Metal band Sevendust seeing changes

OLD BRIDGE, N.J. -- Even in the world of heavy metal, Sevendust rocks hard.\nAt a recent live show, the floor vibrated and basslines were so thick they felt physical. By the end of first song, the five band members were covered in sweat and the room felt ten degrees hotter.\nSevendust rocked so hard, in fact, that two minutes into their first song at the sprawling Birch Hill Nite Club they blew a fuse -- leaving crowd-surfing fans shouting for more and the backstage crew scrambling to get the juice back on.\nSuch bumps are par for the course for a band that's gone through its share of unreliable managers, drug problems and even bankruptcy -- despite having three gold albums. Now comes album number four, "Seasons," at a time when the group is going through changes both as musicians and as men.\nThey have a new producer and a cleaner lifestyle. Two band members, Lajon Witherspoon and Morgan Rose, have young children. They've even started to play some acoustic shows.\n"Every time we do a record somebody says they're rooting for us," said Rose, the drummer. "It's flattering people respect us like that and it's also funny that everyone's aware of the bad business moves and the bad dealings that we've had."\nOne of the biggest changes for the band is living without their families while on the road. Rose described leaving his 4-year-old daughter to go on tour as "brutal." Sevendust tours about 250 days a year, stopping in the Atlanta area about twice during that time, which isn't exactly conducive to child rearing.\n"People always say, 'You're living a dream,' and we are living a dream. We're blessed to be able to do what we do and to have done it for this long," said Rose, 29. "But my daughter learned how to walk, learned how to eat, learned how to do everything without me there."\nNot that they haven't spent any time with their families -- "Seasons" was recorded in their hometown of Atlanta, which gave the guys a year of domesticity. Past albums had been recorded in Florida and on a Massachusetts farm. Being home, however, seemed to help the creative juices more than self-imposed seclusion.\nSo did being sober -- a first for the group.\n"We've learned moderation over the years. A lot of people in the band stopped drinking or doing whatever their vice may have been at the time when we were Motley Crue-ing it up," said Witherspoon, 28.\nSevendust recruited producer Butch Walker, an old friend from Atlanta who put together their demos nearly 10 years ago, to produce the new album. "The guys came in sober and the record came out a lot less sloppy," Walker said. "There's just a lot more emotion on this album."\nWitherspoon said the band will always stay true to their heavy metal roots, but now they're willing to experiment with different forms -- like acoustic.\n"You can listen to the heaviest stuff around all day long," Witherspoon said, "but at the end of the day, you're not always that mad."\nThe group is currently opening for Staind, whose singer-guitarist Mike Mushok describes Sevendust as one of the hardest-working groups he knows, often playing eight or nine days in a row.\n"They're a band that deserves a lot more attention than they get," said Mushok. "They write great songs and they put on an amazing live show."\nBig bands like Incubus and Limp Bizkit have actually opened for Sevendust in the past. Mushok wasn't sure why Sevendust hasn't become as recognizable outside of metal circles.\n"I equate success to be like a solar eclipse," Mushok said. "Everything has to be in line in order for things to happen."\nWhile the band waits for their stars to align, Rose remembers their early days back in Atlanta, especially their first show together when they were slated to perform in a packed club on a Friday night.\nThe group had been together for barely a week and knew only two songs -- so they played each one twice for the eager crowd. Even back then, Sevendust knew how to take a bad situation and turn it into something good.