For two decades, Sevendust have always delivered a sound a style for both our greatest moments, and darkest moments, for your moments of victory and moments of despair, for our dreams and for our nightmares. With the combination of Lajon Witherspoon’s vocals, Morgan Rose’s signature drumming style, Clint Lowery and John Connolly’s intense and emotional styles of guitar and Vince Hornsby delivering hard hitting rhythm and melody, Sevendust is not a metal band, a rock band or whatever category on the periodic table of subgenres. They are simply just Sevendust and that is all you need to say.

Their new album Blood and Stone delivers everything we know and love from classic albums such as Animosity, Seasons, Cold Day Memory, and more. This album delivers serenading emotion and lyricism that represents our times perfectly, elements of raw energy and heaviness as well as melody and harmony that can calm us down as much as amp us up.

Opening with Dying to Live, there is a very technical and downed riff style that starts the album off on a hard hitting note. Lajon goes full range while the tempo is consistently hard hitting and wastes no time going full on and in and in your face. Love Demonstrates a more subtle side at the start. It is fairly suspenseful as the vocals gently guide you in over a relatively faster tempo but then the heavier aspects slowly emerge. The harmonies incorporated in the vocals kick in right after a minute and then everything equally shines. This structure demonstrates much contrast as it is able to go in and out with its heavier aspects and have both a very catchy and mysterious vibe behind it. Blood from a Stone has more of an eerie sort of effect to it as a realm of distortion and melody leads you in and the song instantly moves in multiple directions. The chorus acts as a glue to bridge all the different melodies and tempos and levels of heaviness together. Feel like Going On has a much more different vibe is demonstrated on here. You have a gentle melody with a nice easy flowing tempo to gently guide you in while Lajon has more of a subtle vocal style over it. This track has a bit more of a melancholy vibe behind it but with the vocal range and the well-crafted arrangement, there is constant power demonstrated. The track is able to build up more as it moves along before ending on the same tame note it started with, with a great use of keyboards to drive the emotional point home. What you’ve become has a lot more attitude and intensity is demonstrated right out of the gate. That chorus kicks in with an epic and full range emotion that gets its point across nicely. Kill Me has very mysterious and spooky intro that leads you into a dark realm. The vocals gently guide you into the atmosphere that has already built up and makes for an adventurous listen and you feel and hear the song build up more and more. This track constantly makes you brace yourself for impact, but as more and more kicks in, you see how nicely it fits. You immediately gravitate towards this track as it gently flows and evolves incorporating more elements. Nothing Left to See Here Anymore incorporates a unique guitar melody sets the tone with its melody this time as the vocals once again, are able to gently lead you into this track. This track actually carries a similar momentum as Kill Me but this time everything is working together and everything kicks in at once rather than building up. Desperation gives us a bit of a faster tempo fro Morgan Rose. This time the tempo and rhythm picks up and everything from the vocals to the guitars work to the rhythm and it immediately guides you further and further. This has a very easy flow. The way the vocals are able to sustain notes while we get a nice taste of crunchy riffs makes for an epic track. It’s able to interrupt the flow after 2 minutes to reinforce the suspenseful elements before kicking in one last time. Criminal, though very simple, it is very powerful as Clint and John delivery tender guitar melody leads you right in before the vocals take the spotlight after a beautifully atmospheric guitar tone. This track is very easy to immerse in and indulge in and very easy to digest as there is a tad more repetition used in its arrangement. Then you get to Against the World, which incorporates a very unsettling intro with a haunting melody to lead you in before kicking in with super heavy riffs. The vocals demonstrate more attitude while there is more aggression demonstrated on all fronts. This track builds up more and more and every element equally shines. It pulls back for a hot second to let the atmosphere build up again before going full force with intense riffs and soloing and then drives the point home once more with an epic chorus. Alone shows a return of the subtle side of Sevendust once again. A lot more contrast is demonstrated as the vocals take the spotlight in the verse and then everything kicks in together in the chorus. Everything that was held back is all thrown in at 2 and a half minutes when all the instrumentation pushes the vocals further into the stratosphere and the contrast is demonstrated even further with heavy instrumentation, epic composition and soothing vocals on Wish you Well. The Day I Tried to Live ends on a little bit of a different and mysterious note as it has a very dreary and murky feel to it that immediately ends the album on a familiar yet fresh note. It incorporates the perfect concluding melody and arrangement to close this chapter in the Sevendust catalogue.

Sevendust has always played by their own rules and mange to reinvent them every single time. With the lyricism and vocal range, signature guitar sound and hard hitting rhythm, Sevendust are always able to keep their sound fresh and consistent. Every member of Sevendust continues to bring their contributions into making a sound that relates to so many.

Out 10/23 on Rise Records