At one point in time Sevendust seemed poised for superstardom. Well, the point in time was the early 2000s as they were riding high on a string of Gold certified albums and solid tour packages.

Then as we were approaching the mid-aughts the floor collapsed. Suddenly bands who were regularly playing small arenas and collecting major label royalty checks were out of favor. Sevendust and countless others were lost in the Nu-metal shuffle. Which is a damn shame as this Georgia collective was never really a Nu-metal band and had better songwriting chops than many of their contemporaries.

And the years went by and the various popular hard rock styles (garage rock, emo, metalcore, etc…) came and went with their respective enduring acts and others left on the decline. But as the musical landscape changed Sevendust remained musically consistent as their tenth and latest studio offering Kill the Flaw (7Bros, Asylum) can attest to. The sales haven’t remained as good, but the music has.

The main reason for this musical stability is that much like Deftones, Sevendust rose to prominence during the Nu-metal gravy days, but never really fit that mold. Sevendust was always about working behind Lajon Witherspoon’s strong singing (one of the more underrated vocalists working in rock today), Morgan Rose’s busy drums and John Connolly and Clint Lowery’s crunching guitars.

Look no further than the sweeping choruses of ‘Thank You’ and title track ‘Kill the Flaw.’ It’s still the Sevendust we loved in the 90s, yet we refuse to give them another Active Rock hit while Avenged Sevenfold makes a killing by aping Metallica’s self-titled. But it’s not all nostalgia since they’re adding new facets to their sound as Lowery and Connolly tap into that palm-muting style the kids love so much on ‘Death Dance’ and ‘Chop without sounding like their pandering to what younger generations like (i.e. Korn’s The Path of Totality).

Those who have stuck with Sevendust will have much to enjoy on Kill the Flaw. And even those who have hitched their wagons to other passing genres are always welcome back home.

7.0/10

HANSEL LOPEZ