LAJON WITHERSPOON Says Working With Producer MICHAEL 'ELVIS' BASKETTE On New SEVENDUST Album Made Him A Better Singer

SEVENDUST is putting the finishing touches on its new album at Studio Barbarosa in Gotha, Florida for an early 2018 release. The follow-up to 2015's "Kill The Flaw" is being produced by Michael "Elvis" Baskette, who has previously worked with ALTER BRIDGE and SLASH, among others.

SEVENDUST's new disc will be the group's first for Rise Records, the Oregon-based metal and hard rock label which was purchased by BMG in 2015.

In a brand new interview with "Good Company", SEVENDUST singer Lajon Witherspoon stated about the band's upcoming disc (see video below): "I just finished recording my last vocal last night. John Connolly still has maybe four or five guitars to do. Clint Lowery has maybe… I don't know if he's done with his vocal melodies — [he's got] a few harmonies with me — and maybe a couple of solos that'll be turned in in the next few days.

"We've done so much [more] in 33 days recording this than I've ever done in my life," Lajon continued. "I sang 14 days in nine days to make up for some time that was lost. But it was because I felt good too, so some days I did two songs a day. And it was an experience working with Elvis and [engineer] Jeff [Moll]. Not to take anything [away] from any other producer, but, for me, it was the best [recording] experience in my life. Maybe it [was] due to me being older and more seasoned with what's going on, but the way that he worked and the things that he knows about music was completely different — I'd never seen anyone [like that] before."

According to Lajon, Baskette had the music for 60 new SEVENDUST songs to choose from prior to the making of the new album. "For me, I felt stronger as a singer — he made me a better singer, working with him," Witherspoon said. He went on to describe his working relationship with Elvis as "a partnership. I hated leaving the house, and I can't wait to do another album with him, and I would like to do it even longer than 33 days," he said.

SEVENDUST last year received its first-ever Grammy nomination after two decades together as a band. "Thank You", the debut single from "Kill The Flaw", got the nod for "Best Metal Performance".