SEVENDUST Interviewed By GUITAR EDGE

Guitar Edge's Elliott Politte recently conducted an interview with Clint Lowery and John Connolly of Atlanta, Georgia's SEVENDUST. Watch the chat below.

"Cold Day Memory", the new album from SEVENDUST, sold around 27,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 12 on the Billboard 200 chart.

SEVENDUST's previous album, "Chapter VII: Hope and Sorrow", opened with 25,000 units back in April 2008 to land at position No. 19.

"Cold Day Memory" was released on April 20 on the band's own 7Bros. Records, through Warner Music Group's Independent Label Group. The CD — produced by Grammy Award winner Johnny K (DISTURBED, STAIND, 3 DOORS DOWN, PLAIN WHITE T'S) — is the group's first new album with its original lineup back together with guitarist Clint Lowery's return after his departure in 2003.

While SEVENDUST's last few efforts were mainly heavy and rhythmic, the new songs balance brutality with textural passages and infectious counter-melodies. There are even fleet-fingered guitar solos. But whether confronting the listener with double-bass drums and staccato power chords or using melodic arpeggios and soft brush strokes to sweeten the sound of Witherspoon's multi-faceted vocals, SEVENDUST sounds excited, energized and ready to take on the world.

All five band members contributed to the lyrics on "Cold Day Memory", and the songs were works in progress up until the moment they were recorded. In the end, the band crafted songs that encapsulated their experiences with the world and one another. Witherspoon, who recently became a father, penned some lines about commitment and responsibility, while Rose, who was going through a painful divorce, wrote lyrics about heartbreak and disillusionment. The album's first single, "Unraveling", was co-written by Lowery and Dave Bassett (SHINEDOWN, PUDDLE OF MUDD) and is about the collapse of a relationship, while "Confession" indirectly addresses Lowery quitting and returning to the band.