Sevendust drummer Morgan Rose has revealed that the long-running alt-metal crew came dangerously close to calling time on their career – before a sudden change of heart reignited the band.
Speaking in a new interview with Stan Bicknell, Rose admitted that less than two years ago, the band were actively planning their final chapter.
“We went through this period of time where we just weren’t touring as much. We were kind of thinking that we were gonna land the plane a little bit, like, ‘Let’s slow it down to a farewell thing,’ which we had discussed, for sure.
“And then some other things happened, and we decided, ‘You know what? Instead of parking the car here, why don’t we just put it all the way into drive, like all the way in, and let’s tour like harder than we’ve ever toured and just burn the car out. Like, ‘Let’s tackle things that we haven’t done.’ So that happened. Just overnight, it was a decision that went from ‘We’re gonna retire’ to ‘No, no, no. We’re gonna actually put the afterburner on now instead.'”
According to Rose, the idea of wrapping things up wasn’t just casual talk – it was deeply thought through, and emotionally heavy: “It was recently. It was, like, a year and a half ago.
“This was gonna be our last record. We had a blueprint for it and everything. We actually had like a whole layout. It was that thick, of going through everything that we were gonna do and how we were gonna do it. And, I mean, I cried a few times thinking about it.”
Rose described the Sevendust community as deeply personal, shaped by countless shows, repeat encounters, and real-life relationships formed on the road. The thought of ending that cycle hit him hard: “We’ve had so many people that we’ve met. The Sevendust community is a very close thing. We did not have the luxury of a major label or the major label money, so we grinded it from the beginning and then got really mistreated in the middle of our career, like horribly mistreated.
“And the people stood there long enough for us to get our legs back, and then when we finally found somebody that really knew that we could trust that knew the game and knew how to make it work, we were so beat up. And the people started coming back a little more and more and more, and it just became this thing where it’s, like, ‘Oh, man. I’ve known these people from being out there so much.’ And when you overtour yourself, you see these people a lot.
“And they become people you’re going to dinner with or going to lunch with, or having coffee with, or whatever it might be. And you’re doing it consistently. And then one day you’re just, like, ‘We’re gonna wrap it all up.’ And I’m, like, ‘That means they died.’ Because I never see them outside of this. So that means it’ll be like every gig will be another death in the family. It’ll be another group of people that I know from that, and I also know from being around them, and it’s, like, there’s thousands of them.
“So that’s like a thousand people that you care about dying in a year and a half. So I got really emotional about it, and then when it was decided we’re not gonna do that, I got just rejuvenated. [I didn’t have to] face that now. It got really exciting. I hadn’t felt that kind of, like, ‘I’m ready to break some shit now. I wanna tear something up.’ And we just got back from a two-month run in Europe, and I felt like it was ’97 again.”
Sevendust are gearing up for a massive U.S. tour in support of their highly anticipated 15th studio album, One, set for release on May 1 via Napalm Records. The tour kicks off April 16 in Carterville, Illinois and runs through May 20, concluding in Knoxville, Tennessee, with support from Atreyu, Fire From The Gods, and American Adrenaline. Get your tickets here.
4/16 Carterville, IL Walker’s Bluff Casino Resort
4/17 Riverside, IA Riverside Casino & Golf Resort
4/18 Larchwood, IA Grand Falls Casino & Golf Resort
4/20 Indianapolis, IN Egyptian Room at Old National Centre
4/21 Lexington, KY Manchester Music Hall
4/22 Birmingham, AL Iron City
4/24 Mobile, AL Soul Kitchen Music Hall
4/25 Destin, FL Club LA
4/26 Atlanta, GA Coca-Cola Roxy
4/28 Dallas, TX House of Blues
4/29 Oklahoma City, OK Diamond Ballroom
5/1 Denver, CO Summit
5/2 Albuquerque, NM Sunshine Theater
5/4 Wichita, KS The Cotillion
5/5 Springfield, MO The Regency Live
5/6 Fayetteville, AR Ozark Music Hall
5/8 Daytona Beach, FL Welcome To Rockville
5/9 North Myrtle Beach, SC House of Blues
5/11 Norfolk, VA The NorVa
5/12 Harrisburg, PA XL Live
5/14 McKees Rocks, PA Roxian Theatre
5/15 Columbus, OH Sonic Temple
5/16 Baltimore, MD Nevermore Hall
5/17 Sayreville, NJ Starland Ballroom
5/19 Charlotte, NC The Fillmore
5/20 Knoxville, TN The Mill & Mine
5/21 Nashville, TN The Pinnacle
