The Avenged Sevenfold Thread (merged)

[TheCountOfNYC]

This fucking album man! Four listens down and I want to spin it again. It's looking likely to be my album of the year within about a week.

It’s gonna be close between this and Haken for me. It’s a great time to be a fan of progressive rock and metal.

[twosuitsluke]

This fucking album man! Four listens down and I want to spin it again. It's looking likely to be my album of the year within about a week.

It’s gonna be close between this and Haken for me. It’s a great time to be a fan of progressive rock and metal.

Haken hasn't really clicked for me. It's enjoyable but I don't feel the urge to revisit it, and I don't feel it reaches the highs of most of their previous work.

I think part of why I'm enjoying Life is But a Dream... so much is because it's such a surprise return to form (although unlike their previous form at all). Going into a record with low expectations can often be better than high expectations. I was feeling quietly confident this was going to be different the closer we got to the release date.

[emtee]

Listened to this again last night. Quite astonishing really the territory that's covered on this release. Each song is it's own unique story. I would have enjoyed being a fly on the wall when the label execs heard this for the first time. I think this could be their best release.

[PixelDream]

I don’t know if I enjoy listening to it but I’m halfway and this is some pretty wild stuff. They don’t care about accessibility at all.

[bluefox4000]

I'm not the most massive fan of this band.  but i higghly enjoy this album.  it's a trainwreck but i almost liken it to something like Trout Mask Replica.  not that they are similar but this record is so off the wall but i still get massive pleasure from it.  and most folks i'm betting won't.


and that's fine.  but this album is a trip.

[me7]

If you are a fan from "Waking the Fallen" up to "The Stage", I don't think this will be too much of a shock for you. 20% of their output has always been whacky, now they just bumped it to 80% for one record.

But maybe people who liked the mainstream singles but didn't care for the album's will find little to enjoy. The reaction on discord is very positive.

[nobloodyname]

Listened to the album for the first time this afternoon and I have to say I came away rather impressed! Wasn't expecting that at all. Progressively, it's more interesting than about 98% of the material being put out by so-called progmetal bands.

[twosuitsluke]

Progressively, it's more interesting than about 98% of the material being put out by so-called progmetal bands.

This is how I feel. It feels genuinely progressive.

So I think I’m going to do a full discography play through tonight and tomorrow 

[hefdaddy42]

I haven't listened to this band since the album Portnoy did with them, but I've heard good things about the new album.  Good time to check them back out?

[me7]

Yes and you should also check out the previous album, The Stage.

[bluefox4000]

Kinda pleased at the reaction here honestly.

I'm going through their work album by album today and the new albums weirdness really isn't that much of a surprise.

it's more pronounced that's all.

[hefdaddy42]

Yes and you should also check out the previous album, The Stage.

[Mr.Mister]

Hot Damn! I haven't been sucked in by an album in a very long time. A7X has always been hit or miss for me. This is not a hit, this is a home run. 

[Ben_Jamin]

The album really gets going from Cosmos on for me. My favorite is the trilogy of G, (O)rdinary, and (D)eath.

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

Finally got around to giving this a spin today. I came away with kind of a bad taste in my mouth and didn't want to listen to it again. Typically I'll give brand new albums 2 spins in a row just to quickly familiarize myself with it, but I just couldn't pull the trigger on the second listen and moved on to the new Fjoergyn album.

I'll try again next week.

[The Realm]

Finally got around to giving this a spin today. I came away with kind of a bad taste in my mouth and didn't want to listen to it again. Typically I'll give brand new albums 2 spins in a row just to quickly familiarize myself with it, but I just couldn't pull the trigger on the second listen and moved on to the new Fjoergyn album.

I'll try again next week.

I totally get that as I couldn't even get through the album the first time I tried. But I decided to try again and something eventually clicked. I think the fact it kind of defies expectation and is probably not what anyone would have expected does make it a potentially tough listen.

I now absolutely love it. Every song is its own mini tour de force of music styles. I have to give the band a ton of credit for this and as others have said above this really is progressive music.

[twosuitsluke]

The album really gets going from Cosmos on for me. My favorite is the trilogy of G, (O)rdinary, and (D)eath.

100% with you. The first few songs are ok, but it really gets good on the back half of the album. I don’t think the friends of mine who are trashing the album ever got to Cosmic to be honest. I’ve been lurking on Reddit and Facebook and this release is really dividing the fan base to the extreme. Seems to be heralded as the second coming, or the worst thing they’ve ever released 

I’m taking that as a good sign.

On my whole discography run through and I really do like Sounding the Seventh Trumpet as a debut. It will definitely beat Hail in my rankings, if nothing else. The rest of the catalogue is just stronger, but it is a good foreshadowing of what is to come. Onto Waking the Fallen next  I love the damn riffs on this album.

[cramx3]

Progressively, it's more interesting than about 98% of the material being put out by so-called progmetal bands.

This is how I feel. It feels genuinely progressive.

Yeah, I can agree with this too.

I haven't listened to this band since the album Portnoy did with them, but I've heard good things about the new album.  Good time to check them back out?

Sure why not?  Just know it's a bit of a wild ride. And if you do like it, I would also agree with me7 to check out The Stage which is also fairly progressive but nothing quite like this album.  But that album was definitely the bridge between the new album and what you've likely previously heard from the band.

The album really gets going from Cosmos on for me. My favorite is the trilogy of G, (O)rdinary, and (D)eath.

100% with you. The first few songs are ok, but it really gets good on the back half of the album. I don’t think the friends of mine who are trashing the album ever got to Cosmic to be honest. I’ve been lurking on Reddit and Facebook and this release is really dividing the fan base to the extreme. Seems to be heralded as the second coming, or the worst thing they’ve ever released 

I’m taking that as a good sign.

On my whole discography run through and I really do like Sounding the Seventh Trumpet as a debut. It will definitely beat Hail in my rankings, if nothing else. The rest of the catalogue is just stronger, but it is a good foreshadowing of what is to come. Onto Waking the Fallen next  I love the damn riffs on this album.

I really like Mattel so I can't truly agree with the album starting at Cosmos, but Cosmos on is definitely the meat of the album and the highlights for me.

[twosuitsluke]

You guys do know it’s Cosmic, not Cosmos, right? You’ve had me double checking that a few times now 

Currently up to Hail to the King on my full discography play through. You know, it’s not quite as terrible as I remember, and enjoyable enough, it just doesn’t reaches the highs of literally every other album.

[ariich]

Cosmic is indeed a great song.

After a good few listens of the album, I've come around to liking it but not loving it. I like that they experimented, and in a way it's maybe a feature of being used to varied music that I don't even think the experimentation is particularly wacky or out there, although I accept it's much more so than their past work. I think there are four really strong songs on here (Nobody, Cosmic, Easier and (O)rdinary). The rest is mostly fine and there are some cool ideas here and there, but most of it I just don't think is executed well enough and I'm definitely not a fan of the mix which feels week and contributes to the album sounding messy.

If this is a new direction for the band then that's exciting, I just hope they do a more accomplished job of it next time.

[ariich]

Currently up to Hail to the King on my full discography play through. You know, it’s not quite as terrible as I remember, and enjoyable enough, it just doesn’t reaches the highs of literally every other album.

Yeah it's a decent album and has a few really good songs, it's just too samey and relentlessly mid-tempo so as an album it gets quite boring.

[cramx3]

You guys do know it’s Cosmic, not Cosmos, right? You’ve had me double checking that a few times now 

  I definitely get lost in the cosmos some times when posting song titles (I was calling 1985 by Haken 1984 for awhile)

[bluefox4000]

I finished my listren through.

Rankings if anyone's interested.

1. City of Evil (just Perfect
2. Life is but A Dream......(I know it's early but i've had a dozen or so plays.  I love it that damn much!)
3. The Stage. (pure Over the top fun)
4. Avenged Sevenfold
5. Wake the Fallen
6. Nightmare (i'd say this is really very good but the most overrated)
7. Hail to the King )at it's best a cute tribute album to bands of the past At worst.....bland
8 Sounding the Seventh Trumpet (typical debut of the times)

[Ben_Jamin]

You guys do know it’s Cosmic, not Cosmos, right? You’ve had me double checking that a few times now 

Currently up to Hail to the King on my full discography play through. You know, it’s not quite as terrible as I remember, and enjoyable enough, it just doesn’t reaches the highs of literally every other album.

  

I'll just place blame on autocorrect putting it in as Cosmos.

[twosuitsluke]

I finished my listren through.

Rankings if anyone's interested.

1. City of Evil (just Perfect
2. Life is but A Dream......(I know it's early but i've had a dozen or so plays.  I love it that damn much!)
3. The Stage. (pure Over the top fun)
4. Avenged Sevenfold
5. Wake the Fallen
6. Nightmare (i'd say this is really very good but the most overrated)
7. Hail to the King )at it's best a cute tribute album to bands of the past At worst.....bland
8 Sounding the Seventh Trumpet (typical debut of the times)

Also finishing up a listen through of everything and my overall ranking isn’t far off yours…

1. City of Evil
2. Life is But a Dream…
3. Avenged Sevenfold
4. The Stage
5. Waking the Fallen
6. Nightmare
7. Sounding of the Seventh Trumpet
8. Hail to the King

[SchecterShredder]

Yeah.... y'all have The Stage ranked too high,  and Nightmare too low.

[nick_z]

Also, it sounds like Beautiful Morning has a nod to Alice in Chain's Them Bones...certainly A7Xified, but it made my ears perk up 

[The Realm]

Also, it sounds like Beautiful Morning has a nod to Alice in Chain's Them Bones...certainly A7Xified, but it made my ears perk up 

Yes Nick agree with that. The start has a very AIC vibe and then it morphs into something else entirely. I really love that song, one of my favourites on the album.

[Elite]

Someone mentioned this album and called it 'unhinged' which intrigued me.

Now aside from some of their relative hit songs, I don't know a lot about this band so it was easy to go into this without prejudice and I loved it. Crazy stuff, I have no idea what they're trying to accomplish at times, this sort of whacky nonsense is right up my alley!

[cramx3]

Yeah.... y'all have The Stage ranked too high,  and Nightmare too low.

But City of Evil is at the top and that's what I agree with

[bluefox4000]

Yeah.... y'all have The Stage ranked too high,  and Nightmare too low.

I honestly feel nightmare while really good is a tad overhyped that's all.

and come on the stage (which i'm actually playing now) kicks ass.

[twosuitsluke]

Yeah.... y'all have The Stage ranked too high,  and Nightmare too low.

But City of Evil is at the top and that's what I agree with

Such a groundbreaking and important album for me. 2005 was the year I started really exploring metal and discovering a ton of my favourite bands.

Yeah.... y'all have The Stage ranked too high,  and Nightmare too low.

I honestly feel nightmare while really good is a tad overhyped that's all.

and come on the stage (which i'm actually playing now) kicks ass.

Yea, I actually really like Nightmare. It struck me on my play through that they have a pretty strong catalogue. City of Evil is significantly better than everything else, but the rest of the albums are actually pretty close.

[SchecterShredder]

I wasn't really into Nightmare until my little musical ensemble decided to cover the album cover to cover.  Learning all the songs gave me a new appreciation for the record.

I don't think anyone questions City of Evil being at the top of their discog. Just a fantastic album. Seize the Day is the low point on the album for me, and it's still a quality track.

[twosuitsluke]

Cosmic is my song of the year right now. It hits so hard, and has a bit of everything that I look for in music 

[cramx3]

Cosmic is my song of the year right now. It hits so hard, and has a bit of everything that I look for in music 

Saw an interview clip on tiktok where M SHadows was asked if they will play this song.  He said yes, but not likely on the first run of dates.  He said he already noticed this song is getting huge fan attention and they've already practiced and played it.  I'm seeing them in 2 weeks in NYC, hoping by first run of dates he meant the shows that already happened.