Unitron "Get up, get up, get up, get up, get up"

One of the best "jumpdafuckup" metal albums out there. Usually whenever I'm inclined to spin a Sevendust album, it's usually the debut, but gave Home a full listen for the first time in years and it holds up as a close second. It's a bit more polished, but in a way that gives more punch to the guitar which benefits the pure nu metal style that they got on this album. Also I can swear I hear the bass rattling in some of the songs on here, which is an added bonus.

I think this is where Sevendust had the best balance of melody and aggression, as it mostly comes together nicely here. Denial has a fantastic blend of the two, but they don't add unnecessary melodic choruses to songs like Rumble Fish which wouldn't be the mosh-ready anthem it is if they did. For those of you who remember the ATV: Offroad Fury games on PS2, Denial will probably bring a lot of nostalgia.

Sevendust has kept on going, but their first two still hold most of their great stuff. They focused a bit too much on melodic alt-metalcore later on for my tastes, but if you just want some good heavy grooves this delivers.

martindavey87 While Sevendust’s second album, 1999’s ‘Home’, is a step up from its predecessor, it’s still a fairly average album at best. There’s a noticeable improvement in the band’s sound and performance, and a number of solid tracks make this album superior to the group’s debut.

With nu metal on the rise, Sevendust’s “alternative” brand of metal was starting to gain the band some recognition, with a good balance of groove, heaviness and melody, the Atlanta-based five-piece are starting to sound a lot more polished with their sound. In particular, vocalist Lajon Witherspoon’s interesting mixture of singing, shouting and rapping is starting to really suit the music better than before. The guitars are also sounding a lot more confident, with the twin-guitar format being utilized to full effect.

Personal highlights for me include ‘Headtrip’, ‘Rumble Fish’, ‘Licking Cream’, ‘Denial’, ‘Bender’ and the title track. While a number of songs on this album seem similar and repetitive, these ones stand out, and show a band that may have finally stumbled upon a sound that’ll give them their own identity.

‘Home’, ultimately, isn’t a bad album, and has its fair share of memorable moments. But it’s just not an album I’d consider coming back to very often. Sevendust are certainly showing potential for greater things though, and with the nu metal subgenre on the verge of taking over the world (this is back in 1999, remember), it’ll be interesting to see if the band can fulfil that potential on later releases.

martindavey87 Sevendust have always been one of those bands that you just have to respect for their sheer tenacity and persistence. Their self-titled debut, released in 1997, came at a time when metal was pretty much dead to mainstream audiences. All the big names had been relegated to smaller venues and arenas, while bands like Korn and Limp Bizkit were helping build up the nu metal subgenre that was still a couple of years from truly exploding worldwide.

With that said, Sevendust's debut album tends to just quietly sit there in the background. It wasn't groundbreaking, or genre-defining, nor does it really make much noise or impact. It's just there. Mixing elements of nu metal, groove metal, hardcore music and some (sort of) rapping, it's a bit of a mess and not overly exciting.

The band will go on to write better things, but for the most part the riffs here just tend to plod along with about as much enthusiasm as a cow in an abattoir. Lajon Witherspoon's vocals are mostly flat and tend to fit in with the music awkwardly. There's just not a lot here that resonates with me.

If I had to pick out any highlights though, the songs 'Black' (easily the best of the album), 'Terminator' and 'Speak' are all alright. They're not really all that memorable though, and other than popping up on any compilations, I'm not likely to go back to them very often.

Overall, 'Sevendust' is a pretty disappointing album by a band who will go on to garner a small cult following. The foundations are certainly there, with the band laying down a blueprint for where they're going, but otherwise, this is a fairly unremarkable debut.

Unitron Sevendust is, in my opinion, one of the most consistent yet sadly forgotten bands out there. They blasted onto the metal scene in 1997 with their self-titled debut, which I think is both their best album and an underrated groove metal classic.

Despite the 90's being the age of groove metal, 1997 was somewhat of a low point with only Grip Inc. being the only groove metal band to really release a notable album apart from Sevendust. Sevendust's debut is one of those surprise masterpieces that wakes up a seemingly dying scene, but unfortunately this is one that went more or less unnoticed.

The thing that sets Sevendust's debut apart from other groove metal bands, is their variation. They mix crushing thrash and groovy riffs reminiscent of Chaos A.D.-era Sepultura with the dark melody of bands like Alice in Chains. Throw in a bit of industrial in the vein of Varga, and you got an idea of the sound on here. Songs like "Terminator" and the absolutely crushing "Born to Die", deliver the pure groove, while "Bitch" and "My Ruin" combine the groovy riffs with bittersweet melodies. "Too Close to Hate" begins with haunting ambiance before beating you over the head with punishing riffs.

Lajon Witherspoon has a very powerful voice, being able to sing beautifully as well as deliver gruff barks with great conviction. Guitarists Clint Lowery and John Connolly as well can contrast the clean and the rough. Just take a listen to "Bitch" especially, and the contrast between melodic vocals and acoustics and gruff vocals and crunching guitar works very well. The production is quite different from how it would sound on later releases from the band, having really raw quality which I think the album benefits from.

A sadly underrated album, and a truly stellar debut. If you want a perfect blend of groove and alternative metal, look no further than this killer classic. Hope you found this review helpful, feel free to comment!

Unitron Sevendust - Time Travelers & Bonfires

'Time Travelers & Bonfires' is the tenth studio album by alternative metal band Sevendust. If you're expecting Sevendust's usual brutal yet melodic sound, you won't find that here. However, if you're looking for acoustics and some acoustic versions of some of their classics, then you've got that right here and ready for listening.

Usually when a hard rock or metal band does an acoustic album, such as those 'Unplugged' albums, I find them to be really boring. Every time I've heard one of those types of album, I find myself to be bored out of my mind because everything seems stripped down and doesn't sound right at all. The songs don't seem to be played how they should, with it sounding like their played slower. Thankfully, this is not the case with Sevendust's venture into acoustics.Unlike many acoustic albums, half of 'Time Travelers...' are new songs instead of having mostly or all acoustic versions of old songs. The new songs are of course acoustic, yet they still sound like Sevendust.

The opening song 'Come Down' has a sort of melancholy feel at the beginning before getting melodic vocals and guitars which is typical of Sevendust's recent material. Many of the songs I can't really describe any other way then an acoustic version of the band. However, there are no aggressive vocals like there usually are, but I think that's for the best as far as acoustics go. Some of the songs also have guitar solos, so I guess it can't be called entirely acoustic. The guitar solos fit really well though, not sounding out of place at all. They really add something to the sound, especially with the song 'Upbeat Sugar'. I love the dark menacing melody of the solo here, probably one of their best solos. Probably my favorite song on the album is 'Bonfire', which has a great bluesy solo and a nice jumpy beat. The hop of the guitars go great with Lajon Witherspoon's vocals.

What about the acoustic versions of older songs? Well, they actually sound great! Unlike what I've noticed with a lot of 'Unplugged' albums, a song like 'Crucified' is played really well except replacing the electric with acoustic. A couple of them are kind of boring, like the acoustic version of 'Denial', but for the most point they are really enjoyable.

Overall, I typically don't like acoustic albums from hard rock and metal bands as stated before, but this surprised me. Sevendust showed me that a metal band can still kick ass with an acoustic album. I highly recommend this album to any fan of Sevendust or acoustic albums. Hope you found this review helpful.

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