"Hail To The King" by Avenged Sevenfold

Avenged Sevenfold is not really all that familiar to this guy. Back in the Columbia House days one of their first records was a selection of the month for me, but after seeing their name and listening to a track, it was canceled.

Flash forward a number of years and they release a song called "Nightmare." That one was a damned fine track and it at least got me a bit interested in them.

Not uncommon for me, their being profiled in Guitar World sparked a serious of events that caused their latest record, their sixth, to end up into my music library...so now here it is for you to enjoy as well.

Seriously, six albums for these guys. I still remember when they were a brand new band. Now apparently the entire world's heard of them and can probably name more of their songs than me.

Douchey hats and hipster jackets.

Really what kind of metal is this? Thrash metal? Power metal? Who knows really. This band is definitely influenced by Metallica. They have the same kind of guitar sound. That very gritty fuzz kind of sound that sounds great with metal riffing. Though, thus far they are not wowing me with any ripping metal leads. Mostly softer melodic stuff.

The vocals are also reminiscent of middle aged Metallica, around the Justice Era when James still screamed, but also sang on stage. The vocals fit well into this puzzle.

The rhythm section is largely forgettable on this album. There has been very little double bassing and the drumming has been rather basic. The bass player has stuck into the shadows of the guitar and just holding down the low end. A bit more aggression on the drum kit could have added a nice charge to the sound.

The guitar work is not bad, but it is largely vanilla. Little bits of harmony solos, little riffs, and such, but there has been zero wow factor and there isn't another song that  has the quality of "Nightmare." Is this a bad record?

No, it's just not a great record.

Year: 2013
Genre: Metal

Tracklisting:
1) Shepherd of Fire
2) Hail To The King
3) Doing Time
4) This Means War
5) Requiem
6) Crimson Day
7) This Means WAr
8) Coming Home
9) Planets
10) Acid Rain