Are you ready Greenville? Friday, February 1, 2013, Sevendust is going to be at The Handlebar located at 304 E. Stone Avenue. The Atlanta heavy metal quintet will be ripping up the stage along with death metal maestros Avatar and local metal up and comers Kelen Heller. Sevendust first burst onto the scene in 1997 with their self-titled debut album, after having gone through some growth, development, and a few name changes (i.e. Snake Nation, Rumblefish, and Crawlspace). The debut made the Billboard 200 and held on for sixteen weeks. Then, in 1999, Sevendust’s self-titled release went gold, signaling the beginning of great things to come for the Georgia powerhouse.
Despite various trials and tribulations, including the loss of friends and family, temporary bankruptcy, and failed promotion campaigns, the band went on to release another eight albums including their current Black Out the Sun. The first single off of Black Out the Sun is the pumping and powerful “Decay,” which features the trademark Sevendust rhythm that is somewhat reminiscent of their second album Home, yet distinct in its combination of music flavors. One can only hope that this means that Sevendust has gone back to the basics that first made us love them. Songs like “Waffle,” “Enemy,” “Ugly,” and “B**ch” have helped Sevendust remain in the hearts, minds, and ears of fans for well over a decade; besides it’s kind of hard to fall out of love with a band that features one of Hit Parader’s 2008 “Top 100 Metal Vocalists of All Time”(Lajon Witherspoon).
Now, Sevendust will be bringing their unique sound, energy, and stage magic to the upstate to the delight and amazement of South Carolina fans. Also, to the excitement of local fans of the melodic metal quintet, Kelen Heller will have their long awaited CD available for sale at the show. According to the band’s Facebook page, this will be fan’s last chance to get the CD before their scheduled CD and music video release party on May 3, 2013, which will also be at The Handlebar. The band has been flying especially high the last year and half, sharing the stage with some incredible national acts like Crossfade, Trivium, Eye Empire, and most recently, Halestorm.
Sevendust's supporting band, Avatar, is a melodic death metal band from the Sweden whose music has the infectiousness of Hatebreed and vocal stylings like Underoath. Their current album “Black Waltz,” was released on Valentine’s Day of 2012 and features a mixture of songs that demonstrates the bands impressive range, both musically and vocally. Vocalist Johannes Eckerstrom presents with a very distinct image not dissimilar from that of Brandon Lee in “The Crow,” the difference being that you never heard Brandon Lee sound like this. Eckerstrom gives you the full range of vocal capability on “Black Waltz,” from melodic singing to ear-piercing shrieking; he pulls no punches in his delivery. It will be interesting to see how the upstate responds to these European howlers when they hit the stage Friday night.
This show is sure to make waves and kick a**- a little nu-metal, a little death metal, and a whole lot of mind-blowing, ear-obliterating, soul rattling rock! What more could you ask for? Contact The Handlebar for tickets while they’re still available, because this one is going fast! By all accounts, the sell-out risk is high for this show, so you don’t want to wait any longer-get your tickets today!
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