes!”. Every track on this album is something I could easily hear being played live during a tour. And that is what makes this album so good. It’s the Sevendust album we wanted and the Sevendust album we needed after the chaos of 2020. It’s uplifting, energic, and will make you forget about the chaos for a little while.
Blood & Stone releases on Friday, October 23rd via Rise Records. It is also the same night Sevendust will be performing their only live stream show of 2020. You can purchase the album, Blood & Stone merchandise, and access to the live stream show at their website https://sevendust.com/. Get this album and don’t miss out on this show!
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