SEVENDUST | All I See Is War | Album Review

Sevendust is on their twelfth studio album. For many, that could be hard believe considering the band has been going strong since the late 90's and have never even attempted to fall off the face of the Earth, while some people reading that statement who only know of Sevendust's earlier material and nothing else will wonder where the heck they've been in the past multitude of years they have lacked focus on this band. But the truth is that this band is no stranger to consistency and nonstop working. That is a claim anybody can back up and not feel like they're doing any sort of disservice. Sevendust has consistently toured, created music, and overall has seemingly avoided the hardships that many bands of the nu-metal days have experienced. This is even though some albums from this band have been more of the same ("Next", "Alpha"), while others have experimented with success or have been all-around great discs that deserve attention ("Animosity", "Cold Day Memory"). Now in 2018, "All I See Is War" enters the fold as their first album produced for their new record label in Rise Records. This is also their first album produced by Michael "Elvis" Baskette, whom is responsible for the overall sound of this album, and it is reported that Sevendust chose him in order to "reboot" the band's style because of his close inspection of every detail of his produced material. All of this is definitely respectable as bands can often release samey or stale discs that don't leave as much impact as time goes on. Sevendust have promising ambitions for the overall outcome of this project, but what needs to be seen is how this affects the twelve chosen tracks for "All I See Is War". 

A grand total of three promoted singles were used to tease the latest effort from Sevendust. The first one of those, "Dirty" is the album's opener and really lets you in on what styles and ideas this disc will tackle as a whole. "Dirty" is a bit less aggressive than the other leadoff singles Sevendust has done. Granted, this does have some of the key aggression that Sevendust has perfected with several albums and even has drummer Morgan Rose scream the album title in the background a few times always complimenting the powerful vocals of frontman Lajon Witherspoon well, but there's really a sense that they're boosting up the melody instead of going all out on the angry and headbanging song structures. It also has the hooks that longtime Sevendust fans are looking for in addition to a fantastic guitar solo. The melodic nature of the album continues with the surprisingly soft "Not Original" which sounds a bit different in this band's favor, even compared to other Sevendust ballad styled songs. This really makes it one of this album's best tracks and one of the most unique songs that Sevendust has made in a long time. The other pre-released song, "Medicated", is typically what people would want to hear from this band with an excellent chorus that features good vocalwork and competent riffage. There's definitely effort put into these songs, and what is relieving to hear is that the majority of this album has some effort placed into it as well. 

The overall tone for this album is surprisingly different for a Sevendust album. Don't get me wrong, there are still some tropes to expect from Sevendust and songs that will easily remind fans of previous works such as the aforementioned "Medicated" as well as "Risen" and "Descend". But many of these tracks, while still drenched in the identity of Sevendust, are proof that this band is not just  trying to release the same album with the sole difference being the lyrics are different. Sonically, these tracks just deliver a lot more of the diverse side, even more so than their already great previous disc "Kill The Flaw". Maybe it's the need for a more melodic backdrop or it's because of the meticulous production and the band's statement about renewal, but some of these dynamics are ones that they have only seldomly played with. The second half of this album features more of these with the piano that is present throughout a good majority of album highlight "Moments" and the switch between soft verses and heavy choruses in "Life Deceives You". Even on songs such as "God Bites His Tongue", "Sickness", and "Unforgiven", these wouldn't exactly fit on other Sevendust albums, but that's a very complimentary statement to make. Almost everything about this album has a great amount of appeal to it, especially tracks such as "Sickness", "Moments", and the singles "Dirty" and "Not Original". There really isn't much to complain about here. 

For the entirety of "All I See Is War", we are presented with only a couple tracks that are below the standard of this album in the form of "Cheers" and the somewhat weak and expected album closer "The Truth", but even these fit well within and there really is not as much harm done with these tracks. It's very difficult to officially set in stone where this ranks among the rather long list of discs that Sevendust has made considering I officially got into them through "Cold Day Memory" and albums like "Home", "Animosity", and "Seasons" are all albums I consistently come back to whenever I'm in the mood to hear Sevendust. One thing I'm happy to say is that this truly is one of their best albums, although not their absolute best. This could potentially open the door for more creative ideas for the band and it will definitely be interesting to see where this band goes on future releases. It's definitely one of the most unique discs Sevendust has crafted, and it's certain that longtime fans will feel somewhat similarly as they listen to this material. Even as most of the members are pushing fifty years old, it doesn't seem like their musical abilities and knack for good songwriting and music writing is aging with them which is hard to really accomplish. It's safe to say that if you approach this album and pop it in, all you'll see is yet another positive experience. 

RATING: 8/10 

What did you think about the record? Was it good? Was it bad? Let me know in the comments below. And of course, these are only my opinions. If your opinions are different, awesome! If they're similar, then that's great, too. So, don't hesitate- comment to me about it down below. Take care.