AVENGED SEVENFOLD
"Avenged Sevenfold"
Released: Oct. 30, 2007
Genre: Metal

Official Site, MySpace, Wikipedia, YouTube

[Note: Click here for an audiocast version of Carl Zielinski's review. Listen as Carl mixes his opinions with sample clips from the album. Check it out and decide for yourself.]

I LIKE TO think that I am fairly open-minded when it comes to music. I’ll listen to almost anything, just as long as it isn’t bluegrass.

However, I couldn’t help but exclaim “What the hell?” at a high volume upon hearing Avenged Sevenfold’s self-titled fourth album.

As with all bands that make an eponymous album well into their careers (Metallica comes immediately to mind), A7X are attempting to make a move to mainstream consciousness, and hopefully success.

While Metallica managed this at the expense of their original hardcore fans, it seems A7X won’t even manage that.

Whereas “Metallica” expanded upon the band’s previous works and streamlined them for radio possibilities, “Avenged Sevenfold” abandons the group’s previous epic mentality in favor of a newer, even less accessible (and ultimately less enjoyable) sound.

A7X's previous album and major-label debut, “City of Evil,” was a near-progressive mixture of metalcore, '80s thrash, and straight-ahead rock.

“Avenged,” on the other hand, has hemmed in all but the rock elements of the band’s sound. Never once does singer Matt Shadows resort to screaming, nor do guitarists Zacky Vengeance and Synyster Gates go off into lengthy tangents.

Unfortunately, these two elements are what defined their sound throughout their careers. Without the harmonized interplay between Vengeance and Gates, the band is left with little more than typical verse-chorus-verse-solo song construction, making songs far more formulaic and less distinctive. While the screaming was done away with even before “City,” its loss only serves to further lose track of exactly what the band’s sound truly is.

That’s not to say that “Avenged” doesn’t have any appeal; it can be quite entertaining when everything falls correctly into place. A7X have the undeniable gift of catchy choruses, a talented singer, guitarists who gel impossibly well, and an ear for a great melody.

The album’s first single, “Almost Easy,” shows these gifts extremely well along with “Afterlife,” “Scream,” and “Lost”; they are catchy without becoming annoying and are heavy without diving into their previous metalcore excesses.

However, more memorable than the good moments are when the band falls flat on their collective faces. Case in point: the utter catastrophe that is “A Little Piece of Heaven.” A bizarre homage of sorts to early '90s alternative band Mr. Bungle, the song is eight minutes of nothing short of torture.

Featuring woodwinds, choruses, and numerous background vocals, there is no real focus, or indeed any point. Its inclusion on the finished album is an utter mystery to me, as it interrupts the focused flow of the other songs without any form of redeeming qualities. While there are a few enjoyable melodies, they are covered by lyrical awkwardness and are simply too few and far between.

Unfortunately, this tendency to ruin what could be a good song rears its ugly head throughout bits and pieces of the rest of the album as well.

The opener “Critical Acclaim” starts with a bizarre church organ intro and then switches to an obnoxious shouted chorus. Worse than that, the verses consist of hyperconservative political rants aimed at those who don’t support the troops in Iraq.

A brief excerpt is in order: “So how does it feel to know that someone’s kid in the heart of America has blood on their hands, fighting to defend your rights so you can maintain the lifestyle that insults this family's existence?” This, along with some adorable “love it or leave it”-mentality screaming, awaits the listener.

Unnecessary? You bet.

What eases the pain is when the group’s experimentation manages to pay off. The acoustic verses of “Gunslinger” are well integrated into the rest of the song, and as a whole the song fits well with the rest.

Similarly, the country-sounding steel guitars of closer “Dear God” sound completely at one with the band’s typical sound. The fact that A7X can go from rock to country and back again without a stumble goes to show just how much potential they really have.

A7X could be a great band. I sense that they really want to be. Until they learn to control themselves, however, this isn’t going to happen.

“Avenged Sevenfold” is an album so close to being great that it hurts; simply changing two of the songs would have been sufficient. With any luck, we can look forward to improvement in the future, hopefully involving their abandonment of the idiotic stage names and makeup.

AVENGED SEVENFOLD VIDEO: "ALMOST EASY"

Note: This video was posted on YouTube by Avenged Sevenfold and can be seen on the band's site as well.