Avenged Sevenfold (Parental Advisory/+MVI DVD) [PA] - Avenged Sevenfold > Reviews > Another average avenged album, with some perks

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Average
Lyrics	Mediocre
Quality and consistency of tracks	Mixed
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Unmemorable
Value for Money	Satisfactory

Advantages:	A few brilliant songs,
Disadvantages:	The boring metal in between,

Recommend to potential buyers:

no

Full review

Let me start by saying I have not always been an Avenged Sevenfold fan, I heard the first few albums and was not impressed. They were good at what they did, which at that point was metalcore - it however was not to my taste.

It was only with their release of City of Evil that I was amazed, suddenly this band that used to be stuck in dropped D chugging away to screaming vocals were throwing in screaming solos, powerful melodic vocals and even moving string sections.

This album however, was not the same.

The album opens with the first single release - Critical Acclaim, which in its own right is a fairly standard metal song, almost like Avenged Sevenfold trying to be Metallica, but not a bad song.

After this, the album loses some of its appeal.

I can let pass one song on the album which is standard fare of metal, but when most of the album is made up of mediocre songs then its much harder to appreciate the music.

The only odd gems are the songs which differ from the norm, the ballads, the slightly strange songs, and then the best song on the album - "A Little Piece of Heaven".

Yes it sounds a little pretentious, and yes it seems like being weird for the sake of being weird but the song just seems to catch me on many levels.

The orchestral parts aren't badly written, and the guitars contrast nicely with them. What I liked about it was the fact that it shifts between styles so much that it leaves you thinking "What just happened?"

Had the whole album had as much ambition, I would have regarded it higher.