Review Summary: Avenged Sevenfold’s incarnation defies expectations and surprises everyone with eclectic musical amalgamation that is hypnotic and enticing.
Let me preface with this, after hearing the lead singles “Nobody” and “We Love You” I expected Avenged Sevenfold’s eighth album “Life is But a Dream…” to be a musical disaster equivalent to that of Six Feet Under’s “Nightmares of the Decomposed” just three years prior. However, I can say I was pleasantly surprised by this album.
The best way I can describe this album is to imagine Avenged Sevenfold writing an album reminiscent to The Beatles’ “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”. It’s truly a bizarre and off-putting experience to say the least, especially from someone who was a massive fan of the band’s earlier work.
While “Nobody” combined Nine Inch Nail, Vivaldi, and Neo-Classical shredding (think Malmsteen) and “We Love You” being an almagamation of many different genres being played at rapid fire rate, “Life is But a Dream” has plenty more to offer with each song serving as a unique chapter in an album that continues to evolve and change over the course of its runtime.
The progressive elements on “The Stage” are amped even further on this album but even though that may be the case, there are still traces of Avenged Sevenfold’s core identity retained in some of the tracks. The solo in “Cosmic” is an absolute scorcher and reminds me of Brian May’s guitar work on Queen’s “A Night at the Opera”. It’s a magnificent solo that demonstrates that Synester Gates is still one of the modern day guitar heroes. The intro to “Game Over” comes in absolutely swinging after the deceptive acoustic jingle at the beginning showing that the band can still pack a punch while still straying from the musical norm.
Diving even further into the album reveals tracks like “Mattel” to be an incredibly good reason with it’s style being reminiscent of Faith No More with it’s metal styled riffs being paired with lounge singing and piano. “G” sounds like the band performing a Dave Matthew’s Band piece accompanied by spoken word, Organ, and back-up singers. “Beautiful Morning” is a psychedelic trip with it’s symphonies seemingly being pulled from The Beatles’ “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” while being interspersed with 90’s grunge in the vein of Soundgarden and Alice In Chains.
I could go on and on about this album and how it goes out of its way to defy every musical trope imaginable but I won’t. The album needs to be heard to be believed. While I think this album flows very nicely, I do think that listening to the songs individually doesn’t work as well. Listening to a song on it’s own doesn’t work as well as it does in the full scale of the album. That’s the beauty of it, it really does flow like a novel.
While I do think the production isn’t exactly the best they have had in their entire career and there are songs that are most definitely weaker than others, I truly believe there is something here for everybody. I was shocked by how much I enjoyed this album after a couple of listens. It’s not their best but it doesn’t need to be. It can stand alone and have it’s own identity which is what makes this particularly incarnation of Avenged Sevenfold’s attempt at being Mr. Bungle so enjoyable.
Pros:
Very creative and intriguing songwriting
The musical performances (especially the solo on “Cosmic”)
Replay value
The overall flow of the album
Something here for everybody
Cons:
Production at times is a bit dry and doesn’t compliment the song very well
Some songs are definitely better than others
If you’re not a fan of “The Stage” you will hate this
Recommended Tracks:
“Cosmic”, “Beautiful Morning”, “Nobody”
