:: Sevendust - Chapter VII: Hope & Sorrow

Sevendust

There was a time when I was a big fan of Atlanta based rock act Sevendust. The group’s first three releases were all strong and consistent heavy rock based efforts, which helped the band stand out as something different from what was emerging from the burgeoning nu-metal scene at the time. But within a short few years, the band seemed to run out of both steam and ideas. 2003’s ‘Seasons’ in particular sounded like a relatively dull and uninspired compared to past efforts. And while 2005’s ‘Next’ and 2007’s ‘Alpha’ showed a slight return to form for the band, I couldn’t help but feel that I’d heard it all before. None of this however has stopped Sevendust from continuing doing what they do, with the five-piece act making a relatively quick follow-up album, which comes a mere thirteen months after their last release. Unlike their return to a heavier and more aggressive feel on ‘Alpha’, the band have instead focussed on a far more brooding and melodic direction on ‘Chapter VII: Hope & Sorrow’, which carries with it both its pro’s and con’s. After a full minute and a half of industrial effects and loops, ‘Inside’ finally gets off the ground to a flying start with some heavy riffing and Witherspoon going straight for the throat with his aggressive growls. The song itself is a great opening track, with the heavier elements balanced perfectly with the melodic choruses, and inevitably one of Sevendust’s stronger and more memorable efforts in recent times. Much like the opener, both ‘Enough’ and ‘Scapegoat’ are introduced with short industrial instrumentals, which more than help emphasise the extremities in the group’s dynamics (the combination of the heavy and the melodic). On some of the more mid-paced tracks such as ‘Lifeless’, ‘Fear’, and the single ‘Prodigal Son’, the band still manage to impress with Witherspoon’s vocals guiding the overall general tone and direction. Both ‘Contradiction’ and ‘Walk Away’ lean more toward the aggressive side of Sevendust’s character, but tend to feel a little too familiar to sound like anything new or groundbreaking. But that’s not to say that the album isn’t without its surprises. Alter Bridge guitarist Mark Tremonti adds some real magic to the orchestrated and heavy ‘Hope’, while vocalists Chris Daughtry (Daughtry) and Myles Kennedy (Alter Bridge) bring some variation to ‘The Past’ and the strings enhanced ‘Sorrow’ respectively. Having given up in recent years, I have to admit that with ‘Chapter VII: Hope & Sorrow’ Sevendust have once again caught my attention. Just how long the band can maintain doing that, remains to be seen, but for the time being, I can say that I’m at least enjoying Sevendust once again.