SEVENDUST

Sevendust never follow a linear path. Instead, they continue to bulldoze a lane of their own with a proven one-two punch of rumbling grooves, unpredictable riffing, and stirringly soulful vocals unlike anything else in hard rock. As a result, their music connects straight to the heart as evidenced by their full-contact live shows and diehard “family” of fans. It’s why they’ve been around since 1994, tallied global sales of seven million, logged three gold-selling albums, delivered three Top 15 debuts on the Billboard 200, and garnered a GRAMMY® Award nomination in the category of “Best Metal Performance.” They’re the rare force of nature who not only graced the bills of Woodstock and OZZfest, but also Shiprocked! and Sonic Temple and some of the largest stages around the globe. Along the way, they’ve notably collaborated with everyone from members of Deftones, Daughtry, and Staind to Alter Bridge, Periphery, and Xzibit. 2020 saw them deliver one of the most-acclaimed albums of their career with Blood & Stone, which Metal Hammer christened “Sevendust’s best work in years” and Outburn dubbed “everything a Sevendust fan could want.”

However, the Atlanta quintet—Lajon Witherspoon [lead vocals], Clint Lowery [lead guitar, backing vocals], John Connolly [rhythm guitar, backing vocals], Vince Hornsby [bass], and Morgan Rose [drums]—defy expectations yet again on their fourteenth full-length and debut for Napalm Records, Truth Killer.

“We really cared about the process,” notes Clint. “It’s never a straight line with Sevendust. We’ve always made left turns and dip into super heavy and very melodic sounds. We still try to do things a little differently. I think we recreated the magic on this one, and we overcommitted to making sure every song was great.”

In order to do so, the guys regrouped as friends first. Initially, they decamped to Lajon’s farmhouse. Over the course of four days in 2022, they demoed out the bulk of the record, rekindling the spark that defined their seminal output.

“We wanted to be friends again, shoot the shit, and become that garage band we were,” Clint goes on. “It set the tone for our relationship, and the creativity opened up. We got back together and made another fun record.”

Once again, they recorded in Florida with producer Michael “Elvis” Baskette [Alter Bridge, Mammoth, Trivium]. This time around, they expanded the soundscape, incorporating programming by Clint and adding cinematic heft to their signature style.

“We took our time on this record,” he goes on. “We pulled in a lot of electronic elements. In the past, I hired outside programmers, but I did the programming myself. I tried to create a musical bed that made it easy to sing cool vocal parts. We always set a goal to have a certain sound, and we followed through with it. We didn’t compromise.”

As such, the album opens with perhaps the biggest departure, the slow-burning “I Might Let The Devil Win.” Piano pierces glitchy beat-craft as Lajon’s delivery borders on magnetic and manic as he confesses, “I want to give in, oh no, the devil won’t win.”

If Trent Reznor produced The Weeknd, it might sound something like this…