Sevendust

Atlanta-based five-piece Sevendust stood among the leading metal outfits of the 1990s, carving a distinct path through the nu-metal period via their fierce mix of thick, low-slung guitar riffs and emotionally direct, radio-friendly melodies sung by frontman Lajon Witherspoon. Across subsequent years the group merged the visceral force of their earliest records, including the 1997 self-titled debut and 1999’s Home, with progressively spacious sonic textures and occasional acoustic excursions on projects such as Time Travelers & Bonfires (2014) and Kill the Flaw (2015), the latter containing their first Grammy-nominated single, “Thank You.” They sustained a commanding profile on domestic rock charts through the 2020s with Blood & Stone and Truth Killer.

Composed of Witherspoon, guitarists John Connolly and Clint Lowery, bassist Vince Hornsby, and drummer Morgan Rose, the band first surfaced in 1995 under the name Crawlspace, issuing the track “My Ruin” for the Mortal Kombat: More Kombat soundtrack. They promptly adopted the Sevendust moniker and delivered their 1997 debut album, which yielded the breakout singles “Black” and “Bitch.” Two years later they released the gold-certified sophomore album Home (TVT), anchored by the mainstream-rock success “Denial.” As their following expanded, they logged more than 800 concerts alongside Korn, Godsmack, Disturbed, and Metallica, and performed at Woodstock ’99. Their intense third album, Animosity, arrived in fall 2001 and reached the Top 30 of the Billboard 200; Seasons followed in 2003, marking both their strongest chart placement to that point and their final release with TVT.

Late in December 2004 reports indicated Lowery’s departure, confirmed the next February when Sevendust introduced ex-Snot guitarist Sonny Mayo as his successor. (Lowery, a founding member, later joined the hard-rock supergroup Dark New Day.) The band’s fifth album and first self-produced effort, Next, surfaced in October 2005 on Winedark Records. After modest sales they moved to Asylum Records and issued Alpha in March 2007; the set climbed to number 14 on the Billboard 200 and set the stage for their seventh studio album. Chapter VII: Hope and Sorrow appeared the following year and included guest contributions from Chris Daughtry, Myles Kennedy, and Mark Tremonti.

Sevendust parted ways with Mayo, reinstated Lowery, and thereby restored their original lineup. The reunited ensemble delivered Cold Day Memory in 2010. Peaking just outside the Top Ten, it became their highest-charting album yet and spawned the mainstream-rock hits “Unraveling,” “Forever,” and “Last Breath.” Their ninth album, Black Out the Sun, arrived in 2013 and topped the hard-rock chart.

Seeking a fresh approach, the band set aside its metallic intensity for an acoustic collection, Time Travelers & Bonfires, released in spring 2014. It debuted at number 18 on the Billboard 200 and marked their second straight release to lead the U.S. hard-rock chart. Reverting to heavier territory the next year, they issued the atmospheric yet aggressive Kill the Flaw, whose single “Thank You” earned their inaugural Grammy nomination. Following extensive touring they entered the studio with producer Michael Baskette (Stone Temple Pilots, Incubus) to record their twelfth album, All I See Is War, which appeared in May 2018 on Rise Records. Two years afterward they returned with Blood & Stone, featuring an impassioned rendition of Soundgarden’s “The Day I Tried to Live.” An expanded edition added five previously unreleased songs, among them “All I Really Know” and “What You Are.”

Their fourteenth studio album and first for Napalm Records arrived in 2023. Truth Killer incorporated electronic textures into the band’s established sound, represented their third collaboration with Baskette, and introduced the singles “Fence” and the pointed social-media critique “Superficial Drug.”