Twenty-six years after the release of the band’s self-titled debut, Sevendust guitarist Clint Lowery can’t believe they’ve made it to album 14. “We thought the shelf life of the band would be two or three records at most,” he tells Apple Music. “Back when we were growing up, bands would exist for about five to six records and then go away, for the most part. So, we’re as dumbfounded as anyone else. But we do realise longevity is our superpower now. To have all the original guys from 1995-96 still together, still making music, and to have our fanbase, we’re very grateful. And completely shocked by it.” Truth Killer sees the Atlanta-based alt-metal squad wrestling with the intertwined evils of social media and disinformation. “People like to put their own narrative to their reality, and sometimes it’s not very truthful,” Lowery says. “We gravitate to negative news. We gravitate to tragedy as entertainment. We don’t want the truth; we just want the entertainment value. That can be frustrating, and we’re not immune to it.” Below, he comments on each song. “I Might Let the Devil Win” “That originally was a song that was going to be used for my solo stuff. It was really a quirky, all-electronic idea that I had. I didn’t think it would be an actual Sevendust song, but once they listened to it, we decided to put it on the record and let it be the first song. Which is a change of pace for us because we usually lead off with a strong, heavy song to announce ourselves. But we thought this would be a cool way to open the record and get some attention for a song that probably wouldn’t have got a lot of attention.” “Truth Killer” “This was the genesis of the record. In the social media world, you can be looked at as godlike. You can be put on a pedestal in these different ways, and the song is us calling that part of our society out. And, again, no one really wants to know the truth—they just want information to cater to their own beliefs, their own systems, their own likes. So, that song’s just a general frustrating complaint about everything we see. But I’m guilty of it, too. I’m calling myself out on some level.” “Won’t Stop the Bleeding” “This is a co-write with Justin DeBlieck. He does Black Veil Brides, and he’s done a few other very cool projects, and we collaborated a little bit on the music. The lyrics are about basically allowing someone, if they want to destroy their life, and they want to go down a destructive path, you just allow them to do it because you’re done with trying to help them and trying to be a friend. You just let them be what they want to be, even if that means their own self-destruction.” “Everything” “We wanted kind of an anthem on the record. [Sevendust drummer] Morgan [Rose] and I put that song together via Zoom as one of the co-writes we did together. The music is pretty much a tribute to Nine Inch Nails in terms of the sounds and the sonics. ‘Everything’ is someone’s plea to say, ‘I will do whatever. I’ll change. I’ll be anything you need me to be. I just want to be with you. I want to support you. I want to be in your life.’ You’re basically being rejected, but you’re saying, ‘I’ll change,’ even if it means sacrificing who you really are. You’ll do whatever it takes to be the person they need you to be.” “No Revolution” “This is a pretty standard Sevendust song, musically. We always want to put a song in there that people know right away is a traditional Sevendust song, so the diehards can rest easy. And the lyrics go back to social media because it’s such a huge platform in the way people express themselves. When tragedies happen in the world, everyone does the ‘thoughts and prayers’, and everyone talks about these different movements that they believe in, but most people don’t do the actual action to promote a change. So, ‘No Revolution’ is saying a lot of us can be a lot of talk and no action.” “Sick Mouth” “When I was around eight or nine years old, I experienced an attempted molestation from one of my parents’ friends. They were making advances to me over a few weeks’ time. When it started progressing, I told my mom. So, the song is about my experience and the emotions that come with that. It’s about taking the power away from the predator and giving it back to the victim—myself, or anyone that’s gone through that. It’s the empowerment of not letting that control my life or my behaviours anymore.” “Holy Water” “People might think this is a religious song, but it’s about anyone whose actions don’t support what they’re saying they believe in. That can be within a relationship, where people portray themselves one way and act another way, or the way they treat people conflicts with the ideals that they have for themselves. Even religious organisations talk about their faith, but then they do something that doesn’t align with those beliefs and principles that they’re trying to push on you.” “Leave Hell Behind” “The title is very literal—it’s a song about leaving. You can’t live on your glory days, and you can’t demonise yourself for your darker days. You have to just move on, become the person that you are today and be the best person you can. You have to take those experiences and push them back, and just evolve.” “Superficial Drug” “It’s about people getting addicted to the hype and the interest that they get through social media. People get addicted to the status or the praise or the validation they get from others, and it becomes a drug. It’s very addictive to be sought after or to get attention in any way, especially on a high level. All of us have the potential to become so self-involved that it is a drug. If you aren’t getting attention, and you’re not in the spotlight, you feel like you’re withdrawing because that’s what you use to validate yourself.” “Messenger” “I wrote this song with [Sevendust guitarist] John [Connolly] and Morgan, but they were the predominant songwriters. We were just talking about how arrogant we all can get in our own lives, and that we don’t want to listen to anybody, and we don’t want to collaborate with people. Instead, it’s ‘I want to do the things I want to do, and I don’t really even care about what you do.’ It’s a self-centred kind of existence that some of us have, and the song touches on some of that.” “Love and Hate” “This is a plea to someone that you have a love-hate relationship with. Sometimes the things you love and hate about a person are equally attractive. Sometimes people almost gravitate toward people that are crazy, or people that are really needy or dysfunctional. It’s about accepting those things as the whole package of a person when you really, really want them and you’re devoted to them. The song explores some of the darker things you like about other people, or your other person, whoever that is.” “Fence” “This is the mandatory headhunter, fast-tempo song. We’re big Queens of the Stone Age fans, and this song had that kind of vibe to it, so we did our own version of that. As long as we’ve been together as a band, we always have one or two songs that touch on the struggles of longevity. It’s an anthem-y kind of song in terms of the message, where we’ve hit bottom, but now we want to move up. We want to acknowledge the low point, but now we’re just going to push ourselves forward.”