 band
members . . .Lajon Witherspoon vocals Clint Lowery guitar John Connelly guitar Vinnie Hornsby bass Morgan Rose drums
discography . . . about the band... Since their signing to indie powerhouse TVT Records at the Gavin Radio Seminar in 1996, the outfit has seen one name change (they were forced to drop their original moniker, Crawlspace for legal reasons); nearly 500 live performances; an unprecedented 75 weeks reign on the Billboard Heat seekers chart; 21 months on the road; a nationally-broadcast concert special; the main stage of summer's two loudest festival tours; and one gold record. Influenced
by thrash metal, grunge, industrial and rap, they have become one of the
rising stars in late-90s heavy metal.
The bands bottom-heavy riffs assert them as pure metal, but
their soulful melodies make their music surprisingly accessible.
But for all its intensity, Sevendust is a band that, like Living
Colour and Nirvana, combines a striking melodic sense with sledgehammer
aggression. "Face" candidly describes a consensual
S&M/bondage scenario, while other songs deal with social issues.
Addressing such topics as racism ("Black") depression and
schizophrenia ("Too Close to Hate") and drug addiction
("Wired"), this CD is as arresting lyrically as it is
musically.
Helping
to enhance this creative vibe in the studio and further secure the
band's position at the head of the new rock pack was veteran producer
Toby Wright (Alice In Chains, Fishbone, Primus, Korn). Was the band
concerned that Wright's recent Korn connection would renew the
comparisons that plagued reviews of Sevendust? Lajon scoffs at the idea,
"I don't care what you say, you can listen to our CD and listen to
a Korn CD-they sound nothing alike. I mean, you have some heavy riffs;
the same genre of music, maybe-but the two styles are completely
different." Rose continues, "Toby let us pretty much walk in
there and do whatever we wanted to do and was brutally honest with us;
he didn't really care how we felt when it came to his opinion. It was
pretty intense, but he pushed us-individually and as a band--to the next
level."
The
spacey opening strains of "Reconnect" belie the song's message
of impending breakdown: "Another day I feel further from myself. If
you could wear my shoes then you'll see. I need a day to recreate."
Lowery says, "`At the point we wrote that, we were really burned
out on the road and totally broken down. It's basically about needing a
little bit of time to pull your life together." Before
the album's August 24th release, Sevendust took to the festival circuit
again, this time as the loudest feature of the traditionally punk &
ska Vans Warped Tour. "To be on the same stage with Tool and Ozzy
Osbourne [on last summer's OZZfest] was definitely the highest point of
my career," says frontman Lajon. "However I think Warped will
be cool. We play even better when it's a little out of our
element." Just five years ago, the members of Sevendust held
various day jobs, from pouring concrete to landscaping. After their two
year slow burn to success, where do they see themselves in another five?
"If we can be the theme music for peoples' entertainment and we
could be a part of their life like that for the next five years, that
would be perfect," says Lowery, "That's where I want to
be." Based on their unrivalled track record, something tells us
that's exactly where these leaders of the new school will be. |
|
|||||||||
|
||||||||||
Formed
in 1995, the Atlanta-based Sevendust first appeared as Crawlspace,
releasing the single "My Ruin" on the Mortal Kombat: More
Kombat 
All
too often, bands that have shown as much promise as Sevendust did on its
self-titled debut album (which went gold) have fallen prey to the
dreaded sophomore curse and failed to make good on that promise. But
there are no signs of a sophomore slump on Sevendust's second album, Home,
which like its predecessor, is as melodic as it is angry and brutally
heavy. Melody isn't simply an afterthought on this CD--it's an integral
part of the band's sound, and it complements the intensity and
forcefulness of songs like "Denial, " "Feel So" and
"Crumpled."
The
songs on Home are a testament to that collaborative effort, from the
stabbing bass line and persistent chorus of the title track to the
requiem melody of the record's first single "Denial."
Meanwhile, staccato riffs and the tempo changes you've come to expect
from the band back up the album's second single "Waffle." 