Apenised Sevenfold
THIS BAND |
| 1 | Avenged Sevenfold
Second Heartbeat
It's very close between these top 3 songs, but I would have to place Second
Heartbeat as my personal favorite A7X song. The lyrics may not be pure
buttfucking complex poetry, but they are very relatable, empathetic, and
emotionally tr00. There's plenty of powerful moments which are actually quite
chill inducing, including the first sung bridge ("two in my heart...") and the
ending choruses. The guitar solo, while it may not be overtly complex, is very
well executed. |
| 2 | The Wicked End
I would probably consider this A7X's best written song. After a pleasant intro
which reminds the listener that they do in fact have a bass player, there's some
of those nice dueling banshee guitar leads or whatever the fuck they're called
nowadays. The lyrics actually are pretty decent on this song, and Shadow's
aggressive delivery does not come off as forced at all. The chorus is an
interesting one which doesn't rely on a major catchy melody. Then there's the
synthetic pseudo-symphonic section which could not have been better
executed. Quite an accomplishment for A7X. |
| 3 | Chapter Four
Just a classic song on all fronts with some of Matt's strongest vocal
performances, clean and harsh. |
| 4 | And All Things Will End
The close on Waking the Fallen, while being among the longest songs A7X have
written, is one of their simplest in terms of structure and technicality. Yet, it
remains unmatched in emotion and tastefulness. Shadows is at his best with
the predominantly sung vocals, providing the vocal highlight of his career in the
final chorus, which almost ironically, comes with the simple interjection "yeah,"
a four-letter word which is cringe-worthy whenever he utters it from 2005 on.
The harsh vocals only appear in the bridge, and because of their sparing use
they are ultimately more effective. Also, the guitar soloing slowly going muffled
and out of tune at the end of the song is the perfect denouement to an
excellent album. |
| 5 | Save Me
The intro with the bass and ride bell is very much Dream Theater influenced
(think Take The Time) but after that A7X's longest song kicks off in a sound
which is undeniably theirs. The first few minutes are an overture of sorts to the
rest of the song and is surprisingly reflective, with some strong wordless
chanting that plunges straight into the standard verse. The song's chorus is one
of the strongest they've ever written, and the lyrics, while somewhat cliche, are
much better than most of the rest of the album. Also, the outro ("Tonight we all
die young...etc) manages to be one of the most memorable and powerful
moments in their career. If A7X call in quits after Nightmare, this would be the
perfect ending to a career which, if nothing else, was very interesting. |
| 6 | Trashed and Scattered
I feel like I should hate this song but it's remained one of my favorites since City
of Evil came out. The lyrics are simply about standing up to h8t3rs and all that
metal shit. Predictably, the song is littered with swear words and trite lyricism.
However, the band's performance and Shadow's delivery somehow makes the
song work for it's entire run time. Structurally, the song stretches beyond
standard formations and contains numerous parts. While at first it may seem
disjointed, the song manages to flow very cohesively from section to section. In
the end Trashed and Scattered is just fun as hell to listen to, and a great pump-
up song without being too laughably meat-headed. Also the chorus is probably
my personal favorite A7X chorus. Fuck you it's good. |
| 7 | I Won't See You Tonight Part I
Easily the best "ballad" they've ever written. Not much else to say, powerful
song. |
| 8 | Strength of the World
The intro is quite pretty before that massive guitar riff comes in. There's a shit
ton of good riffing and dual leading on this song actually, and it's definitely one
of their most impressive instrumental songs. The lyrics are rife with imagery,
and are some of the better in their discography. The chorus is the song's
weakest point, with Shadows at his nasally Mike Patton-humping worst, but
other than that it's one of their best songs. |
| 9 | Sidewinder
This song should not have worked. It's about fucking snakes for fucks sake. Yet
somehow the cool slithering (HAHA) guitar riff and surprisingly powerful vocal
performance in the chorus (which features Matt going beyond his range but
somehow sounding good) start off the impressive three-song stretch on City of
Evil in good fashion. Also there's some kind of flamenco guitar solo in the end
which is not very slithery but fuck it. |
| 10 | Remenissions
One of the more interesting and unconventional songs in A7X's discog. The
highlight for me would have to be the spanish acoustics during the first chorus.
Never sounded so great in the middle of a "metalcore" song. |
| 11 | An Epic of Time Wasted
My favorite song on their debut album. STST was interesting in that the
structure and sound was very much rooted in hardcore punk rock, although it
was coated in a definitively metal sound. An Epic of Time Wasted does a good
job of combining groovy metallic hardcore riffs with punk-influenced drumming
and chord progressions, before the climaxing anthemic cleanly-sung outro
(which they seemed to be fond of on STST). |
| 12 | Burn it Down
Guitar leads abound. Despite it being the shortest song on COE (at a modest
4:58) there's a lot going on, and the song-writing is anything but conventional
even if the structure is slightly so. The vocal melodies and musical interplay are
very frantic and off-kilter, providing one of City of Evil's early highlights with an
infectious bridge. |
| 13 | God Hates Us
The song definitely feels like the band saying "fuck you here's a heavy song" but
it's actually very well done, and a solid headbanger. It sounds a little like Lamb
of God if Lamb of God weren't cockshit boring. |
| 14 | Brompton Cocktail
Probably the only song on the self-titled that I wouldn't skip if it came up on
shuffle. The song manages to be innovative and experimental without being
completely fucking obnoxious. Shadow's lyrics provide a believable backbone to
the somewhat decent imagery in the lyrics. |
| 15 | Bat Country
This was the first song I heard by A7X I believe, and it was a good choice for a
single. The soft bridge may provide some "lol" moments with Shadow sneering
like an imbecile but it's a dominantly fun song, and the guitar solo is one of, if
not the best in their discog. |
| 16 | Turn the Other Way
The first 3:30 of the song are your standard breakdown riddled affair, but the
end is an early highlight to STST with an infectiously melodic guitar lick and a
young Shadow's at his singing best. |
| 17 | We Come Out at Night
Some very odd, disjointed riffs in this one, before ending with a strong clean
chorus (again) and piano. I believe this was their first single too but don't count
me on that. |
| 18 | Darkness Surrounding
This song is very similar to We Come Out At Night, just slightly weaker. In fact,
the structures are almost identical. Some of Jimmy's most impressive
drumming is found on this song, and the chorus, although repeated a little too
much at the end of the song, is nice and catchy. The lyrics are kinda bad but
hey. |
| 19 | Desecrate Through Reverance
The song-title is pretty hilarious (Sounds like they just picked a cool-sounding
verb and noun) but the song is solid material. It's a slower song tempo-wise
with an almost doom undertone to the riffs, before the end of the song which is
easily the highlight with upbeat clean vocals and jackhammer drums. Yay cliche
terms. I'm running out of interesting things to say. |
| 20 | Unholy Confessions
Yeah this song is a classic too. |
| 21 | M.I.A.
This song pretty clearly rips off "The Trooper" in the verse and well...most of the
song rips off Iron Maiden actually. The chorus is very well done though as is the
guitar solo and closing "Woah-oh-oh's," which while not at the same level as
Coheed's In Keeping Secrets, are pretty powerful and i'm sure would be fun to
experience live. A7X are pretty lol-worthy when they try to write political lyrics
but this one is kind of okay lyrics-wise unlike their other ones. |
| 22 | Natural Born Killer
Ugh. If the verse riff wasn't exactly the same as "Almost Easy" this song would
have been higher up. Still though, it's one of the best tracks and Nightmare and
it doesn't manage to be meat-headed or annoying at all. The chorus is actually
quite powerful, and the multiple guitar solos are well-done. |
| 23 | Welcome to the Family
HEY KIDS. |
| 24 | Warmness on the Soul
Oh, hey there emotion. Beautiful song honestly. It's not without it's
imperfections (the band sounds quite premature) but it's very well-written, with
touchingly honest lyrics. Shadow's sounds off at times but the emotion he
portrays hasn't been touched since, and I wish they were able to keep the
quality. If this song was recorded a few years later (perhaps on Waking the
Fallen) i'm sure they could have fixed up on the little quirks the song has but it
remains a very emotionally moving song, almost moreso in its obvious
imperfections. |
| 25 | Eternal Rest
The intro is probably the most chaotic A7X have ever been. Unfortunately, it
slows down shortly after with slow, "Walk" esque riffs after a great start, but it's
still solid enough to crack the top 25. |
|
