Not too bad on a first listen.

Okay song, the solo could have been a lot better.

Eh, that was eh

Reminds me a lot of CoE. I like it pretty good, about as much as their other singles (which are almost always horribly picked, save Afterlife).

It's actually decent. What a surprise.

completely meh
the laughing right after the solo was just fucking retarded

Its just his voice in some parts... a little hard to take.

chorus=awesome

rest=meh

Listened to it again, had some interesting ideas but overall it's just a mediocre song.

stopped at about :50 and went to listen to "The Wicked End" instead.

Not too bad...

Song is nothing like COE btw.

^^
this

Song is nothing like COE btw. [2]

It's a pretty cool song. Better than anything off S/T anyway (not that it was hard to do).

wow that was painful

I disagree. Almost everything off the self-titled is better than that. The intro and solo were cool. Overall, not so great.

Not that great, sounded like something off of self-titled to me, but damn, will probably be stuck in my head despite all that.

everything they have made was bad and this seems no different

thought id share these two tidbits i found on my facebook

OH MY GOD! A7X'S NEW SINGLE.......-brain explodes!- OH MY GOD OH MY GOD!!!! SSSSSSSSOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHH!!!! THEY'RE REALLY BACK! @$%$^&&^#&$#$%@%$@%$$@%$@#$%#&^#&^#& :D!!!!! 8D!!!!!!!!!

There are absolutly NO words to discribe how i feel right now. Listening to A7X's new single.....literally, just made my last 4 hellish days worth living through. This one song.....just made my life worth living. Thank You Avenged Sevenfold. You've saved me once again. (this may sound so corny, but its absolutly true)

it's decent but not even close to their best.

lmao. win. Silly fans and their bad music.

Btw, when is this gonna get deleted? Mods always seem to delete news for bands they don't like..

Poor Portnoy. I hope they didn't lie to him and say they were going to play good music in front of his drumming.

three cheers for disappointment

lol jk, I had no expectations.

i lol'd at genocide's comment

Sounds like a mediocre version of Beast And The Harlot. It's a step in the right direction after their s/t, but still not what I want to hear.

At least Portnoy's drumming was pretty good.

I lol'd at genocide's comment too

hahahha, I just read it again, it made me laugh harder, made me want to pull the Nazgul on them...

Shouldn't you be painting Drama Gary?

do not come between the Nazgul and his prey

More crazy then a Mastodon guitar solo?

vocals are just


so ridiculous.

Sucks.

Not sure I like this...but I enjoyed CoE and the S/T so I'll probably check the album out. I can't take the vocals at points in this song, kinda irritating.

Sounded a bit more upbeat and more hard rock-ish, like they said they were gonna do.

Not terrible.

I like the verses a lot better than what was shown in the preview. I've said this before, but the only problem with the vocals is his low-pitched voice. It's just annoying.

Everything about this band is annoying, fyi.

eh. It's not terrible, but pretty bad. I don't like it. Sounds like James Hetfield at times. I love Metallica. But, this band is now shit. What happened to them? Deftones can remain a great band after all these years. But, A7x, will continue to suck.

What does Deftones have to do with anything?

Band needs a new vocalist.

Vocals sucks and people denying that are just a bunch of fools. Guitar not being flashy doesn't sound A7X. Can't really hear the bass... At least, drumming is excellent even if it looks like a warmup for Portnoy... I think I will relisten to the new DT instead of this...

song is pretty meh, at least its not as bad as the worst songs off their self-titled. End of the chorus is retarded and the solo sucked.

improvement over a7x, but still rubbish

The intro when the instruments all kicked in sounded pretty badass but after that it was pretty eh

What the vocalist really needs to do is start screaming again. That would help them to get their edge back, even if he wasn't the best at screaming.

he was pretty bad at screaming though. they just need a new vocalist really

They just need to break up tbh.

123 that is the best option

Could have been worse.
Not that it was, by any means, good though.

Two of the best drummers in the world working on this song, and its still only 'meh' at best. Kinda sad:/

umm

Not terrible, not good, not anything really. I hope the upcoming album will be much much better, because if the rest of the songs are in the same vein, I'll be having a real hard time trying to not fall asleep.

Metalstyles, stop trying. This is God awful.

LOLWUT @ Those comments Genocide posted.

Um, yeah, i think its a really good song too, but.... LMFAO, Wow. XD

some cool parts. i guess. the vocals are just terrible. he really needs to get back to screaming.
and the solo shows syn has clearly run out of ideas.

There are absolutly NO words to discribe how i feel right now. Listening to A7X's new single.....literally, just made my last 4 hellish days worth living through. This one song.....just made my life worth living. Thank You Avenged Sevenfold. You've saved me once again. (this may sound so corny, but its absolutly true)

Metalstyles, stop trying. This is God awful.

omg I found this awesome quote on facebook:

ahh how cute they're still trying to write music!

not bad, not good. just boring

some parts sounds like their singer is trying to go for a shitty james hetfield sound.
so imagine metallica + that really annoying low and nasally singing that god knows why a7x's singer keeps doing to this day..

It's like Portnoy started the song saying "Hell yeah, time to kick some ass and play some drums fills up in this bitch", and then A7X told him "Woah woah woah....don't play BETTER than Rev." and he started doing simple beats.
And the drumming was still the best part of the song.

I guess some people enjoy it

rules.

Song was average. Better than most of the songs on their last album though tbh.

is it just me or does shadows sound kind of like a rip off of mustaine at some points

oh wait, no.

This is definitely more in the vein of the s/t then COE. The only thing that is perhaps any bit similar is the length of the song. The structure really reminded me of "Critical Acclaim"

Some of the Rev's fills on STST were amazing (see the end of The Art of Subconscious Illusion for a good example of this). Hard to find them anywhere else. But Portnoy's got them all over the place in his band's music...

that's because he and the rest of Dream Theater do not understand the word 'restraint'

anyway back to a7x... I'm fairly sure the new album is gonna be better than self-titled

I hope they didn't lie to him and say they were going to play good music in front of his drumming.

A7x: Just a warning, this might blow

Portnoy: HAHAHHAHAHAH oh my boys... if you think this is bad just wait until you hear what we have planned for our next concept album

is it gonna be the sounds of them circle-jerking to their own music?

Ill give you a hint...fart noises aren't just for the mars volta anymore

Portnoy: Let's just say there will be solos. LOTS OF THEM

but will there be any MY SOUL IS YOURS DARK MASTER, I WILL FIGHT FOR YOU

New concept is no vocals....just solos....lots and lots of solos

and fart noises

Fart solos in fact

they're nothing without the Rev

chorus=awesome

rest=meh

^
this

I would honestly rather listen to Portnoy overplaying than anything else in this song though.

I like it. Sounds like a ballsier version of the material on self-titled, but then again and improvement over that album couldn't have been hard. Love the bells in the beginning as well as the solo.

Not terrible I guess, would've fit right in on City of Evil or the self titled though and those weren't exactly the best albums in the world. Might be worth a spin or two in the ol' car when this new one is out.

Wonder how many times the words "soul" and "evil" will appear on this album...

Quite mediocre.

Portnoy's drumming was good and stood out a little bit.

But mostly meh.

wtf Genocide were those friend's statuses or was it something on the a7x fan page?

I liked it. The album could go either way, though, because the self-titled had a good son or two amongst the not so great. So.... We'll see what the rest sounds like.

"they're nothing without the Rev"

Well for starters without the Rev they are a band with all living members.
I wish they would follow in his footsteps.

I actually don't think it will... Wasn't The Rev the one into that theater stuff?

where've you been puddles

Eh, here and there, being pretty neutral. Final papers and all that noise.
What've you been upto?

Also
Children of Nova - niiiice

that was absolutely terrible

you know, it sounded 'meh' at first, AND THAN THE VOCALS KICKED IT. OH MY GOD LOL WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS SHIT.

The chorus gives me hope for the album...

Chorus is decent but I can't take these guys seriously anymore.

100th comment!

yeah he's really not that great

ugh some tool just posted "IT'S YOUR OWN FUCKIN' NIGHTMARE!!!!" as their status on facebook.

That guy did a very nice job but he had no flair.

Average at best. I'm disappointed.

true but everyone says how the rev was so amazing. he was okay. that's all i was trying to prove.

The Rev, has a really good foot technique

It was good.. I just hope it isn't the best the song on the album.

looooool

ahahaha

i think this band and song are so bad its funny

Band gets worse with every album. Stop already.

I'm probably the only person who actually likes Shadows.

lol it's funny because he's serious.

Sure, it may not be the most technically impressive song I've heard. But I still like it. The bridge is intense, the chorus is nice and melodic, and it's just good. The guitar solo is meh, though.

Dream Theater and Opeth are probably my favorite bands, but sometimes I just want some simpler music to rock out to. A7X fits that niche perfectly, in my opinion.

i wasn't talking about m ShAdZ

extremely mediocre. the solo was good, the chorus sucks.

They should start using their real names now

curiosity killed waior

new vocalist is necesay, i'm with palace. Solo and intro and even the chorus wasnt horrible but their verses get progressivly worse.

NIGHTMAAAAAAAAAAYERAEREYRRRRRRRRRREARRRRE

Sounded ok... hope the rest of the album is better

It probably won't be.

At least they have Waking the Fallen.

I agree, I'm sure this song sets the tone for the rest of the album.

i liked City of Evil all right, hated s/t. this is even worse than the s/t because at least that album was entertaining. this song is horrendous, i can't defend any part of it

idk this wasn't terrible

i liked it

So basically, we have two views here:

1. Worst song they've ever done
2. It's not THAT bad, but it's not great...

But nobody's really impressed with it. The entire album's likely going to be the same way.

Couldn't get much worse.

the worst song they ever wrote were are the songs they ever wrote.

Shadow's clean vocals aren't bad by themselves, he can definitely make them work well (And All Things Will End, Betrayed, Trashed And Scattered, A Little Piece of Heaven are all songs he sounds good in). It's just that he needs to find what style works, and it's usually in non-linear song structures.

Oh i think it's a great song, but i can't say it's "impressed" me.

By the way, In The Presence of Enemies has the 2nd greatest use of the word "Master" in any song ever. (the greatest should be blatantly obvious.)

Portnoy is gonna make this band better.

Not bad, I feel like this will much better than most of their S/T stuff

Portnoy is gonna make this band better

htey woud be better dead

i agree

http://www.sputnikmusic.com/album.php?reviewid=35219

Just rewrote my review of the self-titled. Gave it a ridiculously high score and a fairly bad review last time, so please give me feedback.

The Rev is really good at being dead.

Sounded ok i guess, somewhere between COE and A7X which is better than sounding only like A7X.. Guess I'm the only one in the universe who likes Matt's voice and nasal singing..

It's really not that bad. I will admit that they reached their peak at CoE but if you're an a7x fan you will more than likely enjoy this (in my case at least) and if you didn't like a7x before you will definitely hate this

Yep, even that second live show seems "fake," in a way. They've got so much energy in the first one... but then in the second one they just kind of stand around and play like it's a fucking Grateful Dead concert or something. Also the backup singer is way out of tune.

well the sudden change from metalcore to 'mainstream' (well, even more mainstream than they were) nonsense was obviously a money grab attempt

imo

not bad, not very good. You know something's wrong when the new Avenged Sevenfold song is better than the new Muse song.

yeah I agree. the onyl album of theirs I like is Waking The Fallen. I hate everything after that. i haven't heard STST though, and really I don't think i want to :P

CHeeeeeesssssyyy

I really liked CoE, S/T was all right too imo.

FadeToBlack, if you ignore the fact that the screaming is even worse than it is on WTF, STST is actually a pretty decent album.

STST is a great album, sounds like a completely different band tbh. It's a much better album than their s/t.

well they probably would've moved onto better metal in a few months anyway and felt pretty silly ;)

Well, I'm sure they're the ones who are REALLY hoping for a strong release right now...

Some interesting news I just found... Apparently, the band has been working with an outside producer this time around (something they didn't do on the self-titled). The producer is Mike Elizondo, who is known for his work with (!) hip hop artists. Make of that what you will.

yeah because production really matters and can turn bad albums good mirite or mirite?

those first riffs before the vocals sounded pretty awesome

after that it was all down hill...

fuckinnng niiiiggghhhtmaaaayyyyyyeeeeeeerrrrr

^that part sounds so forced it isn't even funny. its like they know if they drop the f bomb preteens everywhere will think A7X is badass

FadeToBlack: I've heard of it working the other way. The first time Killswitch Engage worked with an outside producer, lots of people were disappointed with that album. When All That Remains chose Jason Suecof instead of working with Adam D again, people were disappointed with that one as well.

SowingSeason: Exactly, whereas in reality it just makes them sound stupid.

oh!!! i really like it!!! ♥ a7x ♥
can't wait for the album to come out! :D

I'm going to pretend I didn't just see their acronym with hearts around it...

@silent screaming and sowing season (SS and SS -> hint: Nazi anyone?)

You both think it makes them sound fake and stupid, but he's been singing like that since COE, through S/T, and apparently now so it's pretty much a constant.. All I'm saying is how can it be fake if they do it all the time.. I'd say it's just the way he sings nothing fake about it.. You can like it or you can hate it and call it fake and stupid..

StST kinda sucked
WtF (love how that works) was pretty good
CoE was pretty good
s/t sucked balls outside of 3 songs

Sounds like a s/t b-side. Nothing special.

sin69: I never had any problem with his singing voice (except for his stupid low-pitched voice, which I've brought up several times). I just have a problem with the unnecessary use of the word "fuck," which is obviously an attempt to sound badass when it just makes him sound stupid.

Coggyswell: They've already released a whole collection of self-titled b-sides, it's called Diamonds in the Rough. It somehow manages to be even worse than the self-titled, but of course there are people who manage to love it...

He who makes a sellout out of himself
Gets rid of the pain of being unknown...

FadeToBlack, I know we're past this but good production can and has pushed an album from good to excellent, imo. Coheed's latest was very very influenced by the producers involved for example. Just my two cents. The new producer guy could have an influence. Doesn't seem like a very good one so far though.

"FadeToBlack, I know we're past this but good production can and has pushed an album from good to excellent, imo."

That would imply that they're coming from "good" in the first place...

This has unfortunately been stuck in my head most of the day.

Yeah I was working on my english homework and not only did my printer run out of ink but my computer decided to be a jackass and overheat on me. The chorus played through my head for the next few hours needless to say, not sure if there's any connections.

the line the "the taaaaste of eee-heevilll" or whatever it is from the chorus has become engraved in my head, it seriously just keeps repeating and I don't know what to do

guess i'll go to bed

and avoid making obvious puns...

"yea you can make a shit album sound better through production but when it comes time to play it live itll sounds even worse."

This band actually gives decent live performances.

(In terms of the music actually sounding similar to the studio version. They lack any sort of passion, though.)

@silent screaming

Ok you may have a point there..

@andcas

I was reflecting merely on his singing.. I know that they sounded differently back in the good ol' days, I was just pointing out that his singing is a constant for the past five years.. Hell they even sounded differently on COE (musicianship wise), but his style of singing was the same as this.. The lyrics in this song sound totally forced but that happens to bands who have said pretty much all they had to say.. I'm still gonna dig this album no matter what.. As for synyster, I absolutely think he's a genius behind guitar, but that's just my opinion.. Btw my nick has no connection with syn whatsoever.. Now that you mention it I remembered, back when I first heard COE and had my mind blown away by it, I remember thinking that they sound like G'n'R only heavier so yeah he may be mimicking axl but I would restrain that to COE.. Cause without overlaying his voice multiple times his singing loses connection to axl imo..

"the biggest offense for me is when they quit singing or in this case screaming the old songs live like they were written."

That's exactly what ruined "Second Heartbeat" on their live DVD, they played it just fine but Sanders kept singing the parts that were meant to be screamed. And I know he can still scream just fine. They're trying to mix the new style into the old songs and IT DOESN'T WORK.

City of Evil was their first album with Warner. Actually, that album was the first of two major changes. But at least that time they had a consistent sound that was often entertaining to listen to (and it was actually one of the albums that first got me into metal, which is why I can't really give up hope for these guys entirely... incidentally, the same goes for Bullet for My Valentine and The Poison).

And actually, it was part of their three-album plan, where one album would be all screaming, one half-and-half, and one all singing... Then I guess they didn't really have any idea what to do after that, so they said, "Hey! Let's take ten completely different styles and put them into the same album!" And thus, the self-titled was born. It's not really a bad album as much as it is the work of musicians who had absolutely no idea what they were doing.

waking the fallen is A7X's only truly good album imo. the rest are partially enjoyable, at times, if you are lucky.

i actually really like the song.

the rest of the album is not going to be anything like this, only 2 songs don't have any lyrical reference to jimmy.

1 is called fiction, and jimmy wrote it like 3 days before he died.. and it's about how to cope with him being gone after he's gone, so i guess he knew he was about to die.

i honestly think this album is going to be REALLY good.

In my opinion, the only really good songs from the self-titled were Brompton Cocktail and Lost. Brompton Cocktail because it actually managed to be catchy and unique, and Lost because it (at least partially) resembled something from City of Evil.

imho there were 0 good songs on self-titled

I liked a few songs off of their S/T.. Almost Easy's frenetic pace, Dear God's country-like sound, Brompton Cocktail and imo A Little Peace Of Heaven is quite epic.. The thing is I got bored by the album really quickly (except ALPOH), it has almost no replay value whilst I enjoyed COE and WTF over a period of few months (on a daily basis, literally listened to nothing else than that).. WTF spins in my car stereo once in a while even now.. So I'd say that says it all about their newer albums..

Much better. Let's hope this trend continues, we need more CoE-esque stuff.

"Much better. Let's hope this trend continues, we need more CoE-esque stuff."

I didn't think this sounded like City of Evil at all.

RIP DIO. MISS YOU BRO.

^Nobody has said "RIP Rev" on this thread yet (I think so, I'm too lazy to go back and search), even though it's much more relevant... I think that says something about people's perception of Avenged Sevenfold here...

i cant understand how a band that wrote something as epic as city of evil isnt on an instrumental level pushing themselves. Seems like they are just sittin back now. Good track but needs more guitar solo's/harmonies etc...and more cowbell!!

I've kinda grown away from these guys, but this isn't awful like a lot of people are making it out to be.
I think the verse has a fun rhythm.

Band obviously has talent (M.Shadows isn't near as bad a vocalist as people make him out to be).
They just don't tend to anything past meh, since Waking the Fallen.

agree with balls

I saw this comment on a YouTube video:

They are only finishing this years tour and they are done. They anounced that they couldnt ever replace The Rev and that they wont be touring after this year. They are going to release the new album and then they are done

I don't recall them ever announcing that...

sounds plausible though. they haven't replaced The Rev yet and tbh I doubt they will. so hopefully they split up

Song is good. The intro is incredibly awesome, it's a shame that the rest of the song is so safe (not bad though).

In a interview in think Shadows said that the REV wrote a song he called ''his masterpiece''. I really want to hear that song, and the whole album.

NIGHTMARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRE

shadows is such a douche i can't even begin to fathom how he has a career

haha, for a sec I thought you were talking about me :P

yeah, he's an asshole, but I've seen far worse

apparently randy blythe is also a grade a cockstain

AXL ROSE. What more can I say?

If they would just cross the threshold of growing the fuck up their work would be pretty okay. With artwork like that and lyrics like those they'll never escape teen-angst fame.

@jconley77: Lyrics on WTF weren't bad, at least not from the couple of songs I've heard from that one.

Am I the only one who noticed that this sounds, in a way, like mid-later Metallica, IE St. Anger and
Some Kind of Monster? Overdriven, boring, and clichéd verses, and overproduced choruses.

Avenged Sevenfold, no...

@Alan Death: There was really only one Avenged Sevenfold song on the last Avenged Sevenfold album. Also, I love your avatar.

My thoughts as this song progresses...

Intro
"Wow. This is a pretty good intro for them. Sounds like a more mature band for sure, and about time. Its almost progressive so far"
Verse
"Well the intro was still good, I know it'll be a little obvious now, but its still better"
Chorus
"Not bad for this band, but...still not enjoying it as much anymore"
Solo
"Again slightly impressive from this band. Not obvious and cliche...could be better tho"
anything after solo
"Alright now its kinda boring."

Just like my comment, its way too long and boring and just kinda repeats itself way too much at the end. 7 minute songs have to keep the listener involved, they could have made this one 4 minutes long instead and I would have liked it a bit more...its just random amount of repetition that drives me away.

Whoops wrong song lol sry.