Review Summary: A shot in the dark. Does anybody know?
It is no secret that Avenged Sevenfold has been a polarizing band since their inception. To some, they come off as a cheesy rock band that continually strives to redefine their sound, but often falls short due to a lack of subtlety regarding the band's influences as well as having a somewhat abrasive sound. To others, they are a symbol of nostalgia - a hard rock band that has produced new sounds on each consecutive album, but that has remained immediately recognizable within their own right since their early days. I happen to fall within the latter, but that does not mean that I don't understand where those that fall in the former are coming from. Albums like "Waking the Fallen" and "City of Evil" introduced me to metal at a time where a lot of the themes commonly found within the genre struck a chord within me. Since that day, I've been a committed fan of the band. I have followed them through their ups and downs (and there have been plenty of both). As I learned more about the release of this latest offering, I wondered, "How will this album fit within their discography?"
Early on in their career, Avenged Sevenfold were at the forefront of the metalcore sub genre. With an aggressive, chaotic sound, they pounded out songs like "Unholy Confessions," "Second Heartbeat," "Eternal Rest," "Trashed and Scattered," and "The Wicked End". These songs contained themes of evil, death, impurity, and sin, and the fast-paced aggression with which they offered these themes fit very well. Following "City of Evil", their music lost a bit of its heaviness in light of some increased experimentation. With the use of brass and orchestral instruments and even auto tune on the track "Lost", their self-titled album began dividing some of the band's fan base. Following the sudden and surprising death of the immensely talented drummer, The Rev, "Nightmare" gave us some incredibly heartfelt music that touched on the concept of loss and was, overall, a solid offering. After shedding some of their experimentation and including the legend, Mike Portnoy, behind the kit, the band corrected themselves somewhat. This was before falling further off the cliff of ridiculous ideas when they decided to bring rock back to its roots and create "Hail to the King" - an album that focused on slowing down their chaotic nature and writing simple rock songs. It was an album that was met with widespread dislike due its blatant ripping off of artists like Metallica and Guns 'n' Roses. The band's seventh album, "The Stage," sees Avenged Sevenfold finding a bit of a sweet spot between experimentation and a return to roots.
Scattered throughout this album are glimpses of classic Sevenfold. The sustained growls at the end of each chorus in Paradigm are reminiscent of "Waking the Fallen," while certain guitar leads and drum patterns on the first several songs could easily fit on "City of Evil." The deep, menacing spoken word parts on the song "Simulation" sound incredibly similar to those of "Bat Country." On the other hand, the band again plays around with some brass instruments on the song "Sunny Disposition," and the result is this chilling transition into each verse. The band has introduced some progressive elements as well. Alternating time signatures and sudden changes from soft to aggressive passages appear on songs like the aforementioned "Simulation" and "Fermi Paradox." The immense closer, "Exist," is mostly instrumental and contains some blistering guitar leads. One of the most noticeable differences between this and their last album is the drumming. Brooks certainly had an influence in the creation of these songs and, while the production falls a little flat at times, the blast beats and grooves that he has produced are the closest to The Rev since their self-titled album.
With all of that being said, however, there are some noticeable flaws on The Stage. First, the production does not feel consistent. I find myself wanting to turn certain songs up and others down. At times, the guitar solos and/or Matt's voice sound a bit grating. This brings me to my second consideration, and that is Matt's voice. It is apparent that he has done damage to his vocal chords over the years. Whereas his early vocal performances were quite solid, he now sounds as if he is straining with each lyric. This makes his delivery of certain vocals hard to listen to, and this takes away from the amazing instrumental pieces that are occurring behind him. Lastly, the band simply sounds like they are forcing certain lyrics and themes. Sure, it is possible to write a space-infused, AI-based metal album. On "The Stage", Avenged Sevenfold tackle some incredibly dense and complex topics, and they do a decent job. I just can't help but feel like they sound a bit cheesy at times. I have mixed feelings about Neil Degrasse Tyson's monologue at the end of "Exist." Despite being a huge fan of the man, a part of me just feels like it's too much of a copy-cat of a Godspeed You! Black Emperor song. This is where I find the band trying to force certain elements out of respect for their influences as these elements of their music don't always play well within their particular brand of metal.
On the whole, "The Stage" sees a return to form for Avenged Sevenfold. It offers a mixture of the old and the new, and, after having lost some confidence in them after "Hail to the King," I feel optimistic for the future of this band and its new drummer.
