SevVven, Louisiana’s premier nu metal outfit, releases their brand-new album, Don’t Panic, via Wake Up! Music Rocks. The album was produced by Myles Clayborne.
Made up of Josh Valdivieso (vocals), Ant Jones (guitar), Jessie Hoda (guitar), Tanner Istre (bass), and Katt Lee (drums), SevVven was formed in 2020 by Josh and Ant. Over the course of time, the band expanded its lineup, but the band’s core, Josh and Ant, always remained consistent.
SevVven’s sound is multifaceted with heavy, cutting-edge guitars and massive drums. Josh’s vocals range from sweetly melodic and clean to hard-hitting textures. Lyrically, the band explores themes of depression, mental health, anxiety, and the complexities of relationships.
From a purely subjective point of view, of the baker’s dozen tracks on the album, entry points include the title track, with its ascending and descending harmonic surfaces. This rising and falling flow summons up sensations of Slipknot and Linkin Park yet is at once denser on one level and more melodious on another level – a duality stemming from Josh’s vocal range.
A personal favorite because of its thick, chugging guitars and potent, finessed percussion, “Awakened” highlights Josh’s superb voice and choir-like harmonies, infusing the tune with wistful melancholy, angst, and wisps of regretful yearning.
The wonderfully surprising intro to “Do Not Resuscitate,” an amalgamation of pop and indie-rock, leads into shimmering layers that take on the weightier coloration of atmospheric alt-metal while still retaining a delicious, swaying motion.
Dark and surging, “Cannibals” travels on a propelling rhythm and muscular guitars as Josh’s vocals shift from soft tones to raging guttural sonic expressions, followed by a feathery, nursery rhyme-like outro. Whereas “Sea of Regrets” evokes eerie shadows of mourning amid coagulated guitars riding a wickedly viscous rhythm.
“Where Do I Go” channels a Linkin Park sensibility, along with tinctures of industrial metal. A solar flare-laced guitar solo segues into snarling vocals, followed by a chiming topline accompanying Josh’s imploring vocal.
The low-slung, plangent introduction of “Mother” captures immediate attention – dripping with profound poignancy. When the guitars mousse up, the tune throbs with aching overlays as stark, ringing accents add a sense of burning emotions.
Raw, blistering guitars and haunting vocals imbue “Paint The Sky” with searing intensity, an intensity mitigated by an iridescent bridge that shifts the harmonics prior to a subsiding outro. Another gem of a track, “Wasteland” conveys traces of metal core mixed with orchestral nu metal, resulting in a brutal, stormy melody suffused with substantial, almost dreamy, interludes.
“Addicted,” a swaying, beautiful, atmospheric nu metal song, ties the album off, summing up SevVven’s uniquely distinctive sound with noteworthy harmonies and Josh’s soaring, passionate vocals.
Wonderfully wrought, on Don’t Panic, SevVven avoids the all too common trap of familiar similarity, delivering a brilliantly diverse album. This is one of the best nu metal albums of the year.
Follow SevVven Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | Spotify