Avenged Sevenfold Albums (4)
'Avenged Sevenfold'
Release Date 10/9/2007
Tracks 10
Label Warner Bros.
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Coming off a Best New Artist Award at the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards, the members of Avenged Sevenfold returned to the studio, ambitious to create an exciting follow-up to City of Evil, and their self-titled release often focuses hard on pushing the songs into non-metal territory. Their signature blistering Yngwie Malmsteen guitar arpeggios and lightning fast double-kick drums are still evident, while AS show their unbridled enthusiasm to be as inventive as possible as they run through a staggering amount of production enhancements: four songs have string arrangements; violinists, pianists, and vocalists make guest appearances here and there; "A Little Piece of Heaven" is a strange Mr. Bungle-type number with sax, clarinet, trombone, and trumpet; and "Unbound (The Wild Ride)" throws in the most un-metal addition of all -- a children's choir. Some of these enhancements help take the songs to the next level, while others give the sensation of inappropriately mashed-up styles. Vocalist M. Shadows, who required surgery on his vocal cords after Waking the Fallen, shows that his training with Ron Anderson (vocal coach for Layne Staley, Axl Rose, and Chris Cornell) has been for the greater good. Rather than screaming or doing the metal growl, he sings in a few gritty voices, showing an obvious Mike Patton influence, and actually sounds pitch-perfect. His skills and the entire band's technical ferocity are flawless as ever, and although they get lost in a cluttered vision, their willingness to experiment is admirable. ~ Jason Lymangrover, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Avenged Sevenfold's first two albums had a clear influence from heavy metal, but the California combo also freely incorporated emo, screamo, and post-hardcore elements. The mixing and matching meant 2003's Waking the Fallen had as many sighing harmonies as it did harmonized guitar freakouts. And yet City of Evil, the band's third record and Warner debut, is absolutely rife with the imagery and pacing of classic metal. Look at that artwork. It features a skeletal swordsman flying a steed with steaming nostrils over the urban inferno of the title; tattoos, demons, and a skull with flapping wings adorn the lyric book. The New Wave of British Heavy Metal influence is immediate and prevalent, from the maniacally rippling percussion throughout to the triumphantly whining lead guitars in the chorus of "Blinded in Chains," or the soaring melody in "Burn It Down" that meets its match in Metallica-styled verses. The downshifts into guttural roars are largely gone, replaced by better-integrated atmospheric stretches or the tighter songcraft of a track like "Bat Country," which intersects punk and pop influences in a manner similar to My Chemical Romance. At over seven minutes, "Wicked End" is a late-album standout. Vocalist M. Shadows rips through couplets like "We've grown in numbers, six hundred sixty-six/War breaks, a sign of the end, eternally expelled/Look to the sky for knowledge, the stars align tonight," guitarists Synyster Gates and Zacky Vengeance trade off blistering solos, and there's a full choral interlude in the center, complete with an angelic host and sighing cellos. Which is all totally metal, and refreshingly unmarred by attempts to fit too many jumbled genres in. City of Evil's ballads are a little trite, and even its double-bass raging doesn't necessarily break new ground. But Avenged Sevenfold gets all the pieces right, and sound like they're having more fun here than in the scattershot approach of the first couple records. ~ Johnny Loftus, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Mudrock's dry production focuses almost all of Waking the Fallen on Avenged Sevenfold's greatest strength. That, of course, would be performance, and the band delivers with unflagging aggression and precision. Never mind the lyrical ennui or throat-scrape yowling; there's more to this music than generic cliché. When he wants to, M. Shadows can passionately project in a way that turns even the grim "Desecrate Through Reverance" into an almost bouncy little melody. (Incidentally, Reverance? Remenissions? Reverand? Maybe doomsday is around the corner, but isn't there still time to run song titles and soubriquets through a spell check?) And whether attacking a riff in unison or in harmonized parts, the double-threat guitars of Synyster Gates and Zacky Vengeance do their duty like search-and-destroy commandos -- in and out fast, leaving devastation in their wake. Especially noteworthy -- and note-heavy -- is the guitar solo that blazes through the last moments of "Second Heartbeat" and the head-spinning single-stroke virtuosity of the Reverand throughout the album. ~ Robert L. Doerschuk, All Music Guide
'Sounding the Seventh Trumpet'
Release Date 1/1/2001
Tracks 13
Label Goodlife
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Avenged Sevenfold has crafted a tremendous variation of metalcore, inflecting the traditional metal sound with outrageous bursts of hardcore fury and mesmerizing wails more likely found in the European vein of death metal. These elements together create an amazing but lethal crush on the listener, leaving one breathless after such feats. Sounding the Seventh Trumpet is an exceptional album that finds the group perfecting its own distinct style, and although the bandmembers remain fairly unknown on the metal scene, one could only imagine that this will change rather quickly. Frontman M. Shadows is a force to be reckoned with, as his screams are capable of making blood flow from one's ears, while his singing voice has the ability to feel those vicious wounds. Songs such as "Darkness Surrounding" and "We Come Out at Night" are excellent metalcore masterpieces, as the vocal harmonies add to these cuts to evolve the songs into fully atmospheric sonic blasts. As the album unfolds, Shadows' singing voice becomes the more dominant style and that is slightly unfortunate; the melodies are given much more intensity when his voice is used to a lesser extent amidst the grating bellows -- yet there is no bad song included on this collection. Musically, the band has seamlessly woven hardcore crunch with heavy metal flair, and never once bogs itself down with too much intricacy. "Streets" may surprise some for its punk feel, yet it all makes sense since it's a cover of the Successful Failure song, proving that Avenged Sevenfold could easily outdo many of the gritty punk groups in existence in the 21st century. Sounding the Seventh Trumpet is a magnificent album that is suitable for any fan of metal music, as Avenged Sevenfold has a firm grasp on all that is extreme. ~ Jason D. Taylor, All Music Guide
