SEVENDUST TO CALL IT A DAY AFTER NEXT ALBUM?
Long-time MetalSucks readers know that Axl and I have an unnaturally high level of love for Sevendust. If you’ve got a problem with that kindly stop reading this post now and spare us your butthurt claims that Sevendust aren’t “metal enough” for a metal blog.
So, it seems as if Sevendust might be getting ready to hang up their cleats for good, or are at least considering it. This wouldn’t be surprising if I believed it were actually going to happen… which I do not.
Why would these guys consider calling it a day? They still sell more records in their first week of release than most metal bands do in an entire album cycle.
Well, Sevendust have really been through the ringer career-wise; it’s never been easy for them. They never had the mainstream popularity of many of their peers (but those qualities that kept them from being the “it” thing are the very same ones that make people like Axl and me such big fans, and I’d argue those qualities are also the reason Sevendust never suffered the wrath of nu-metal’s decline). Simply put, no mega-selling records meant no mega-dollars and all the benefits that follow. It’s always been a struggle: grinding it out on the road CONSTANTLY for a number of years, dealing with a bad deal at TVT, a botched attempt at their own label and, finally, ending up on Asylum Records, a label that has… what other bands exactly? Sevendust insisted on only doing headline tours under their old management, and while new management seems to be landing them the big gigs (Mayhem, Uproar, Soundwave, etc) there’s been a number of cancellations of late with no real explanations. Through all of this they had to deal with the departure of their lead guitarist and primary producer/songwriter/genius, three so-so albums that saw them just treading water, and the eventual reunion that followed.
In short, Sevendust have had to deal with a lot throughout their career, they’re all in their mid 30s now with wives and children, and it makes sense why they’d want to call it a day in favor of something a lot more stable. Only thing is, Sevendust is a pretty darned stable existence for these dudes, save for the touring and being away from their families part. As I said at the top of this article, the Sevendust brand is still extremely viable; they’ve weathered the storm. Their last album, Cold Day Memory, sold nearly 27,000 units first week; most metal bands would kill for numbers like that. They can still headline 1,000+ capacity venues pretty much anywhere in the U.S.; most metal bands would kill for that kind of sustained success too. The five members of Sevendust can still make a decent living with this band, so I guess it really just comes down to how badly they really want to step away and be with their families and what other viable options they’ve all got in their lives to bring in some dough. Clint Lowery could produce other bands (maybe with his brother?) and Morgan Rose could surely find work as a session drummer or fill-in, but the rest of the dudes? I really don’t know.
So we’ll see what happens. In a tweet following the above, Morgan Rose said, “we love u guys n we are FOR SURE doing another record n touring it,” so it’s entirely possible they have such a great time in the following album cycle that they decide to keep on going, or they realize they just can’t afford to quit right now. Meanwhile let’s just look forward for another Sevendust album; Cold Day Memory was tits.
-VN
