Alpha [2 LP White & Silver Vinyl] [Rocktober 2018 Exclusive]

While all the alt-metal signifiers are firmly in place on Sevendust's sixth studio album--thrashy drumming, mesmerizing guitar heavyosity courtesy of Sonny Mayo--Sevendust stands apart from their peers in their attention to the rhythm. On songs like "Driven," chunky, riff-heavy verses burst into half-time choruses that ensnare and explode like land mines. Lajon Witherspoon's nuanced vocals also take surprising turns, from yowling to soul-baring crooning to something indefinably celestial. The band is not shy about adding the odd production touch here and there, like the bursts of rhythmic static mid-way through "Suffer," the effectively creepy spoken-word vocal intro to "Confession of Hatred," and hypnotic piano tinklings that precede the machine-gun guitars on "Aggression."