Sevendust released Kill The Flaw on October 2, 2015, through their own 7Bros. Records. Their eleventh studio album followed the acoustic Time Travelers & Bonfires and returned to heavier material built through studio jam sessions. “Thank You” introduced the record, with “Not Today” following as a second advance track accompanied by an official lyric video.
Lajon Witherspoon had enjoyed the acoustic project, but he was ready to get back on his feet. Speaking to Loudwire before the album’s release, the vocalist described the change as an opportunity to plug in and push beyond the previous record’s restrictions. “My feet needed to start hurting again,” he joked. The acoustic performances had retained an electric energy, he explained, but the band was eager to return to its heavier approach.
At Architekt Music in Butler, New Jersey, that meant developing songs together as they played. Witherspoon told The Aquarian that little had been written before the sessions. The band set up on the studio’s stage with the instruments mic’d, allowing rehearsals to become recordings as ideas took shape. Workdays stretched from noon to midnight, and guitar overdubs followed the initial performances. “It was just like the beginning of our career,” he said, recalling the experience of sitting down together and finding songs through jamming.
Sevendust handled production themselves, with Mike Ferretti engineering and mixing. The recordings also gave Clint Lowery room to vary his guitar parts beyond those initial sessions. He told PRS that he used a DGT for much of his rhythm work and solos, a Mike Mushok signature baritone for lower-tuned riffs, and his own signature model for overdubs. Those choices gave him different sounds to work with as the band developed the arrangements, while keeping the production in its own hands.
The album’s title addressed struggles beyond the recording process. In his Loudwire interview, Witherspoon connected Kill The Flaw to the difficulties Sevendust had experienced and their determination to keep working. He described “Thank You” in similar terms: resistance from other people could become motivation to continue. The gratitude in the song’s title carried an edge, tied to the obstacles the band had faced.
Its recording included a choice Lowery knew could easily go wrong. Sevendust added a children’s chorus to “Thank You,” documenting the session in their making-of video series. As Audio Ink Radio reported from the footage, Lowery had worried about the effect becoming too juvenile. Hearing the finished contribution changed his mind. The children’s voices gave the cynical words an innocence he found moving, adding a different character to the album’s opening song.
The band also changed how much of the process it shared before release. John Connolly told The Rockpit in November 2015 that the album had been finished around late March or early April, months before listeners could buy it. Instead of immediately filling their YouTube channel with previews, Sevendust held material back and delayed announcements. Connolly described that restraint as a deliberate attempt to restore some mystery after years of giving fans extensive access through social media.
“Thank You” subsequently earned Sevendust their first Grammy nomination, for Best Metal Performance at the 2016 ceremony. The recognition came from an album they had produced themselves, with songs developed by playing together in the studio.
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