Sevendust’s latest CD promising but lacks standout single

No wonder it was released on April 1.

Promising, but ultimately lackluster, the latest disc from alt-metallers Sevendust, "Chapter VII: Hope & Sorrow," seems like a cruel April Fools' Day joke because it boasts so much potential, but lacks follow-through.

The CD starts off strong.

Catchy opening cut "Inside" begins with a slow, soft and slightly jarring tone before quickly revving up into a heavy metal anthem. The best thing about the song is that it shows a variance in all of the musicians' skills: The drums and guitars are stressed at different times and in the right spots.

Next up is "Enough," where lead singer Lajon Witherspoon shines. Although he can pull off the raw-lunged scream style, Witherspoon sounds best when he actually is trying to sing.

His voice, not his anger, is what carries this song.

And then things start to get a little dicey. "Hope," a collaboration between Sevendust and Alter Bridge guitarist Mark Tremonti, kicks into motion with a mournful piano prelude that sounds beautiful, but doesn't really fit the song.

Ultimately, it sounds like three different tunes sandwiched into one: a piano showcase, a slow ballad and a heavy metal scream fest.

A more successful collaboration takes place on "The Past," where Chris Daughtry and the band complement each other well. If any song on "Hope & Sorrow" could come close to being a hit single, it's this one. The guitar is impeccable and Witherspoon's melodic voice is mournful, strong and stretched over a long range of notes. Also, the lyrics for this song were the deepest.

Elsewhere, "Prodigal Son," starts out staccato and poppy, but turns into the heaviest song on the CD. It's surprising to hear Witherspoon's voice jump from being so sad in the previous song to being angry and fierce in this one.

"Sorrow," featuring Alter Bridge singer Myles Kennedy, sounds eerie at first, as though it should be in a horror flick. About a minute and a half in, however, the tone changes from haunting to aggressively regretful. The piano prelude from "Hope" might have found a good home in this song.

And that's the thing about this disc: It's full of strong ideas that never really blossom into true standout tracks. Taken together, "Hope & Sorrow" is a solid CD for established Sevendust fans, but it doesn't really have that hit to appeal to people who never have heard of the band.

There seems to be only two types of songs on this CD: heavy metal outbursts and mournful ballads. Each type uses a lot of the same rifts and chords, and sounds reminiscent of the other.

And random shifts throughout the songs don't help any either. Some tunes start off with one style and suddenly change for about 30 seconds, then shift back.

The only songs that have a hint of uniqueness are the two or three that were produced with other musicians, and other rockers' contributions shouldn't be outshining Sevendust's work on their own CD.

"Hope & Sorrow"?

Unfortunately for listeners, this disc delivers more of the latter.