Sevendust : "One"

 Atlanta metal groovers Sevendust took their 15th trip into the studio. The thing about this album is that it really depends on which album you lost interest in them on or if you stuck around. For me, “Home” was the last album I was invested in before it became clear it was time for the bu-metal bandwagon to roll on. But the very fact that the band has had a large enough audience to keep making over a dozen records in the new millennium means that they have enough fans who will find this to be a logical next step, as it retains the big riffs and soulful vocals that define the band. 

Fewer riffs share common ground with Disturbed and Korn. Witherspoon's fluid vocal melodies help to guide the songs into avenues that side-step what your typical arena-rocking metal band is doing these days.  But this is not 1999 and 2026; someone who is a fan of bands like Frozen Soul and 200 Stab Wounds might not find this to be metal at all. This is a valid perspective as well, since a song like “Threshold”  certainly feels more like rock n roll that happens to have the guitar dialed in more like a metal band, but if they were 6-string Les Pauls plugged directly into Marshall amps, it might have more in common with their tourmates Alterbridge.

Speaking of production, knobs were dialed just right for what they do on “We Won”. It has a mix that gives the vocals ample room to create one of the album’s catchiest songs. This also goes to show that we typically think of pop music as being more contingent on a good producer, but one clearly helps more guitar-driven music as well. The guitar solo that soars out of this song works off melody more than shred, which is a respectable choice. “Construct” brings the focus back to a heavier feel that the kids of 2026 might more easily define as metal.  

Things ebb back toward the more melodic side of the spectrum on “Bright Side”. It’s what Lajon does with his voice on the verses that really serves as the key selling performance, as it’s both powerful and heartfelt in a manner that is hard to fake. It’s also impressive that his voice has held up so well during the past three decades.” The Drop.” works off a more syncopated riff that recalls their earlier work.  The chorus feels like it’s beginning to follow a formula.  Granted, this formula has kept their fans clicking play years later, so it is understandable why they would want to play it safe. 

Of course, a song called “Blood Price’ is bound to find the band digging in and bringing a heavier feel. But riffs and barked sections of vocals could just as easily be found on any Gojira album. Just because it works does not make it original, nor is the band really reinventing the wheel here, but they are writing some catchy-ass songs. “Misdirection’ ends the album on a more introspective and melodic note, with the focus placed on vocal harmonies, almost like something Stone Sour would do. This is certainly the album the band set out to make. After having fourteen previous trips into the studio, these guys have it down to a science, and they continue to sound relevant rather than jumping on the nostalgia train of a nu-metal revival. After all these years, Sevendust continues to do Sevendust perfectly, so for that I will give this album a 9, but the chances are slim I will feel the need to listen to this album again, but I wouldn't call myself a Sevendust fan either.Dropping on Napalm Records.

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The Top 40 Nu-Metal Albums - 30 to 21

As we continue to delve deeper into our list of the Top 40 Nu-Metal albums, things begin to require a more objective view in order to shed the sense of nostalgia carried for certain albums from this era. These are the forty albums from the genre that have best stood the test of time. We have not leaned too  heavily on  any one band, in fact there is only one band that made a large enough contribution to perhaps the genre’s entire existence to merit more than one entry, These are not the album with singles that got the most plays from Carson Daily or sold the most units back in the day when bands sold albums, but the ones with the best songs. Popularity means nothing, as sheep will just follow the leader. I am also not just limiting it to the mid to late 90s. There are plenty of nu-metal albums released recently that got right what bands before them did not catch onto, as well as a few that preceded the label of nu-metal. 

 Don’t be quick to break out the cardboard just yet, as album that relied solely on rapping are in the minority, as they all ended up sounding like what the Beastie Boys did on “Looking Down the Barrel of a Gun”, and if your entire career can not exceed the dynamic range of a single Beastie Boys album, then chances are you are not the best of any genre. I also am standing fast by the metal part, this meant excluding a few great albums by bands who were more post-hardcore or even just intense rock albums that were not metal. Don’t expect to see the Beastie Boys on here either, if you can’t understand they don’t belong on a metal list, then it’s time to drown yourself in the next convenient body of water you can find. With that let’s dig into our Top 40 nu-metal albums.

30-Nonpoint - "To the Pain" 2005

By the fourth album they had the formula dialed in airtight. Their songwriting managed to be pretty fucking working off syncopated guitars working off vocal repetition. Not fully as committed to the hip hop side of the equation that can be hear in the phrasing of Elias's verses, which in and of themselves work better than most band's choruses. By 2005 the transition into the era of Myspace had begun and these guys managed to be relevant in that context.

29-Papa Roach-"Infest' 2000

 Yeah ya know your life being cut into pieces , but there are also 11 other songs on this album. Which by the way is their second album. If you like this genre of music and have only heard the single then you need to do yourself a favor and give them whole thing a listen. It's infectious in the explosive energy it hits you with. Spitfire vocals are balanced with sung hooks, and has on of the most in your face mixes.

   

 28-Issues- "Beautiful Oblivion" 2019

 When you think about boy bands with guitars like Linkin Park that emerged from this scene, this band was much more honest in how they woven their pop leanings in with the metal side of their sound, into one sinewy beast that held deadly choruses which got stuck in your head. A prime example of a band that learned from those that came before them.

   

27-Sevendust-"Home" 1999

Many might be partial to their 1997 debut. The sophomore album is more polished where it counts , which is namely the songwriting. The vocals begin to explore more soulful places, along with both Chino and Skin contributing guest vocals .

   

 26 Bush -"The Art of Survival" 2022

Thanks to Chris Traynor the former guitarist of Orange 9 MM, a band who came close to making the list, this band gained a heavier edge that reached the point of near perfect songwriting with last year's release, not the grunge band you might remember from the 90s, but I guess divorce added the extra edge of anger Gavin needed.

   

25-In This Moment- "Blood" 2012

They started off in a much different place, trying to exceed their grasp in terms of heaviness. This album found them settling into a place that was a better fit. At times the album sounds like if Katy Perry was fronting KMFDM, but the blend of pop hooks and industrial strength metal made for effective grooves that pay homage to this era.

   

 

 24- Guano Apes - "Proud Like a God" 1997

 

This German band did not get the recognition they deserved back in the day. Front by the diminutive Sandra Nasic, who larger than life voice amped up the impact of the slapped bass groove and dynamic anthems. They might be the least metal band on this list, but they packed enough punch in the pit to belong on this list . 

   

 23-Scars on Broadway- "S/T" -2008

 the guitarist and drummer from System of a Down, created this side project that leans into System of a Down's more traditional metal influences. When this album came out it seemed like a more logical progression. It has held up well over the years, and rooted enough in System's sound to belong on this list. 

   

 22 Chevelle-"Wonder What's Next" 2002

It's like these guys could not decide if they wanted to be Helmet or Tool, so they just decided to split the difference and try to do both at the same time. Not the most original band on this list, but the are damn fine songwriters. That goes a long ways in my books. 

 

21- Coal Chamber - "S/T"1997

This album pretty much encompasses every aspect of nu-metal. The creepy window dressing, the down-tuned grooves, as the chanted chorus that build into pumped up bouncing. Slapped bass provided the back bone, and really the only reason this album did not rank higher is I feel like Dez's vocal prowess was somewhat limited, but his delivery is also a part of this album's charm , so it's a both a blessing and a curse.