James Wood of GuitarWorld.com recently conducted an interview with SEVENDUST guitarists John Connolly and Clint Lowery. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

GuitarWorld.com: "Black Out The Sun" has a different sound for you guys. How would you describe it?

Connolly: It has a totally different vibe about it. It's darker, but with a little bit of hope. There's always that light at the end of the tunnel. When I listen to it, it's almost like a greatest-hits record of songs you've never heard before. There's an album that every one of those songs could potentially live on. There’s some stuff that sounds like it might belong on "Home", some that sounds like "Seasons". Then there are some "Alpha" moments as well.

Lowery: We didn't over-think the record. It has a spontaneous feel. It has the spirit of our older records, but it's evolved as well. If you're already a fan, it caters to the elements you've always liked. We're proud of this album.

GuitarWorld.com: What approach was used for writing songs for the album?

Lowery: It usually comes from an idea or a riff that John or I start. It's us coming up with beats and constructing the skeletal idea of the song from there. Then we'd get the band together to play it with everyone. By that point we'd start arranging it, and vocals are the last thing.

Connolly: There was definitely no shortage of ideas. For this record, we had a writing area behind the live drums in the studio. Whenever someone was in the studio working on parts, any number of us would gather in this writing station and map things out right there on the spot. This was one of those albums where on Monday "Decay" didn't exist and by the end of Tuesday night, it was there.

GuitarWorld.com: What's the secret to the band's longevity?

Lowery: The concept originally was to put together a band with guys you actually enjoyed hanging out with. You have to live with these people on a bus so you need to have mutual respect and consideration for each other.

Connolly: We have a lot of friends in this business, but I don't know too many bands that have all the same five original guys. People see us eating at a Chili's on an off day and they flip out. But the thing that excites them the most is the fact that it's actually all five of us eating at the same table together. [laughs]

Read the entire interview from GuitarWorld.com.