The latest album from Avenged Sevenfold, marred by the death of drummer Jimmy 'The Rev' Sullivan, was released this Summer. Have they kept the formula that drove them to success?
First up, I should make it clear that I am a massive Avenged Sevenfold (aka A7x) fan. I’ve pretty much always followed my rule that if a song has great guitar in it, I’ll like it, and regardless of vocals. Vocals are obviously important, but I can put them to the side and focus on the music. With Avenged Sevnfold’s first album, this was a big plus. It might go with the genres of music I like, but screaming isn’t my thing.
Fortunately, as the band has matured, so has their music. Screaming is no longer the focus in the vocals, and I find this means that when it is used, the kick you get out of it is more intense. To this end, the 5 seconds of screaming in Natural born Killer are far more effective that any of the screaming found on Sounding The Seventh Trumpet (the band’s first album), and God Hates Us (the song with the most aggressive vocals and lyrics) stands out as the obvious MoshAlongSong™. That said, my favourite song on Nightmare is probably Buried Alive.
The song Fiction deserves a special mention. Written by the late Jimmy ‘The Rev’ Sullivan, he completed the recording of the vocals just before his death. With this in mind, his lyrics are particularly haunting as they foretell his death. The piano in this song is also spine-chilling and I hope that A7X continue to use piano/organ in any future albums. Welcome To The Family is my second favourite song; just after purchasing the album I went for a bike ride and it’s one of those songs that gets the adrenalin running; you just feel pumped and ready to go all the way through it.
The final song on the album, Save Me runs close to 11 minutes, yet manages to maintain the energy built up from the previous 10 songs. A7X are happy to experiment and mess around in different genres and that comes through most clearly in this song, which like A little Piece of Heaven from their previous album, is quite unlike anything they’ve produced before. I hadn’t intended to mention so many songs individually when I started typing, but this is testament to the fact that there are no fillers in this album. So Far Away is a heartfelt farewell written by Gates, for his lost friend Jimmy. The song starts off innocently enough, and appears to be ‘just another gentle song from a metal band’. However, the combination of the lyrics in the chorus, and the solo following the breakdown, for me at least, made the song really touching.
For anyone with a remote interest in this kind of music, I’d say this album is well worth a listen. Unlike Disturbed who continue to produce the same trademark sound, Avenged Sevenfold keep in touch with their routes whilst exploring new directions.
Alexi Gerolemou
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