Formed in 1999, Avenged Sevenfold has now released their first self-titled album and fourth overall. Though they began as more of a heavy metal/metalcore band, they’ve since moved away from the sensibilities that gave them their start and approached a slightly lighter sound, beginning with their last album City of Evil and continuing with the new self-titled release.
Lead singer M. Shadows showcases his screaming capabilities as well as a slightly more mellifluous tone in a few tracks, though it’s clear where his true talent lies. In a few songs, such as the guitar showcase ”Lost,” an interesting produced sound to his voice occasionally pops up that’s reminiscent of some of the country songs that Kid Rock did a few years ago.
The melodic borderline-country song “Gunslinger” will draw in more mainstream listeners with its light acoustic guitar and only occasional vocal outbursts, but might turn off true metalheads, as will the slower “Dear God,” which is basically a straight-up southern rock country song throughout. The most experimental and interesting song on the album, though is A Little Piece of Heaven, which sounds like an eight-minute solo sung by a more hardcore version of Jack the Pumpkin King from The Nightmare Before Christmas. Surrounded by a slightly cartoony musical backdrop, an epic story of murder, revenge and love unfolds, ending in a duet with female vocalist Juliette Commagere.
If nothing else, Avenged Sevenfold is not afraid of taking chances. Each song on the album feels like a slightly different band and in the current musical marketplace of individual song selection, Avenged Sevenfold is the ideal display for selective picking and choosing: listeners can go after the accessible rock tunes or stick to the harder, heavier music the band is known for (such as “Critical Acclaim”). Either way, there’s something for everyone, even those who enjoy a good eight minute Tim Burton inspired love story.
Zach’s Rating: B+
Perfect For: An experimental exploration of hard rock, country and Danny Elfman
Stay Away if: Too much musical variation on one album confuses you
To purchase Avenged Sevenfold, visit Amazon
For more information on Avenged Sevenfold, including tour dates, visit their homepage
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11 users commented in " CD Review: Avenged Sevenfold, Avenged Sevenfold "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a Trackbackjust to correct you, the duet with the female in A little Piece of Heaven is not Shanna Crooks, but Juliette Commagere
I updated the review. Thanks for the correction. I apologize for the inaccurate information.
Well so far the album has been a big dissapointment, shit like
“And a word to the wise when the fire dies u think its over but its just begun baby dont cry you at my heart at least for the most part cos everybodys gotta die sometime we fell apart lets make a new start”
WTF is that i actually had to laugh when i heard that, R.I.P A7X
I am a really big a7x fan and i must admit that the first few times i listened to this cd i didn’t like it but the more i listen the better and better it gets, there are so many layers to these songs, especially a little piece of heaven, it is an orchestral joy ride
Man this ablum rocks this is the only music i listen to, beacause it rocks ur #1!!!!
The more i listen to the album, the more i like it. I am a big fan of the classic A7X so i really like the first 4 songs on the album. I was a bit disappointed in the song “dear god”… i thought it was out of place on the album. Other than that, it’s worth the purchase but don’t expect the heavy guitar riffs that you heard in the previous albums. (p.s. pretty solid review up top. I agree with most of it.)
I agree for the most part with your review. I think that the diversity in the album was one of the major strong points. This is probably a product of them producing their own record for the first time and being able to really run wild with their creativity without the usual restrictions that bands face. I think that this album was really important for avenged sevenfold, because they really showed a wide range of talent across the board. Through the country/western sound of gunslinger and dear god, or the return to the utilization of the double bass drumming, the band really showed their talent and put out a strong album. There are going to be plenty of people who don’t like the album, because it is not as mainstream as city of evil or not as hard-core as sounding the seventh trumpet or waking the fallen, but realistically the album cannot be compared to any of those, just as city of evil could not be compared to waking the fallen or sounding the seventh trumpet, because they are completely different styles. Avenged Sevenfold wanted to do something different with the new album and I think they did so successfully.
Wow, worst album ever. As a musician, I can tell what songs that time and effort were actually put it, and beyound this is filler garbage. For instance, Dear God is composed well.. for a Toby Keith or some fag like that. It’s as if they made this song, spent hours perfecting it, then went in the studio for 2 hours and compiled a bunch of noisy garbage and called it an album. There last album was horrid because M. Shadows filled the entire thing with whiney bitching, because he “couldn’t scream anymore”. This album proves that wrong, but it’s horrible. REST IN PEACE AVENGED SEVENFOLD. Enjoy your new crappy, mill of the day, fag scene kid / crying emo girl fan base
i really enjoy this album, but i think you should give it a chance. if u cant appreciate music enough to appreciate the creativeness of a7x then u shouldn’t critic the album. some people can be ignorant towards music. at least they still give u some old school shit like critical acclaim. i enjoy atreyu’s new album, but i cant help but feel that changing label’s turned them into a mainstream band more than a metal band. if fans are concerned that a7x has sold out i dont think u should worry until the singer of buck cherry appears on a track on ur latest album…(hinting towards the song “blow” which appears on atreyu’s new album) all in all i think this is a7x most mature album, their experience is really shining through i feel, and when a band can do some bold changes like they did on their latest album, and still kick ass i think that showes a lot…so for all the metal heads, dont shun a7x..u can listen to their old shit until the cd doesnt work ne more…but leave them alone, cuz their new shit is good too
Musical variation with this band is irrelevent. I always considered them an adolescent joke. They are good at what they do, but I think it’s terribly cheesy and just can’t get my head around why they are so popular.
I hyped Avenged Sevenfold on Everhype.com and gave them 53% which I think is fairly accurate.
http://www.everhype.com/hyper/mikeborgia?X=S2261
If you get on there rate me a 5 and request friendship.
Can anyone stop to argue their experimental willing and such other shit like that?
Avenged Sevenfold is awesome in everyway as well, honestly you can’t even diverse them in this or that genres because that’s not the main point!
And for those who think this is not A7X or confuse what music is A7X stand for, well I’ll tell you : the music that include the voice of incomparable M.Shadows, plus the duet of guitar sound and unique solo of Syn with kick-ass rhythm by ZV, jamming with heart-attacking drum beat of The Rev, and static bass by Johnny Christ. That’s what we call A7X’s music and I don’t really want to bother to categorizing their songs, because if a song is fulfilled by those requirement above, well that’s A7X and they’re always AWESOME! always.
And for those who can’t stand the fact that they are extremely famous (even in my country, Indonesia) that’s just because they have somethings different than other common band that seems to stick in your heart until the hell freezes over! They’ll be a legend.
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