Sevendust
Seasons

The review I'm about to write will be driven more by the simple flow of emotions that this "Season", the fourth album effort by the Atlanta, Georgia combo, has stirred in me and still manages to instill, rather than by a complex discussion on the genre (highly overrated) to which Sevendust can be related.

Our guys have always been considered, rightly or wrongly, as second-tier representatives of the nu-metal/alternative-metal/crossover wave that, starting from the first half of the nineties, has exceeded real expectations, even commercial ones, for a genre that has certainly brought fresh air to a very stagnant musical context. However, inexplicably, it has not been able to maintain that sense of novelty due to the inability (of record labels and fans) to focus only on those bands that knew how to innovate, thus rewarding a countless series of clone bands that saturated the market, leading it to implode and to premature artistic aridity.

This does not seem to be the case for Sevendust, who with the album in question "Season", in my opinion, reach their own creative/compositional peak. Released in 2004, the record releases a remarkable energy perfectly blended with the ability to channel the inherent aggression of the combo towards melodic openings and choruses that instantly imprint themselves in your memory, without being banal, sappy, or worse, tacky and forced.

The final result, achieved by the mix of metal power (with guitars tuned quite low), typical nu dissonances, and doom/stoner rock spirit and reminiscences (are you familiar with the Trouble of that masterpiece "Maniac Frustration"?), a southern blues soul perfectly interpreted by Lajon Witherspoon's warm and alluring voice, is balanced and highly emotional.

There are no filler songs present, each track has its own magic, its own reason and justification for being included in the album, and everything sounds extremely sincere, adrenaline-pumping, and qualitatively elevated, which is quite rare for the genre proposed, so little inclined to provide moments of high emotional potential music.

Moreover, it's pleasant to note how our guys have been able, album after album, to progress, experiment, push their musical boundaries and limits a bit further, gradually abandoning those rough edges, that prosaic and somewhat forced hardness/anger (even and especially at the vocal level, Kornian derived) that until the previous "Animosity" (and the title speaks for itself) sometimes overwhelmed, with little constructive purpose, the still never chaotic melodic lines.

In fact, in this excellent work, there's room for a truly heartfelt and touching acoustic ballad like "Skeleton song", and a song with a strong southern flavor like "Gone", notable for the presence of acoustic inserts that temper the scorching context created by the Connolly/Lowery duo (who after this release will leave the band due to the usual musical divergences) on the guitars.

Other tracks worthy of particular mention are the fiery "Enemy" (dedicated to Dez Fafara, at the time the mind behind the despicable Coal Chamber, with whom drummer Morgan Rose had issues due to significant personal disputes), the powerful title track with a fantastic chorus, the more canonically nu metal "Broken Down" (which feels some influences deriving from Orgy's "Vapor Transmission") and the sulfurous "Separate", which combines a stunning Trouble-like intro with a beautifully melodic and engaging chorus.

 From a strictly technical point of view, "Season" is an album recorded and produced with all the quality credentials given by a significant budget, thus offering powerful and effective sounds for the guitars and a mix designed to highlight our guys' remarkable interpretative ability.

Noteworthy is the excellent vocal performance of Lajon Witherspoon, whose melodic lines (even though he can scream like a madman) are certainly a strength of Sevendust.

 In conclusion, even if the genre repulses you, but you desire good and scorching American rock, look no further and get yourself this little masterpiece.