Lajon Witherspoon says that SEVENDUST's new album will definitely arrive this year. The follow-up to 2018's "All I See Is War" was once again tracked at Studio Barbarosa in Gotha, Florida with producer Michael "Elvis" Baskette, who has previously worked with ALTER BRIDGE and SLASH, among others.
Witherspoon spoke about the new SEVENDUST LP during an interview with "Cutter's Rockcast". Asked what kind of discussions he and his bandmates have had about a possible release date for the new album, the vocalist said (see video below): "It's kind of like being all at a roundtable and everybody talking, and at the end of it, we really still don't know what's going on with what's going on in the world. The last time we had a conference through text, we were talking about starting to tour, but being able to tour, we're gonna be able to do that in towns and cities that are allowing it. And who knows? That could be four months down the [line], or two months. I don't know. The way things are looking, people are partying like it's 1999. I don't know what is gonna happen. But that's our plan — to make sure we're out there. Not like a full-on, SEVENDUST is banging down the doors and playing every city every night, but hopefully we'll get to some happy medium where we can come in and do three or four nights in different towns that are safe and we're going and abiding by [the rules] until we know what's going on with this."
Pressed about a possible release date for the new SEVENDUST LP, Lajon said: "I do know that the album will be coming out within this year. We're going to make sure that that happens; I think I'm able to say that. That being said, how ironic is it that we had this album, and we thought it was gonna be out by now, or around now, and we did a cover, [SOUNDGARDEN's] 'The Day I Tried To Live', and that was probably one of the hardest things for me to grasp my head around. I love every Chris Cornell song, every SOUNDGARDEN song, and I would love to do it all… So I decided to put all my heart and soul and energy [into it], like I do with anything, and I thought it turned out beautiful. But who would have ever thought that it would be the first thing that we would release from this album? But in these times, that song, for whatever reason, seemed to be so fitting to what's going on. And we just thought it would be really a good move for us to get something out there from SEVENDUST in these crazy times, and that song, I think, was a good move, and I hope that people enjoy it."
SEVENDUST's cover of "The Day I Tried To Live" was released last month. The band chose the track to return to the airwaves with after seeing the societal changes happening around the globe. The lyrical message of learning to live a better life is as relevant today as they were when the song was first released in 1994.
The lyric video for SEVENDUST's version of "The Day I Tried To Live" was created by Wayne Joyner (known for his work with DREAM THEATER). It features a lone figure walking down a road thinking about his life with clips of the band woven throughout.
"All I See Is War" was released in May 2018. It marked the group's first album for Rise Records, the Oregon-based metal and hard rock label which was purchased by BMG in 2015.
SEVENDUST released four singles and videos from "All I See Is War": "Dirty", "Not Original", "Medicated" and "Risen".
In 2016, SEVENDUST received its first-ever Grammy nomination after two decades together as a band. "Thank You", the debut single from 2015's "Kill The Flaw", got the nod for "Best Metal Performance".
