Sevendust - Next

Sevendust to date have sold over four million albums in the US. Sadly though, lumped in with the moronic Nu-Metal craze, they have never really set the charts alight over here. And why, I don’t know. With the talented angst vocal styling of Lajon Witherspoon, these guys should be "pushing the envelope" of what it means to be a modern metal band. This brings me to their fourth offering 'Next'. The exit of stalwart Clint Lowery hasn’t affected the band's ability to rock. And with the addition of well travelled ex Snot, Amen and Hed-Pe guitarist Sonny Mayo, the band are a more refined beast, but none the less frightening. For this album, they show why they are reaching for the top as, the Jekyll and Hyde of rock, they balance extreme cutting edge metal with pop sensibilities. The stand out tracks on this album are the ballads, 'This Life' and 'Shadows in Red' which really capture how good this band can be. Tracks like 'Silence 'and recently released single 'Ugly' show how much Sevendust can rock. This album is a strong record but at times it can be just generic metal. If angst ridden music is your cup of tea this, however, is for you.