Sevendust treat fans to metal mayhem

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Guitar legend

Eddie Van Halen bore witness to an eruption like no other Sunday night at the Sunset Strip House of Blues, when Atlanta metal veterans Sevendust had a sold-out, all-ages crowd running with the devil as they unchained a 16-song set that lasted well past the midnight hour.

Watching the show from the front row of the balcony, the Van Halen namesake had to recognize a trick or two as the lights dimmed, a curtain dropped and the club stage was adorned with ramps that ran behind the drum kit and back to the sides of the stage. Tearing into the first two tracks from new release "Next," guitarists John Connolly and Sonny Mayo paid due homage to the icons who came before them, delivering the pulverizing riffs that drive "Hero" and "Ugly" with a flair seldom seen by today's legions of hard rock and metal acts.

It's that flair, as well as the band's uncanny ability to meld molten energy with melodic interludes, that sets Sevendust apart from its peers. When Sevendust is firing on all cylinders, as it was this night, there may not be a metal band on the over-crowded circuit that does it better.

While the crowd's response never waned through the 80-minute set, it reached a fever pitch on numerous occasions, most notably the opening shards of "Black," the manic savagery of "Pieces" and the aggravated assault and battery of closer "Bitch." Throughout, frontman Lajon Witherspoon took command of the proceedings with charisma to spare and vocals to match, his metal verses laid to waste by R&B-flavored choruses and a vocal range that puts the vast majority of the genre to shame.

"Assdrop" and "Wired" maximized the band's dynamics to create a jarring left-right combo that deafened the senses, Witherspoon strutting the stage like a prizefighter daring his opponent to take a swing. Yet as unrelenting as the sonic barrage was -- the band never slowed the pace once, even choosing not to play their biggest hit, the ballad "Angel's Son" -- the mood never got dark, Sevendust's give-and-take with the crowd bearing more of a resemblance to the arena rock days of their roots than the self-righteous pandering of modern metal.

Of the four opening acts, direct support Nonpoint was the most noteworthy, staking its claim to the capacity crowd and never relinquishing its hold throughout a 40-minute set that begs the band's return as headliners, blending vast metal influences into a sound as absorbing as it was incendiary.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter