Sevendust are a band who have truly paid their dues. Having literally spent years on the road touring and amassing two gold records under their belt as a result, this GA based five piece are now eyeing to finally break through and achieve the mainstream success they deserve and thankfully it looks as though this, their 3rd outing is what will help them achieve exactly that. Layered from top to bottom with contagious hooks, hard hitting riffs and the ever soulful vocals of band frontman Lajon Witherspoon, "Animosity" is the groups most cohesive and mature offering to date, fearlessly raising them to the next level of their career.

Vocally, Lajon has never sounded better, nurturing the tracks with his emotive, soulfully passionate croons while also contrasting them with the aggressive backing vocals of drummer Morgan Rose and guitarist Clint Lowery, establishing a menacing three pronged assault that is able to captivate the listener one second and punish them the next. The guitar work is equally as diverse, calling upon both rich atmospheric styled playing bolstered by effects and grating razor sharp riffs to jaggedly perforate the tracks into a chugging modern metal flair. As a result, the bass playing included is roomy and provides a thick detuned lowend for the guitar parts to build upon, while the drums are hit with confidence and pay close mind to continual variation and spacious timing, springing to life with punchy hits and crisp cymbal smashes.

The evolved song writing is perhaps the most prominent quality on this album as each track feels well rounded and fully developed, drawing upon multiple ideas and emotions and even going on to incorporate a mild electronic edge that interacts superbly with bands dense modern metal approach. Fortunately though, the bands harder edge isn't the only area that's been bumped up a step, as they also ambitiously tread further into melodic territory than ever before, incorporating strings and piano to accentuate and expand their range, enveloping the listener in surreal soundscapes. In fact, the only really complaint that stands out against this effort is the general lack of diversity between the bulk of tracks. The song writing formula winds up staying a bit too similar and though the songs sound honed, they also begin to occasionally blend into each other. Despite this though, with a few listens, most should be able to find at least a number of enjoyable songs and though some may be attracted to the album by the guest appearance of Staind frontman Aaron Lewis on the track "Follow", the band is still more than capable of holding it down on their own. As such, it almost seems as though "Animosity" is a misleading title for this collection of songs, as it sounds more like they are full of understanding and hope rather than bitter resentment and hostile feelings, but none the less, it is a stand out album, fitting title or not.