Sevendust are a band I’ve heard of but who have generally ed me by for some reason. The sheer volume of music we have floating around these days is likely part of it. JohnP reviewed their last album for us, 2018’s All I See Is War and this year we received album number thirteen – Bloody & Stone.
The album announcement was partnered with a cover of Soundgarden’s “The Day I Tried To Live” and this choice of song, partnered with the fact they’re working with producer Michael “Elvis” Baskette (Alter Bridge, Tremonti, Slash) should give you an idea of their sound. Sevendust sit squarely in the comfortable “hard rock” zone, not really pushing any boundaries but not having to. They have a huge audience sat there just waiting to lap up this kind of material.
After a couple of listens through, I can see why the fans are there for them as well. “Dying To Live” is a great opener – rousing and catchy, it’s got some great chugging rhythms and it’s so easy to just get into. Baskette’s influence is definitely there with the way the song is multi-layered and yet flows, the bass is punchy and the chorus just drifts into your ears. “Love” is no the gentle ballad that would be so easily expected from its title, but plucks the heartstrings in much the same way.
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The title-ish track “Blood From A Stone” deserves to have the album named after it, being a huge number… but it’s actually bettered in of overall musicality and emotion by “Feel Like Going On” which follows. However, that probably doesn’t make for as good an album title!
The band can do slower numbers as well, but even something like “Nothing Left To See Here Anymore” simply takes that pace and channels it into the emotional side instead. End result, an absolute belter of a song.
As an introduction to Sevendust, I found Blood & Stone to be pretty good. Sevendust definitely have a “sound” and it’s present throughout each song on here. I love Witherspoon’s vocals and I think Alter Bridge really need to get him to guest on something – they’d pair up so well. However, Sevendust have him fronting them and he’s got four superb musicians of his own to work with. There aren’t many bands who can rattle off a dozen tracks (plus a cover) as big as these.
Header image by Travis Shinn / Chuck Brueckmann
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