Having recently completed a tour supporting Alter Bridge on a European jaunt, American rock band Sevendust strike whilst the iron is hot and unleash their fifteenth studio album. Titled One, it serves up a selection of genre-defying tracks that weld melody to ball-crushing grooves which hone the band’s sound into a red raw laser beam and brings an already scalding sound to boiling point. Whilst many of Sevendust’s peers are very much of their time, the fluidity with which this Atlanta-based quartet operate ensures that they’ve stayed contemporary, and without sacrificing their core style. So, if you are looking for a record that perfectly straddles hard rock and metal, this album is One.
You might wonder why a band who’ve celebrated their thirtieth anniversary would call their fifteenth album One. It’s a quandary alright, but one that is soon resolved when the opening (and title) track pours from the speakers. Sevendust are playing with a verve and vivaciousness that is normally only heard in bands that are freshly minted, and in that respect One is a new beginning. Like the blade of a huge pendulum that is inching ever closer to your neck, ‘One’ operates with wrecking ball force, swinging from speaker to speaker, it is intent on causing maximum carnage and sets the tone for the coming ten tracks. Time hasn’t dulled the band’s ability to write humongous riffs, and when those riffs connect with the rhythm section it creates a potent punch and means the listener sees stars in much the same way as a boxer who is on the ropes. However, the band’s (not so) secret weapon is vocalist Lajon Witherspoon, a singer with an impressive range, and perhaps the only songster today who could follow the band’s ululation; he rises and falls in tandem with the music, and it is precisely this which gives songs such as ‘Unbreakable’ their untouchable quality.
If I have made Sevendust sound like a heavy beast, that’s because they are. Yet, heaviness is just one colour on their palette; this is a band who paint their sound from a wide spectrum. The likes of ‘Threshold’ could trade blows with anyone, but for every skull-shattering moment, there is an equal and opposite reaction, quieter moments to create light and shade. Granted, these brief glimmers of light only serve to make the heavy all the more…heavy, but it creates a duality to songs such as ‘Construct’ which means there’s never a danger of One becoming staid.
‘Misdirection’ brings the album to a thoughtful conclusion, but one that finds Sevendust right on course for a bright future.
- One is released via Napalm Records on 1st May 2026.
Track List:
- One
- Unbreakable
- Is This The Real You
- Threshold
- We Won
- Construct
- Bright Side
- The Drop
- Blood Proce
- Misdirection
