2.0 poor

TurnTheOtherWay | June 21st 06

When I first got City Of Evil, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I had Waking The Fallen and loved it, but I heard CoE didn't have screaming. However, I still bought the album. It was a lot more experimental then WtF, which was not a good thing. Matt Shadows developed a rather whiny singing voice that just annoyed me. Synsyster Gates and Zacky Vengeance used more guitar harmonies, but they used them so much that their effectiveness wore off quickly. Johnny Christ took a more prominent role (i.e. I could tell there was bass), but it wasn't really enough to save the album IMO. The Rev's drumming is still as good as it ever, and was a highlight of the album. Overall, CoE was quite a letdown for old A7X fans. I'm not really digging the direction of the band. 5 Bumps | Bump

3.5 great

Steerpike | November 7th 06

Abandoning the metalcore approach they started with, Avenged Sevenfold have taken more influences from hard rock and classic metal on City of Evil. The album is much more melodic than anything they've ever done and uses epic song structures frequently. Though the band is still working on fitting into this new direction, particularly vocalist M Shadows who is still growing into his actual competency (as opposed to the previous albums where he had no training whatsoever), they do show great promise with catchy hooks, clever songwriting, and blazingly melodic solos and harmonized leads. 4 Bumps | Bump

3.0 good

Jom STAFF | January 31st 07

This is the first Avenged Sevenfold album I heard straight-through, so I can't really comment on their metalcore days and the supposed direction the band is going in. I had heard bits and pieces of songs from Madden, for instance, but these guys were getting a lot of hype, so I figured I should check this out. City of Evil is a great album, but it's burdensome to get through, even with the absolutely phenomenal drumming - the fills, the "riffs," and the rhythms are all spectacular. The collective musicianship of the guitarists is stone-cold solid as well, with vibrant leads, flashy solos, and scorching main riffs such as in album opener "Beast and the Harlot," and while discovering the brilliance of harmonization makes for a typically-pleasant listen, it's irritating that it's found on basically every track on this album, making the music at times torturous and annoying to listen to. The instrumentation is, for the most part, excellent, and the vocalist takes a lot of flak - he's a bit hit-or-miss on this album - but along with the harmonization, where this album drives me bonkers is in its epic song lengths. Hearing the harmonized guitars excessively over sometimes on, sometimes off vocals for over five minutes a pop for eleven songs is borderline tedious. I'm not knocking the musicians - they clearly have a world of talent - I just feel that they could explore other musical passages other than epic song lengths and resorting to harmonization by default. Highlight tracks for me: "Beast and the Harlot," "The Wicked End," and "Bat Country." 3 Bumps | Bump

0.0	AtillaTheHunn | November 7th 06
this band is the ultimate example of popular musics mass media attempts and successes to fortify a scene to the general adolescent public to make money. This Band has nothing to offer but pathetically overproduced watered down music, and no talent. the only thing they can offer is the selling of their image which they do extremely well. 2 Bumps | Bump

4.0 excellent

Drunken Viking | August 27th 06

City of Evil, the third installment of the A7X full length discography. Guitarists Synyster Gates and Zacky Vengeance definitely stepped up their guitar playing, the leads were colorful and often times harmonized. M. Shadows' vocals were definitely different, and not quite as strong. The songs were longer, and there were orchestral instruments and an entire choir used. Johnny Christ was still slightly inaudible, but when heard his basslines were definitely better. As for the Rev, his drums sounded amazing, and he was faster and better on CoE than ever before. 2 Bumps | Bump

2.5 average	Anthony D. Korum | August 21st 06
I dont like this album. I dont think they exactly sold our or anything I just think they are taking themselfs in the wrong direction. 2 Bumps | Bump

2.5 average

Inflames | February 1st 07

Ever since Shadow's throat popped....its been down hill ever since. I guess i give them credit for using his inability to scream to go mainstream...but i myself would have started looking for someone else. City of Evil sucks...really bad, there are some good things about it...but most of it sucks. It's too 80's for me...and I like some 80's music. I dont know, it just seems like what they are doing right now has been done to death. On the contrary I thought "Waking the Fallen" was one of the best CD's of 03. 1 Bumps | Bump

5.0 classic

Sevenfold | August 27th 06

Synyster Gates and Zacky Vengeance are awesome, I liked the screaming on the past albums, but I think A7X has made a huge improvement from before, they sound better (Though I like Waking the Fallen and Sounding the 7th trumpet a lot) , honestly I don't care that M. Shadows doesn't scream anymore, if you look at the band from a different perspective than just hate, you'll see that they have 2 amazing guitarrists, one hell of a bass player, and one of the best drummers I've ever heard 1 Bumps | Bump

1.0 awful	Kashmir09 | October 12th 09
This is probably what would be playing on repeat for all eternity in hell, so ridiculously horrible Bump

5.0 classic

kinslayerSOA | April 16th 09

This album is a step in a completely new direction for Avenged Sevenfold, but in my opinion it is a great move. Their new music seems to bring the guitars to the forefront and it makes the songs more enjoyable. The album also showcases M Shadows' melodic vocal talent, rather than his metalcore voice. Top 3 songs - Beast and the Harlot, Seize the Day, Bat Country Bottom 3 songs - Sidewinder, Blinded in Chains, Betrayed Bump

0.0	Conor Mackie | March 11th 09
Dropping the terrible metalcoreness of their early releases, A7X actually take a step forward and add some melodic elements drawn from classical metal and hard rock influences. Their best album, but not one I'd reach for very often. Bump

5.0 classic	ShunnedSAMURAI | December 27th 07
This is one of my favorite albums of all time. Every song on this CD has been my favorite song at one point in time. Everything from Beast and the Harlot to MIA, are just...... how do i say it.... EPIC. Bump

3.5 great	Firebreather21 | November 26th 07
musically this is a good album, it has crazy guitar solos and and good rythms and beats and i think they are amazing, but lyrically i dont support the message that a7x is sending out, this would be a classic if they didnt use the f-word so much. Other than that i think it is their best album. Bump

4.5 superb

Deathlyavenger | September 12th 07

Well ive tried as hard as i can but i just cant seem to understand all the stick these guys are getting for this album, because it honestly is truly awesome. Thsi is some of the best guitar and drumwork ive heard in while and hey u gota give them credit thier vocal works unique like or not. So i'am not gonna you a track by track review but ill tell you expect whwn you pop this album into your cd player. I think we all know and have heard enough about Matt blowing a vein in throat but theres no point denying it has had a major influence on their music, lots of debate about wether they are even metal anymore never mind metalcore. Well its very hard to define a particular metal genre especially one as wide as metalcore, bust rest assured avenged sevenfols are metalcore.Simply because matt doesnt scream doesnt these guys cant put thier pedal ot the metal and rock. To be honest a7x have learned thier traits from the best of the likes of metallica and judas priests and perfected it. One thing that has always impressed about them is thier Lyrical prowess, these guys can write. From waking the fallen till City of evil thier theme has been consistent. In city of evil they excelled i this field some of the lyrics where mezmerizing for example take a track like sidewinder, matt sings from the perspective of snake truly amazing you have to hear to believe it. The wicked end is also brilliantly at one point theyre lyrics are dazzling-"toss the apple il savour each bite".strenght of the world is another lyrically wondeerfull clocking in a more than 9 minutes,good value for time. These are probably the 3 songs where a7x lyricall ability is really outlined. The othewr tracks are just as speciall but one thing that catches my ear so to say are the bridges in the tracks, they have this epic feel about them s if you where listening to power metal. for example in songs like burn it down, blinded inchains and sieze the day id have to say those 3 pose the best bridges ive ever listened to. So all in all they are a very misunderstood banf adn i feel the criticisms come from unjustly as these guys are truly gifted.My only concern would be the way their sound progresses over time its important they dont go to soft or they may slip off the metal cliff. Standout songs have to -Sieze the day -the wicked end -strenght of the world -betrayed Bump

3.0 good

HangEmHigh | July 19th 07

City of Evil was a broad change from Avenged Sevenfold's second album, Waking the Fallen. Gone are the strong, demanding screams of M. Shadows, and in their place is a higher, raspy singing. To me his singing isn't horrible, I've heard worse. But its the combination with the background singing of Synyster and Zacky that seem to give his voice a horrible sound. The deeper screams contrasted the background vocals very nicely, but now it is all but too annoying. The guitars however are still top notch playing excellent solos and inspiring leads. But to me its all played too much in harmony on songs with a normal song structure such as Beast and the Harlot and Bat Country. When they do break the mold the harmonies sound great for they are not reminiscent if the other songs for example Sidewinder. The bass is audible and this a plus, but for some reason Johny Christ does not lay down as many nice fills that could be heard somewhat on Waking the Fallen but primarily on Sounding the Seventh Trumpet. Drums are excellent as plenty of fills and excellent double bass are employed by The Rev. This band has great potential its just a few poorly judged decisions and a few things that should have been capitalized on that could have made this album 10 times better. Bump

3.5 great

farmertanman91 | July 14th 07

I will admit that Shadow's vocals were rather weak, but the instrumentals are great. I don't think the riffs were drab at all, and the solos were well thought out and fitted the feel of each song. I especially enjoyed the acoustic ending of sidewinder, which i thought freshened up the album a little. The second half of the album definitely beats the first half, which all sounded rather similar. The second half has much more variety, including the song Strength of the World, which i liked because of its old-western feel. Overall, i thought it was a good album, my only complaints are that Shadow's vocals were unfortunately not up to par due to his surgery, and the iron-maiden-esque guitar harmonizing got a little dry at times. Bump

4.5 superb	ndavino | November 16th 06
City of Evil is hated by almost all close minded fools. This album is pure genious. Every member does a very impressive job. most noticably is Synyster Gates' style of writing on this album. Every of the song's guitar work is of a different style and has a different feel. The Rev is an amazing drummer too. Bump

0.0	MurdockTheDead | August 28th 06
Awesome album, much more musically inclined and melodious then WTF. I was sick of the screaming and think the new vocals are much better, albeit whiny. Guitar work is unmatched and keeps the longer songs fresh. This was the right direction for this band to go in, in that they broke out of the screamo style and became all out metal. 5/5 Bump

3.0 good

guitar_is_life1992 | June 21st 06

The new avenged sevenfold seemed to be an over all improvement many fans of a7x were dropped due to the singer's throat surgey from constant screaming in there music.The new album City of Evil is clearer and a7x's will definatly gain more fans from this album.This new avnged sevenfold is clear cut witch many people like.Other people will say its not the same.Which is true its better.City of evil was an album that drew my attention toward this band.The face melting guitar solos in almost ever song are awesome such as bat country and the beast and the harlet.The higher notes in the back ground of each of there songs add some what of a mystical affect.This new album should take avenged sevenfold higher then they were from there other albums with the constant ear bleeding screaming.This music is more of a life experience...music that says something. Bump