The self-titled debut sold 311 copies its first week. However, through touring, and TVT support, the album gained charting success through Billboard and earned gold certification.
Bassist Vince Hornsby joined drummer Morgan Rose in 1994, in a band called Snake Nation. John Connolly, a drummer, left his current band and joined Snake Nation as a guitarist. They recorded their first demo. Not happy with vocals, however, Snake Nation spent a year searching for a new singer before finding Lajon Witherspoon. Six months passed, Clint Lowery joined the band and they renamed themselves Rumblefish.
Rumblefish was short-lived, however, because they found another band with the same name. They renamed themselves Crawlspace, and released My Ruin on the Mortal Kombat soundtrack album entitled More Kombat through TVT Records in 1996. Shortly after, another band named Crawlspace sent notice that they wanted $50,000 for the rights to their name. Rather than purchase the rights, the band members chose to rename themselves Sevendust.
Sevendust released their self-titled debut on April 15, 1997, known for its heavy riffs, angry vocals and thrash-like drumming, as the songs Black and Bitch. Black was the opening song for nearly every Sevendust concert until 2004. The debut album also contains the song My Ruin, from the Mortal Kombat soundtrack. Sevendust appeared on the Billboard 200, remained there for sixteen weeks and peaked at 165 on April 4, 1998. The album went gold on May 19, 1999.
In 1998, Sevendust performed at Dynamo Open Air (May 29–31) and Ozzfest 1998 (July through August). In the same year they released a compilation called Live and Loud which featured live footage of the bands September 16, 1998 performance at Chicago's Metro.
On August 24, 1999, they released their second album, Home. The album peaked at 19 on the Billboard 200 and featured Skin from Skunk Anansie and Chino Moreno from Deftones as guest vocalists. The two singles from the album, "Denial" and "Waffle", gave the band moderate chart success, and the latter of which was played on the Late Night with Conan O'Brien show. They appeared in Woodstock 1999 and have toured with many bands such as Korn, Staind, Nonpoint, Reveille, Godsmack, Mudvayne, Mushroomhead, Powerman 5000, Creed, Kid Rock, Machine Head, Limp Bizkit, Disturbed, and Metallica. In 1999, they gained European exposure by opening for Skunk Anansie at various shows in Germany. They also opened with Kid Rock and Ted Nugent for Metallica on New Year's Eve in 1999 at the Pontiac Silverdome near Detroit, Michigan. They also joined Slipknot, Coal Chamber and other bands on the Tattoo the Earth Tour in June 2000.
In November 2001, the band released their third album, Animosity. This album went gold and gained the band commercial success thanks to the success of singles "Praise" and "Angel's Son", which peaked at 15 and 11, respectively, on the Mainstream Rock Tracks. "Angel's Son" was a tribute to Lynn Strait, the lead singer of the band Snot, whom the members of Sevendust were friends with. Strait had died in a car accident in 1998. In addition to being included on Animosity, the song was included on the compilation album Strait Up. The band made an appearance on Late Night with David Letterman playing an acoustic version of "Angel's Son" featuring Paul Shaffer on keyboards.
In the same year Sevendust was seen in the Chris Rock movie Down to Earth as a partial clip of "Waffle" is played.
Another friend of the band, Dave Williams the lead singer of Drowning Pool, died in 2002. Tragedy would strike again when Lajon Witherspoon's younger brother was shot and killed later that year. Due to his death, Sevendust went on hiatus in 2002.
In 2003, Sevendust returned with their fourth album, Seasons. The album debuted at #14 in the US, selling around 68,000 copies in its first week. This was one of the band's best received albums and to date features their highest charting single (tied with "Driven"), "Enemy," which peaked at #10 on the Mainstream Rock Chart. "Enemy" was made the official theme song for WWE Unforgiven 2003. Other singles released from the album, "Broken Down" and "Face to Face," met with more moderate success charting at 20 and 22, respectively.
In 2004, for the first time in the band's career, they released a live album on a CD/DVD double disk package titled Southside Double-Wide Acoustic Live. Both the CD and the DVD include a cover of "Hurt" by Nine Inch Nails which is dedicated to Johnny Cash.
On December 11, 2004, after playing a show in Columbus, Ohio, it was announced that Clint Lowery had left the band mid-tour, because he wanted to play with his brother Corey Lowery in his new band Dark New Day, who had reportedly just signed with Warner Bros. Records. A replacement was found for the rest of the dates and was eventually replaced by Sonny Mayo from Snot and Amen. At roughly the same time, Sevendust and TVT Records parted ways.
On March 26, 2008, Sevendust announced that Clint Lowery, former guitarist and vocalist for the band, had quit his duties as guitarist for Dark New Day and would be returning to the Sevendust lineup in place of Sonny Mayo. On Lowery's return, Morgan Rose stated "This was extremely tough considering Sonny is our brother and has been amazing to work with. [Sonny] didn't do anything wrong at all; we just owe it to ourselves and all the folks that grew up with us to put our original band back together."
Since formation, Sevendust has released thirteen studio albums, earned additional charting success and gold sales certifications. Their eighth studio album, titled Cold Day Memory was released on April 20, 2010. More recent studio albums include: Black Out the Sun, released on March 26, 2013, Time Travelers & Bonfires, released on April 15, 2014, Kill the Flaw, released on October 2, 2015, All I See Is War, released on May 11, 2018 and Blood & Stone, released on October 23, 2020
They also re-released their self-titled debut album as Sevendust: Definitive Edition which contains five new tracks and a DVD.
Aggression
Sevendust Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Can't stop my mind from slowly wandering
Dreamin' again, I think you're with me
But there is where the thinking ends
Sleep time, no longer
Looks like it's over
And now it seems I'm throwing you over the edge
We had a gift no one had
You never thought I'd be cutting you open again
Sorry, the pain seems endless
Lie still, I'll soon be done with you
Till then, you're left to deal with torture
I'm sure, in time you've gotten used to it
Constant controller
Your life is over
I'm takin' pride in my work as you bleed
Took your wrist and cut it open
And now it seems I'm throwing you over the edge
We had a gift no one had
You never thought I'd be cutting you open again
I'm left to deal with my conscience
Forgive me now
I have to finish the **** I started
Not what I wanted
Took your wrist and cut it open
And now it seems I'm throwing you over the edge
We had a gift no one had
You never thought I'd be cutting you open again
Took your wrist and cut it open
And now it seems I'm throwing you over the edge
We had a gift no one had
You never thought I'd be cutting you open again
The lyrics to Sevendust's song Aggression tell a story of a troubled relationship that has turned violent. The singer is haunted by disturbing thoughts and dreams, unable to escape the past. The chorus contains the lines "Took your wrist and cut it open / And now it seems I'm throwing you over the edge," indicating that the singer has caused harm to their significant other. The verses describe the pain and guilt of the singer, who seems to be struggling with their own control and addiction to causing harm. The final verse contains the lines "I'm left to deal with my conscience / Forgive me now / I have to finish the **** I started / Not what I wanted," suggesting that the singer is coming to terms with the consequences of their actions and the need for atonement.
Overall, the lyrics to Aggression offer a disturbing look into the mind of someone struggling with violent tendencies and the damage that can occur in a relationship as a result. The song is a powerful commentary on the suffering caused by domestic abuse and serves as a warning about the dangers of unchecked anger.
Line by Line Meaning
Sickening, the things that I see
The things I witness are repulsive and leave me feeling disgusted.
Can't stop my mind from slowly wandering
My thoughts drift even though I try to control them.
Dreamin' again, I think you're with me
I have a dream where I imagine you are present.
But there is where the thinking ends
However, that dream is never fulfilled.
Sleep time, no longer
It's time to stop being idle.
Looks like it's over
The situation is ending.
Took your wrist and cut it open
I inflicted harm on you by lacerating your wrist.
And now it seems I'm throwing you over the edge
I've pushed you to the brink of something catastrophic.
We had a gift no one had
We had a special quality that couldn't be matched by anyone else.
You never thought I'd be cutting you open again
You never predicted that I would injure you once more.
Sorry, the pain seems endless
I apologize that the agony appears never-ending.
Lie still, I'll soon be done with you
Please remain motionless, I'll finish soon.
Till then, you're left to deal with torture
Until I'm done, you're stuck with excruciating pain.
I'm sure, in time you've gotten used to it
As time goes on, you probably become desensitized to it.
Constant controller
I have a constant need to control things.
Your life is over
You are as good as dead.
I'm takin' pride in my work as you bleed
I arrogantly take satisfaction in hurting you while you bleed.
I'm left to deal with my conscience
I have to deal with the guilt I feel.
Forgive me now
Please pardon me at the moment.
I have to finish the **** I started
I must complete what I initiated.
Not what I wanted
This outcome isn't what I intended.
Took your wrist and cut it open
I inflicted harm on you by lacerating your wrist.
And now it seems I'm throwing you over the edge
I've pushed you to the brink of something catastrophic.
We had a gift no one had
We had a special quality that couldn't be matched by anyone else.
You never thought I'd be cutting you open again
You never predicted that I would injure you once more.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: John M Connolly, La Jon Jermaine Witherspoon, Morgan J Rose, Ronald Jr Mayo, Shawn Grove, Vincent E Hornsby
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind