Send "Avenged Sevenfold " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Absolutepunk |
 It was all about metal for these guys in the beginning. The first two albums were about metalcore, which changed as time went on since vocalist M. Shadows decided he was through with screaming. The band as a whole looked to their influences and decided to be less extreme and take a more melodic approach to their music; that resulted in 2005's City of Evil. When they went back to write their self-titled album, A7X decided to push the boundaries with their sound.1. "Critical Acclaim" The opener of the album starts with an attack - an attack on democrats criticizing U.S. soldiers and the war on Iraq. Shadows isn't making a political statement; he's defending the soldiers. For the song itself, drummer The Rev lends his vocals. He doesn't sing; he takes on the voice of a monster to add a creepy effect. Shadows then goes for the attack, and rather than sing, states his lyrics with a threatening anger. The song is much more of a statement than a song, but it's a great opener nonetheless. 2. "Almost Easy" This song helped solidify A7X's identity and mainstream position. What's not to like? The intro pumps you up, the chorus is undeniably catchy and it harkens back to the metal sound of City of Evil. If there is anything negative to be said about this song, it would be lyrics. Compromise? Ignorance? Not only does the band say these things in a similar fashion found in many other bands, but Shadows goes on to say that he's not insane. A little amateurish, but the lyrics don't have to be great if a song is good musically; A7X definitely delivers that. 3. "Scream" Johnny Christ gets to shine on bass guitar in this hip-hop influenced groove metal song. Lyrically, I'm pretty darn sure that this song is about rape, and if it's not, then A7X really punk'd me here. All about sexual pleasure here and not a hint of out-of-this-world guitar solos here. It's a solid song, but some might get tired after repeated listens since there is really nothing more to this song other than sex. We get it: A7X likes the kinky stuff. 4. "Afterlife" A haunting orchestra that quickly turns into a guitar attack. Very ninja like if you ask me. Guitarists Synyster Gates and Zacky Vengeance show off their amazing abilities with amazing guitar solos on this track. What more do you want? What more could you want? The song paints a dark picture with Shadows talking about escaping, well, the afterlife; he believes that he has died too early, and the strings help fill out the rest of the painting....full text |
| Blogcritics |
| Man, where to begin. To say I was looking forward to this would be something of an understatement. I was anxiously waiting for the moment that I could get my hands on this album. Before I get to that, allow me a moment to give a bit of history. I got on the A7X bandwagon a little late. City of Evil found itself in my hands on a whim, I had heard a lot about them and found that I was a little curious. That album turned out to be a great trip into the past, with their LA Guns look and a sound that seemed to be an extension of the era that gave rise to my music fandom. Next up was seeing them live (with Coheed & Cambria) and wow, what a show. I also managed to get my hands on Waking the Fallen, another excellent, albeit different sounding album. Now they have released their second major release, the highly anticipated (by some anyway) follow-up to City of Evil. Would it, nay, could it live up to its predecessor? The anticipation is killing me! I shredded the plastic and slipped the disk into the CD player; with trembling fingers I pressed play and waited to be blown away. Blown away I was, just not in the good way. I found Avenged Sevenfold to be a big letdown from the glorious glammed up and tatted highs of City of Evil. In its place is an album that feels devoid of any real creativity, there was no life flowing through this collection of tunes. Okay, I admit to liking a couple of songs and liking moments throughout the remainder of the disk but taken as an entire work there was no soul, no feeling behind the writing. A comparison that seems to be apt, although this case is not quite as extreme, would be to look at Avenged Sevenfold as a new Sugar Ray. Now before you get your gears turning, hear me out. This is nowhere near the level of what Mark McGrath and crew did, but it does have some relevance....full text |
| Heavymetal |
| Avenged Sevenfold has evolved from a metalcore band into the mainstream. Their last album, City Of Evil opened the band up to a whole new group of fans and they even had a video on MTV's TRL. That sort of mainstream commercial success will immediately draw accusations of selling out, and Avenged Sevenfold is an extremely polarizing band. Their latest album is Avenged Sevenfold, and it sees them moving even further away from metal and more into the hard rock genre. There are still metal moments, and the guitar work of Synyster Gates is excellent, but Avenged Sevenfold delves into several other genres as well. The album ends with a couple of unique tracks. "A Little Piece Of Heaven" is an 8 minute opus with everything from brass to gothic choruses to female vocals to pop hooks. The closer is "Dear God," a twangy country flavored song....full text |
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