Still, the song unveils more and more layers as it progresses, lurching into Iron Maiden -esque gallops, acoustic touches and, finally, full-blown flamenco.
Avenged Sevenfold were never really ones to wind their necks in, were they? Exactly who had incurred their ire was unclear, though. The rest of the track features plenty of that unmistakable, Rev-driven, mids Avenged stomp, backed with crunching riffs, juddering groove and a particularly vitriolic performance from Shadows, the frontman practically apoplectic as he rages at those who criticise the US from within.
Tell us what you really think, pal! It resulted in a record that was, even by their lofty standards, conceptually loaded and densely layered — which is probably why God Damn served as such a perfectly placed, heads-down, tits-out metal banger. As demand for their music increased, Avenged Sevenfold canceled their tour dates for fall and set to work on a fourth studio album. In , the band announced plans to begin work on its third studio release. That same year, drummer Jimmy "The Rev" Sullivan passed away at the age of 28, and in the band released Nightmare with replacement drummer Mike Portnoy Dream Theater.
In , they recorded the song "Carry On" for the Call of Duty Arms: Black Ops video game, before releasing 's Hail to the King , which featured new drummer Arin Ilejay of Confide , and reached the number one spot on the Billboard Citing "creative differences," Ilejay left the group shortly after the album's release, and was replaced by Brooks Wackerman Mass Mental , Bad Religion , who would man the kit for the band's seventh studio outing, Voltaic Oceans.
The band eventually dropped the release without promotion, and under a different title; The Stage arrived in October following a live-streamed, degree, 3-D performance atop the Capitol building in Hollywood.
The record was their longest to date and was described by the band as a concept album exploring the theme of artificial intelligence. The minute closing track, "Exist," featured a spoken word appearance from revered astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson. The band continued to expand on the album by releasing a string of singles in , including a cover of the Rolling Stones ' "As Tears Go By. Less immediate than its direct predecessor, The Stage also proved that A 7 X could still conjure an atmosphere of pomp and ceremony on demand.
Inspired by The Lonely Goatherd from The Sound Of Music, the stunning, marionette-inhabited music video — highlighting the human appetite for bloodshed and cyclical self-destruction — is probably the finest of their career.
Originally intended for the Transformers soundtrack but not finished on time, its abstract themes of internal torment, familial disconnection and the pain of loss feel like an odd fit for the robo-mega-blockbuster. If Shepherd Of Fire laid the template, the title-track of Hail To The King delivered heavy metal in something close to its purest form. Cutting away every ounce of fat and indulgence and keeping its mid-tempo on the leash, it feels like the sound of a band at the top of their game.
Although, aesthetically and sonically, parallels with Black Album -era Metallica were irresistible and wholly warranted on other tracks like This Means War , HTTK was less about aping their Bay Area forbears than tapping into the same classic rock simplicity they mined. Focusing on the five core elements of their sound, deliberately pumping the brakes to allow time to breathe, then polishing them to the point of perfection — all the while delivering a regal concept every bit as extravagantly grandiose — Avenged delivered a metal anthem for the ages.
This is bat country. Reportedly first conceived by Shadows on his wedding day, the track portrays the antithesis of that happy culmination, thrusting the listener into the point of view of a sinner condemned to hell for a lifetime of misdeeds.
For fans back in , Beast And The Harlot was emblematic of the rapid progression A 7 X had managed in the two short years since beginning the break-out with Waking The Fallen. Although a shortened single version was released, the near six-minute opener on City Of Evil was a non-stop showcase of the complexity, colour and ambition of a third album that was less about breaking free from the constraints of the Californian metalcore scene that had spawned them than changing the course of heavy metal for good.
Now over 20 years into their career, in the Huntington Beach titans broke out of the California hardcore punk scene and never looked back, dipping their toes into metalcore, hard rock, and heavy metal along the way. Er, sorry about that, guys. Those horns! That hectic guitar solo! And the absolute highlight? Put in context, though, and its impact is all the more hard-hitting.
Shadows later told Kerrang!
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