MattA75's Full Review: Animosity [PA] by Sevendust
When Sevendust released their third album, 2001's Animosity in late 2001, it took me a good three months to pick it up. At the time, I was moving into quieter, less aggressive forms of music, while also rediscovering past rock and roll loves that I hadn't paid attention to in much too long. In addition, with my parents temporary separation in the summer of that year, I had found that angry music had in many ways passed me by.
When I picked up Animosity, it didn't leave my player for a couple of weeks. I really enjoyed it, but it didn't take long before I moved onto other discs, and so Animosity sat on my shelf for a good long time, only to be taken off recently, mostly to reacqauint myself with the boys for their fourth release (out this week), Seasons.
Even as I sit here writing this review, I'm a bit lost as to how I truly feel about this album. Yes, I enjoyed it a lot back then, and the first 2-3 times through in my reacquainting period had made me feel that my first instincts were right: the album is good. However, as I've listened to this album over and over for a solid 2 weeks now, I find the material to be not nearly as interesting as I first felt. That being said, I still think this disc is better than their self titled debut, which despite being granted "nu-metal classic" status by many rock fans, is nothing more than 1 classic track wrapped around some other decent songs and a whole lot of filler.
Take Trust for example. This song is the penultimate example of a trap Sevendust falls into much much too often. While the band utilizes some nice vocal melodies and harmonies, as well as an effort to put some of the music in the background rather than bruising you up front, the chorus comes in and it's as if Beavis and Butthead themselves wrote the music for it: "duh duh duh duh duhhhh, duh-duh-duh-duh-duh." And then the screaming over and over of "TRUST!!!" which in my Epinion, completely wrecks an otherwise decent song. The band falls into this pattern again on the very next track, Crucified. After coming up with a good vocal hook over music that isn't entirely overbearing, the band has to go and get all testosterone heavy and become completely overbearing.
With that being said, there are some real attempts by the band at diversity on this record, furthering a development that really started with Home. Xmas Day, featuring some surprisingly soulful lead parts by guitarist Clint Lowery. Lead vocalist Lajon Witherspoon helps out for some nice harmonizing, and to be honest, I think it took a bit of balls to put this on the record, given the heaviness that many of the band's biggest fans seem to demand on each track.
The band did score a minor hit with Angel's Son, a song originally recorded for the Lynn Strait tribute CD, Strait Up (Strait was the vocalist for Snot, but he died tragically in late 2000). Many felt Angel's Son would finally break the band into the mainstream, but oddly, to this date, Animosity has actually sold less copies than either of its two predecessors. Angel's Son is an absolutely gorgeous song with some very nice acoustic guitar work from Lowery and John Connelly, and Witherspoon gives the song a mourning, yet hopeful, feel that truly carries it.
For those reading this who think that the band has forgotten how to rock well, think again. The opening track, T.O.A.B. (T*ts on a Boar), which has a very nice power chord based riff, is an excellent start to the album, although some will bemoan that the chugging once again happens. The first single, Praise, is a solid rocker in it's own right, with one of the better riffs that Sevendust has written thus far, and the dueling vocals between Witherspoon and drummer Morgan Rose bring the last tad of intensity that this song needed to make it truly worthwhile.
Also worthwhile are Shine, which has a great vocal hook, excellent swirling guitar from Lowery, and excellent fills from Rose. And lest we forget the angriest song on the record, Redefine, which just sounds evil (not to mention yummy), and the almost ethereal sounding Follow, which picks up steam as it heads into its chorus.
While I find a decent amount to like about this album, there are also more than a few spots where I become bored with the generic guitar riffing ("Tonight's top story, Sevendust, they've never met a power chord they didn't like!"). Honestly, the chugga chuggas are in full effect just about throughout this record, and it creates a certain aura of staleness around many songs.
All in all though, I think Animosity is eminently more enjoyable than the band's debut, but not quite as good as their sophomore effort, Home. Therefore, I'll put it right in between the 2: 3.5 stars, which we'll round up to four, mostly due to Angel's Son, which now stands with Black as Sevendust's biggest musical accomplishment.
The nu-metal kings return with their highly-anticipated and acclaimed new album Animosity. The album shows the band retaining their trademark heavines...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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