Sevendust
At first it sounds like Living Colour vocalist Corey Glover was spliced into a joint project between Faith No More and Testament, but the longer Sevendust's self-titled debut album plays, the more it takes on its own life. The Atlanta, Georgia band is well schooled in thrash metal, but it has a soft spot for sing-along melodies and more than a passing interest in hip-hop. Cobbled together, the results could sound fractured and divisive, but Sevendust's surging wah-wah guitars, razor-edged riffs, bloodcurdling screams, and soulful vocals blend together as smoothly as strawberries and rum.--Jon Wiederhorn