After spending some time in other projects for a short while, the members of Sevendust have gotten back together and produced a new album. Normally, in these cases, a band’s sound can totally change for better or for worse. And Sevendust fans come back album after album for their particular brand of catchy alt metal. I’m sure they’re all hoping that after a stint in other projects that they’ll still be able to amaze them.
Well, it turns out Black Out The Sun pretty much sounds exactly the same as Sevendust usually does. But, Black Out The Sun actually begins pretty well enough. After a short intro track, “Faithless” explodes out with the sound that the band is well known for. That one song is a good cross-section of the band and the rest of the album. They have some cool riffs, pretty decent heavier sections, as well as more melodic and emotional sections. It’s not a bad song to start the album.
But unfortunately, the rest of Black Out The Sun really just offers nothing else but those attributes identified in the cross section, and that ends up getting really stagnant and just pretty boring in the end. I’m not really complaining of a lack of heaviness or anything like that, it’s more of just a lack of anything else that's interesting. The similar structure of the songs get tiring after a short while, and there aren’t many songs at all that truly stand out from the rest. The melodic and catchy choruses are one of the things I look forward to on a Sevendust album. And it seemed like the songs on this album were trying to reach for that level again, but couldn't quite get there. The track “Picture Perfect” actually wasn’t that bad, but is only part of a select few that are better than “ok.”
Overall, Black Out The Sun was simply pretty boring. The songs aren’t very memorable, and just makes the album pretty stale. Sevendust has definitely produced some winners in the past, but this one just didn’t do it. But maybe after some more time together, after spending time apart in other projects, perhaps they’ll hit it out of the park again. But for now, it’s best just to forget about this one.
6.5/10
"Decay"
