AVENGED SEVENFOLD - CITY OF EVIL (Album Review)

[ERiC_AiXeLsyD]

A review from PittsburghBeat.com:

Avenged Sevenfold - City of Evil (Hopeless Records/Warner Brothers Records)
(Review by ERiC AiXeLsyD)



•• (3 out of 5 Aliens)
First off, I love the other two A7X albums, and would rate both of them a 5 out of 5... This one is taking a new path. If they were playing catch for the first two albums, someone fropped the ball here. While it might be cool for the band, & a lot of fans, I just don't know if I get it. I feel like I'm out of the loop here. Sounding the Seventh Trumpet and Waking the Fallen both hit me like a slap in the head. City of Evil leaves me scratching my head. I think this album will grow on me... but as for initial "WOW!", this disc just didn't do it for me. It also leaves me wondering what happened to the feral gutteral growling vocals. Did they get a memo saying that wasn't cool anymore? Did M.Shadows realize he'd eventually blow out his voice? What happened here? It's cool that he's drawing on more influences... I can hear everything from Axl to Ozzy to Mike Patton to Dave Mustane to Sebastian Bach or Vince Neil. Not to say that he's an imitator, but he's drawing from what he knows, and that's cool. I dig the melodic guitars here. The stuff where they Harmonize... well, I dunno if it's Zacky Vengance & Sinister Gates or all Gates just doubling duties, since he's listed as "lead" guitar. I do wish there were more hard-hitting riffs though... that's another thing I miss from the past two albums. Good job expierimenting guys... I'm looking forward to the next album though. Oh well, on to the track by track:

1. "Beast and the Harlot" - Not a super-strong way to start an album. This is the 1st track I heard for a preview n the 'net. The song is growing on me, but I initilally hated it. Sounds like too many different parts shoddily pasted together. I ike my cheese... but there's really a lot here. I do however, love the guitar melody... the high part... you know what I'm talking about. The piano wasn't blended well into this song... we could have done without it.
2. "Burn it Down" - Good way to start a song. Thundering riffs, blaring melodies form the guitar, guitar squeals... Not bad ad all. It's just missing some insane growling. I dig this song. It's not bad, not bad at all. Machine gun drums under vocals jumping back & forth & slightly overlapping each oher, it's good stuff.
3. "Blinded in Chains" - Again a good start... almost good enough to ignore the title. Blaring guitars. I love blaring guitars. When the vocals come in, I find myself disappointed yet again. Another one that sounds like a few songs pasted together that don't really fit.
4. "Bat Country" - I like this. I like the space w/ the guitars under some parts, the pounding drums, everythign but the vocals again. I dunno what it is... but there's something preventing me from getting into a really great song. Here is where the harmonizing lead guitar lines stand out. Man, those are some beautiful sounding guitars. I can feel the guitars... the vocals I cannot. The more I listen to this though, the more it grows on me.
5. "Trashed and Scattered" - Excellent start, excellent vocals. This is what I'm talking about. This is what I want to hear more of. This song is energetic and blasts ahead with... wait a minute... what's with the part where it breaks down & sounds like a snippet from Velvet Revolver? That bass groove is awesome... I dunno if it fits here... but I like it. This songs is great. I think it's my favorite from this CD. Here I don't even miss the growls.
6. "Seize the Day" - A slow one? This isn't bad. This album is growing on me here. I like the builds... and the chorus is almost catchy. You can tell they dig their power-ballads, and this is a valiant effort. The sparing guitar lead is cool... and very Slash-like... "November Rain" Slash. I like this song.
7. "Sidewinder" - Chuggign guitars... Nice. this sounds very Megadeth-like until the vocals come in. Then it goes in (suprise!) a complete different direction before coming back to that sound. Not bad.
8. "The Wicked End" - Nice. Squealing guitars... good leads... meaybe there is more of this that I first thought. Hmm. I dig this track. It flows from part to part a lot better than some of the other stuff. This song eventually erupts into chaos... I don't know if I like it yet... it might be too all-over-the-place.
9. "Strength of the World" - Okay. Here's where I miss the growls. Instead of the whole band chanting "Strength of the world" w/ you in the backgrounds... BRING OUT THE WEREWOLF-LIKE GROWLS, DAMNIT. I like how this song begins with the strings, & the Mexican-cowboy-movie-ish thing going on. I like this song... but bring back the feral screams. Please.
10. "Betrayed" - Nice riff here. Agian, the stops and drops into a new world all within one song. These transitions used to make more sense. Maybe I just need to get used to the new style. I wonder if the band went this direction by themselves, or they were lead there by a producer?
11. "M.I.A." - Starting off quiet... I like it when the whole band busts in. It's a good transition. I like the guitar pauses. Again, I liek the guitas more than the vocals... or the lyrics for that matter. The lyrical contect seems to have gone downhill too... or maybe I just didn't pay close attention before. I'm all about the 'epic' thing if that's what you're going for... but does this song never end? I do love the over-indulgent guitar solos... but they're like the friggin' Energizer Bunny. I'm still waitign for it to bust into a light-speed paced drum assoult with guitars that try to pop your eardrums from the inside-out and screams so heinous that whatver's making that sound must not be human... Oh well, maybe next time.

Check out this audio & video thanks to the band...

• "Trashed and Scattered" (mp3)
• "Beast and the Harlot" (mp3)
• "Burn It Down" (Live) (wmv)
• "Bat Country" (Live) (wmv)

And, you can stream the entire album by clicking here.

[HurricaneBob]

well then put this under the right forum....Like CD releases

Thank you

[ERiC_AiXeLsyD]

I thought the CD release forum was for shows?

Ron if this is in the inappropriate place, please let me know, & move it. I apologize.

Hurricaine, if you don't wanna read CD reviews... (which you can tell that this is one pretty obviously by the thread title) Why not just skip the thread instead of complaining about it?

[tornandfrayed]

Cause there is a "forum" called "CD Releases"!

Sorry if you thought that forum was for shows but that would be the "Upcoming Shows" group.

Nothing personal but come on !

[Craven Sound]

Well, it's more of a review of a new album, not his band announcing the release of their CD. So, I will now check this album out per your review.

[orangekick]

Hmm, the CD Releases forum says "The work is done, it's time to party." That implies that it's for local cd releases.

I personally would have thought that discussing a cd by a national band would fall under "General Discussion" since that's what we're doing, discussing it.

[ERiC_AiXeLsyD]

Hmm, the CD Releases forum says "The work is done, it's time to party." That implies that it's for local cd releases.

...and lookign in that forum, it's mostly about CD release shows... so I thought that was it's intended purpose.

I personally would have thought that discussing a cd by a national band would fall under "General Discussion" since that's what we're doing, discussing it.

Heh. Me too. I don't get what the big deal is. If you don't wanna read it, move to the next topic.

[ERiC_AiXeLsyD]

Well, it's more of a review of a new album, not his band announcing the release of their CD. So, I will now check this album out per your review.

Thanks dude. As long as someone is interested, it's all good. If nothing else, you get to check out some free mp3's and videos.

I always dig exposure to new stuff.

[Craven Sound]

Holy crap do those guys kick ass! I'm checking the Waking the Fallen album right now. I'm so out of the loop when it comes to good new metal.

[BDR]

I like beans.

r:>)

[ERiC_AiXeLsyD]

Holy crap do those guys kick ass! I'm checking the Waking the Fallen album right now. I'm so out of the loop when it comes to good new metal.

Awesome! Waking The Fallen and Sounding the Seventh Trumpet are some of my favorite albums ever. These guys kind've took a page out of the Metallica book & ran with it... adding a punk/hardcore element... as well as a ton of other influences that you can hear.

Here's an old video for the song "Unholy Confessions": http://avengedsevenfold.com/unholyvid/u ... d_high.asf

This shit blows me away.

MP3's From Waking the Fallen:

• "Eternal Rest"
• "Chapter Four"

MP3's form Sounding the Seventh Trumpet:

• "An Epic of Time Wasted"
• "Darkness Surrounding"

You can get their stuff from www.hopelessrecords.com now, I think it's on sale.

[ERiC_AiXeLsyD]

I like beans.

r:>)

I like porno.

[ERiC_AiXeLsyD]

I'm so out of the loop when it comes to good new metal.

Well, orangekick might be the guy to reccomend some good stuff. He clued me into Shadows Fall... they kick ass too.

[orangekick]

Dude, I search this stuff out. I'm always on the hunt for new metal bands that don't suck.

[ERiC_AiXeLsyD]

...note that the new is not a nü.

[ERiC_AiXeLsyD]

Check out my review of the Unseen album too: http://www.rockpage.net/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=6574

They're punk as punk can be... but after a listen, you can see punk n' metal really aren't all that different at heart.

[Matt_22]

I didn't get a chance to listen to this album but A7X is one of my favorite bands. I heard mixed things about this cd. I heard M. Shadows doesn't scream because he did blow his voice out. Just what I heard. Can anyone find any truth in that?
Eric, I think this is an appropriate place to make this post. We can discuss punk, metal, similar bands, and other thoughts. People just like to bitch because they have nothing to say about some things.

[ERiC_AiXeLsyD]

From the thread over at PittburghBeat:

According to front man M.shadows there new record will hold at least one
major surprise to their fans: "This is gonne be completley singing, no
screaming." Shadows, whose vocal variances were hallmarks of the Orange
County, California quintets first two albums, continues, "We've always wanted to
do singing music. Thats what we listen to mostly. We dont listen to bands that
sound like us." There are pragmatic reasons for the change as well: Shadows
had throat surgery last year after he burst a blood vessle on one of his vocal
chords. "It took me 2 months to recover before i could sing again." said
shadows. whose been working with a vocal coach ever since. "When the doctor
says, if you keep doing this, in three years you'll need to have another surgery,
and in 8 years you wont be able to sing-fuck it man. We're over it, It'd be stupid
to go on like that." The new album will have a few other twists as well. "We've
been comparing it to old Metallica meets Queen, or a Faith No More or Guns
N'Roses type of album.", Shadows reports. "Its really a metal record that stands
out on its own and has its own sound."

Source: http://www.wakingthefallen.com/home2.html

So apparently he wanted to continue his musical career.

I see this album as an experiment, so they sould see what works and what doesn't... hopefully on the next one they'll tighten it up & define it a little bit more.

I'm anxious to see who does the screaming live now... or if they'll change all the old stuff.

You can listen to the whole album form the streaming link above before you buy it. That shows that they have confidence in what they've done, & is a damn cool move.

[Craven Sound]

...note that the new is not a nü.

Ok, then how about current metal? I'm half-tempted to get an XM or Sirius just to listen to the latest stuff. I'll be sure to check out Shadows Fall also.

[orangekick]

...note that the new is not a nü.

Ok, then how about current metal? I'm half-tempted to get an XM or Sirius just to listen to the latest stuff. I'll be sure to check out Shadows Fall also.

When you say current metal, what kind of stuff are you thinking? Give me some older metal bands as a point of reference...

[ERiC_AiXeLsyD]

If metal is a science, orangekick is a mad scentist.

[ERiC_AiXeLsyD]

...note that the new is not a nü.

Ok, then how about current metal?

Ha ha ha. I was just playing on the spellings.

[ERiC_AiXeLsyD]

Eric, I think this is an appropriate place to make this post. We can discuss punk, metal, similar bands, and other thoughts. People just like to bitch because they have nothing to say about some things.

Thanks for the reinforcement.

[Craven Sound]

I like older Slayer, (with Dave Lombardo) System of a Down, Manson, Fear Factory, Pantera and things of the like. The kind of stuff that pisses you off just by hearing it, but doens't have the Cookie Monster as a lead singer. (Although some of that stuff isn't bad either.)

[orangekick]

I like older Slayer, (with Dave Lombardo) System of a Down, Manson, Fear Factory, Pantera and things of the like. The kind of stuff that pisses you off just by hearing it, but doens't have the Cookie Monster as a lead singer. (Although some of that stuff isn't bad either.)

Ok, I know you're not going to like all of the bands that I'm going to suggest, but I'm just going to give you some that I dig based on what you like.

Lamb of God (You may or may not like the vocals.)
Soilwork (skip Figure no. 5, it sucks, try Natural Born Chaos or Predator's Portrait)
Opeth
Unearth (The Oncoming Storm is phenomenal.)
The Red Chord (Clients is an amazing record. I'm still absorbing it.)
Trivium
Mnemic (these guys have a Fear Factory/Meshuggah thing going on. Kinda weird.)