Sevendust Album: “Alpha”

Before this album was released, I was reading a lot of reviews saying that its sound is a return to the style they had on their 1999 album, "Home." But that seemed slightly inaccurate to me because I thought that their last album, "Next", was more of a return to that sound. THIS album seems more balls-out heavy. I've also heard several Sevendust fans including my good friend say that this is possibly their best album yet.

While I must admit that this is an awesome album, I think "Animosity" will always be their masterpiece to me. However, I can say that its probably their best album since "Animosity." The second you press play on your stereo, the album bursts into the fast n' heavy tune "Deathstar." The album's first single is "Driven" and it reminds me a lot of "Ugly" from their last album. "Burn" clocks in somewhere around 9 minutes long, but to me this track seems like 2 songs put together as a medley rather than being just one long song. But it's definitely among the most powerful songs they've written. The album closes with the title-track "Alpha" and it's one of those very heavy "f-you" type songs. This album is a very good example of Sevendust at their loudest and heaviest. My only complaint is that the album didn't offer up much variety. Even though I prefer Sevendust to be heavy, I think 2 or 3 melodic songs are necessary to balance an album out, but this album is pretty much one cruncher after another. This album also doesn't offer up much of a change in the band's style, but I think that's ok because Sevendust sounds good as they are. This is definitely a great album by the band that you should consider picking up.

It's WAAAY better than their last album (2005's "Next"). But that's not saying much. It seems that since founding guitarist and principal song-writer Clint Lowery left in late 2004, the band has lacked the spark that ignited the fire in albums such as "Animosity" and "Seasons." It has it's high points, such as the energetic "Deathstar" and catchy lead-single "Driven", but the album as a whole also has many boring lows that make me wonder if Sevendust is beyond repair.

I have never posted a review for an album before, but had to review Alpha from Sevendust, as I am a longtime fan of theirs, and own all of their albums, and Alpha is a bona fide monster of an album. In my opinion, Alpha is Sevendust's best and most compelte album, and it is one of the best metal/rock albums that has ever been made.

All of the reviews that have given this gem of an album 5 stars, I think have hit the nail on the head. I don't think there is one bad song on this album, and there are at least 6 or 7 downright legendary songs on this CD. More on that in a second.

Strangely, and It doesn't seem like everyone shares these feelings, but I think that every album they have put out has been pretty much excellent in my opinion. I also think that Next although a bit uneven, with a little too much screaming in some places (I prefer Lajon's majestic vocals), was their best work, up until Alpha. It contained, I believe the best individual songs that they have ever written. Between Failure, too ugly, See and Believe, Pieces, and This life, as well as Silence and Hero, I thought Next was just bonecrunching and outstanding. Then again, Seasons and Animosity were outstanding as well, but Next was better in my opinion. Strangely I thought Home was the weakest of the albums even though Denial is one of the greatest songs ever written, and to this day remains that way. that being said, Home is a great album.

Alpha outdoes Next, and everything else they have done every way. Burn may just well be one of the greatest songs ever put on a CD. ANd Under, confessions of hatred, Aggression, Driven, Feed, Suffer, Beg to Differ and ALpha are all masterpieces or near masterpieces. Death Star is great as well. I think I named pretty much the entire album. It's that good.

Even the screaming, for some odd reason does not phase me too much on Alpha. It just fits a little more smoothly. What bothers me about the way Sevendust gets treated is that for some reason, if Sevendust revert to their majestic vocals only, they are somehow seen as softer than they were. And if they go in hard as nails, they are called repetitive, and not evolving. I don't get it, every band evolves,and is allowed to evolve, all except for Sevendust. It just seems that they are the only band that is not allowed to evolve musically. I hear people complain that Sevendust needs to make up their minds as to whether they want to be hard as nails or melodic.

Well, I say this. Sevendust doesn't have to do a g-----n m------f----g thing. The diversity of their albums is what makes them so outstanding. On their worst day, they are the best band out there, and on their best day, they are simply one of the greatest bands of all time. ALpha accomplishes all of the things that I am sure they wanted to do, and brings it all together, and it's one of the hardest albums I have heard. I don't care what anyone says, screaming does not make an album hard. It's the bonecrunching distortion and double bass that does it. Alpha is as hard musically as music can be. Period.

One final note. Sevendust are gifted, they have a right to hit us between the eyes in different ways every time they come out with something new. So if their next album is unplugged with no screaming and just singing, it will probably be a masterpiece in its own right. That being said, as long as they keep returning with the super hard albums, I look forward to everything they put out. I'll keep being a fan. Maybe this is more of a diatribe than a review, but I don't care. I just hope that everyone that reads what I wrote comes to only one conclusion. That they need to buy Alpha, and support this legendary band. Thanks for your time.

Sevendust have long been one of the hardest working and most likeable bands in heavy rock. For the past ten years, Sevendust have maintained a very consistent and reliable schedule: play about a billion shows, take a brief break only once every other year to record a new album, and then hit the road again. And yet, for all their hard work, this Georgia-based quintet remain one of metal's most underrated bands too, because none of their records have ever reached platinum certification in sales.

Album number six, this year's "Alpha," is Sevendust's heaviest and most confident-sounding efforts of the several years (and maybe since their self-titled debut dropped in 1997). It's definitely a worthy addition to Sevendust's discography, because it's filled with the usual goodies: strong, hefty, churning riffs (from guitarist John Connolly), thumping drums, muscular, crunching rhythms, energetic, call-and-response vocals, and emotional lyrics. And the band members have clearly honed their musical skills quite a bit over this past decade, because "Alpha" boasts an increased instrumental acumen (for example, Connolly has started playing an occasional guitar solo), and matured lyrics (many of the lyrics were inspired by drummer Morgan Rose's personal suffering over the past two years.) Plus, a few of these songs even see Sevendust taking small experimental steps.

Unfortunately, "Alpha" does not have very many strong or memorable hooks, and almost no instantly catchy parts. Plus, none of these twelve tracks has the potential to be a hit single or a great mosh pit anthem (like, say, "Enemy," from 2003's "Seasons"). Thus, it will probably take more than one listen in order for the songs to stick with and leave a lasting impression on the listener.

That's certainly not a fatal flaw, though, because every song on here is a keeper. "Alpha" opens with a knockout one-two punch: First, the very heavy, visceral and punishing opener, ("Deathstar") immediately greets you with a powerful blow, and the energetic, equally-as-heavy "Clueless" leaves you almost totally crushed. "Beg To Differ" and "Story of Your Life," which boast pounding, machine gun riffs that fall like a ton of bricks, are also of note for being the two other heaviest tracks on here. Some of the album's more experimental songs include "Aggression," which is more-or-less a ballad that builds slow from a Nine Inch Nails-esque piano intro, and the surprisingly angry and thrashy set-closer (the title track). But track eleven, "Burn," is definitely the biggest departure. It's a nine-minute-long epic that segues from a restrained intro into a heavy mid-section with punching, blasting power chords, and fades back down again into a lengthy outro with tribal drums, cool piano keys, acoustic strumming, and dreary vocals. Other highlights include the prominent, beeping bass lines and nice, soaring, soulful choruses on "Driven"; the chunky, bullying riffs and two impressive guitar solos on "Feed"; and frontman Lajon Witherspoon's absolutely beautiful singing on "Under."

Due to the above-mentioned lack of hooks, it's highly doubtful that this will become the long-overdue breakthrough album that finally catapults Sevendust into hard rock superstardom. Nevertheless, "Alpha" is still a good, wholly solid album that ranks among the group's best and most consistent works), and all fans should be completely satisfied with it.

Sevendust sound as just as powerful and ferocious as they did on 1999's "Home" album. This is a quite a mighty comback to the lackluster 2003 release "Seasons" and 2005's "Next". As someone who has grown up with Sevendust, and seen them live about 6 times, I've watched them transition through several phases. From downright heavy ("Self-Titled", "Home"), to creative ("Animosity"), to mellowed out ("Seasons"), to a little bland ("Next"), this album is a return to the late 1990's sound that made Sevendust a standout among hard-rockers. I think the album cover denotes that.

Its hard to believe Sevendust still carries the same sound as they did so long ago. They prove that their fans are the most important thing to them, and not mainstream rock radio. "Deathstar" and "Alpha" are the album's two most ferocious tracks, which carry pure aggression from start to finish. "Driven", "Under", and "Beg to Differ" have a radio-friendly, but still hard rocking, feel to them. "Clueless", "Suffer", and "Story of your Life" are all traditional sounding Sevendust songs, with powerful verses and melodic choruses. "Feed" utilizies the familiar sounding wah-wah intro (very similar to "Next's" 9th track "Desertion"), and hits hard. The ending of "Feed" is capped with brutal drumming (dare I say...Fear Factory-esque?). "Aggression" and "Burn" are the two most unique tracks, with the former being quite lengthy and the latter sounding more like a ballad than anything else.

All in all, Sevendust never really stray from the framework upon which they have already built themselves. Some may say this is a bad thing, but I don't. They will retain their most valuable asset, their fans. Its quite a breath of fresh air to hear a band, with all its members nearing the age of 40, making music this intense.