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Sevendust - Time Travelers & Bonfires
'Time Travelers & Bonfires' is the tenth studio album by alternative metal band Sevendust. If you're expecting Sevendust's usual brutal yet melodic sound, you won't find that here. However, if you're looking for acoustics and some acoustic versions of some of their classics, then you've got that right here and ready for listening.
Usually when a hard rock or metal band does an acoustic album, such as those 'Unplugged' albums, I find them to be really boring. Every time I've heard one of those types of album, I find myself to be bored out of my mind because everything seems stripped down and doesn't sound right at all. The songs don't seem to be played how they should, with it sounding like their played slower. Thankfully, this is not the case with Sevendust's venture into acoustics.Unlike many acoustic albums, half of 'Time Travelers...' are new songs instead of having mostly or all acoustic versions of old songs. The new songs are of course acoustic, yet they still sound like Sevendust.
The opening song 'Come Down' has a sort of melancholy feel at the beginning before getting melodic vocals and guitars which is typical of Sevendust's recent material. Many of the songs I can't really describe any other way then an acoustic version of the band. However, there are no aggressive vocals like there usually are, but I think that's for the best as far as acoustics go. Some of the songs also have guitar solos, so I guess it can't be called entirely acoustic. The guitar solos fit really well though, not sounding out of place at all. They really add something to the sound, especially with the song 'Upbeat Sugar'. I love the dark menacing melody of the solo here, probably one of their best solos. Probably my favorite song on the album is 'Bonfire', which has a great bluesy solo and a nice jumpy beat. The hop of the guitars go great with Lajon Witherspoon's vocals.
What about the acoustic versions of older songs? Well, they actually sound great! Unlike what I've noticed with a lot of 'Unplugged' albums, a song like 'Crucified' is played really well except replacing the electric with acoustic. A couple of them are kind of boring, like the acoustic version of 'Denial', but for the most point they are really enjoyable.
Overall, I typically don't like acoustic albums from hard rock and metal bands as stated before, but this surprised me. Sevendust showed me that a metal band can still kick ass with an acoustic album. I highly recommend this album to any fan of Sevendust or acoustic albums. Hope you found this review helpful.
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