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.
Mountain
Sevendust Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Under fist and hate
I break the mold of the villain
Choke the love you crave
You better believe they're
Taking me alive flesh and veins
So that the whole damn world
Wants to scream my name
First on top of the mountain
Push back, drop down
Broke you to pieces
I'm on top of the mountain
Save name, save face
Keeps all of me away from you
It keeps me away from you
So when the cut burns deep
And your mouth runs out
The path you treading along
Keeps your head in the clouds
You better believe
I'll begin
You better believe
Where you end
And now the whole damn world
Sees the threat I am
First on top of the mountain
Push back, drop down
Broke you to pieces
I'm on top of the mountain
Save name, save face
Keeps all of me away from you
First on top of the mountain
Push back, drop down
Broke you to pieces
I'm on top of the mountain
Save name, save face
Keeps all of me away from you
Keeps me away from you
First on top of the mountain
Push back, drop down
Broke you to pieces
I'm on top of the mountain
Save name, save face
Keeps all of me away from you
First on top of the mountain
Push back, drop down
Broke you to pieces
I'm on top of the mountain
Save name, save face
Keeps all of me away from you
Keeps me away from you
The lyrics to Sevendust's song "Mountain" paint a vivid picture of a person who has overcome obstacles and risen to the top. The first verse describes a dark, angry world that the singer has broken out of, and in doing so has become a target. Despite the danger, he embraces the attention and wants the whole world to know his name. The chorus repeats the phrase "First on top of the mountain," emphasizing the singer's dominance and victory over those who doubted him. He is able to hold his own and stay away from the people who hurt him.
The second verse continues with the theme of overcoming obstacles, but now a sense of anger and defiance is added. The singer challenges anyone who tries to bring him down or silence him, and declares himself to be a threat. The repetition of "You better believe" shows the singer's confidence in himself and his abilities. It's as if he's daring anyone to try and stop him. The chorus is repeated again, only this time with more strength and anger. The final line of "Keeps me away from you" implies that the singer has cut ties with those who do not believe in him, and is now better off because of it.
Overall, the lyrics to "Mountain" are about triumph and strength in the face of adversity. The singer has fought hard to get where he is, and is proud of his achievements. The song is a reminder that sometimes it takes going through difficult times in order to reach the top and that pushing past fear unlocks greatness.
Line by Line Meaning
Under the dark grey sky
Amidst all this darkness and despair
Under fist and hate
In a place of violence and vitriol
I break the mold of the villain
I refuse to be the bad guy in your story
Choke the love you crave
I won't let your desire for love cloud your judgment
You better believe they're taking me alive flesh and veins
I'm not going down without a fight, and I'll leave my mark on the world
So that the whole damn world wants to scream my name
I'll be remembered, even if it's not for something good
First on top of the mountain
I've climbed to the top of the world
Push back, drop down
I've faced resistance and come out on top
Broke you to pieces
I've shattered my obstacles and challengers
I'm on top of the mountain
I've achieved my goals and reached my pinnacle
Save name, save face
I'll protect my reputation at all costs
Keeps all of me away from you
Separating myself from you is necessary for my own survival
So when the cut burns deep
When the pain hits hard
And your mouth runs out
And you're out of excuses
The path you treading along keeps your head in the clouds
You're delusional and not acting rationally
You better believe I'll begin
I'm ready to take action and make my mark
You better believe where you end
Your story will come to an end, and I'll be the one to finish it
And now the whole damn world sees the threat I am
People are finally realizing the danger I pose
Keeps me away from you
Staying away from you is the best thing for me
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Clint Lowery, John Conolly, Lajon WItherspoon, Morgan Rose, Vincent Hornsby
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind