Avenged Sevenfold - Avenged Sevenfold Review

Posted by Dan Marsicano on 11.01.2007

Avenged Sevenfold has changed their sound yet again with more experimental elements added to their signature sound. Does all the experimenting lead to an album that is as memorable as Waking The Fallen?

The Band

M. Shadows-Vocals
Synyster Gates-Lead Guitar
Zacky Vengeance-Guitar
Johnny Christ-Bass
The Rev-Drums, Backing Vocals

The Track Listing

1. Critical Acclaim-5:14
2. Almost Easy-3:53
3. Scream-4:48
4. Afterlife-5:51
5. Gunslinger-4:11
6. Unbound (The Wild Ride)-5:11
7. Brompton Cocktail-4:12
8. Lost-5:01
9. A Little Piece Of Heaven-8:00
10. Dear God-6:33

The Review



Hyping an album is a two sided coin. On the one hand, a band can get a lot of publicity and media attention making bold statements about an upcoming release. Of course, they have to deliver on the hype they let out and that’s where a lot of bands falter. Instead of following up on the hype, bands release something that they may like, but not what the fans wanted. Avenged Sevenfold approached their self-titled album this way, making comments about the new album being “flawless” and “more gritty” with less studio interference. Now that the new album, fans will find out if Avenged Sevenfold delivered on the hype.

The first two songs released on the internet were “Critical Acclaim” and “Almost Easy,” both of which open up Avenged Sevenfold. “Critical Acclaim” starts out with a single organ followed by Gates and Vengeance coming in to give the song an epic feel. The rest of the track is straight up metal, with some surprisingly good backing vocals by drummer The Rev. “Almost Easy” is one of the fastest songs on the album, blasting out of the gate with quick riffs and pounding bass drum work. The chorus is a little clunky, and sounds a bit weird the first couple of listens, but it catches on to you over time.

The first two songs are Avenged Sevenfold in sound and attitude, but after these tracks, the band starts to experiment with their sound a bit. “Afterlife” starts off with violins and the duo of Gates and Vengeance tearing up their guitars before turning into a mid-paced foot tapper. The solo on this song is absolutely phenomenal, mixing shredding with some melodic moments. “Brompton Cocktail” adds tribal drums into the mix with an orchestra, relieving memories of S&M.

These songs have great use of experimentation, but other song are less than stellar. “Scream” sounds like a lot of bands in the mainstream and its repetitiveness doesn’t help matters. “Gunslinger” is a mix between a country song and a hard rock song. Trust me, it doesn’t work too well. The female vocals, done by Shannon Crooks, just seemed to be placed there for no reason, as they don’t benefit the song at all. “Dear God” is also in the vein of good old fashion country/blues, even including the slide guitar. The song, which ends the album, is slow and boring, only picking up at the end with a two minute solo. Unlike past closing songs, “Dear God” does not feel like the epic closer that Avenged Sevenfold is known to write.

The longest track, and most controversial one, is “A Little Piece of Heaven,” written by The Rev. The only way to describe this song is “Nightmare Before Christmas” mixed with Mike Patton’s side project Mr. Bungie. The song is eight minutes of weirdness, as the song tells a tale of resurrection and dead people marrying and killing everybody for no reason. The best part of the track is a duet between Shadows and Crooks, which is emotional and well done. Personally, I’m still up in the air about the track. The song is odd, probably the strangiest song Avenged Sevenfold has ever done. “A Little Piece of Heaven” is definitely a song you have to hear for yourself to gauge your enjoyment of it.

M. Shadows vocal performance is much improved over City Of Evil. Unlike the previous release, Shadows has had a lot of vocal lessons from famed vocal coach Ron Anderson and it has showed. His Axl Rose-like vocals have been transformed into something that is a mix of that and his old singing voice ala Waking The Fallen. His vocals aren’t perfect, sometimes still sounding too raspy, and having strange distortion added onto them (“Lost”).

Gates and Vengeance make for a solid guitar duo. The guitars take a backseat in many songs, which is disappointing considering they put on a clinic on City Of Evil. Gates gets some chances to shred like there’s no tomorrow and really shows off his skill on guitar.

Johnny Christ gets some chances to break through the mix (“Scream” and “Afterlife”), but seems buried in it for the most part. The Rev gets a chance to shine on the vocals and doesn’t disappoint. His screams add some variety to the vocals and his singing voice is decent. His drumming is not as impactful as in previous releases, which is disappointing.

Avenged Sevenfold will divide fans the same way City Of Evil did. This album does not follow up on the hype, but the band tries to experiment with their sound. This has mixed results, but it is nice to see a mainstream band try new directions with their sound. I enjoyed the album, but it is definitely their weakest release so far. Fans will flock to this and say how one song or the other is their best ever, but the fact remains that Avenged Sevenfold took a chance with their sound, which doesn’t always work for the band.

The 411: This album will divide fans yet again, but the fact remains is that Avenged Sevenfold took a chance that most bands would never try in their entire career. Is it different? Hell yes, but different doesn't always mean better. That's not to say the album is terrible, but it is not what I had expected. So, as long as you don't mind random choirs and an entire song sounding like something out of "The Nightmare Before Christmas," you may enjoy Avenged Sevenfold.

Final Score:  7.0   [ Good ]