Avenged Sevenfold! More specifically, the album City of Evil (released in 2005). I know a7x isn't the most metal band in the world (ok, I can think of people who might be reading this blog who are thinking "uh huh, they aren't metal at all!"), but if Poison is considered metal, I'd say a7x is allowed in the club. To be fair, I would formally classify it as metal core.
(Warning! I am NOT a music critic! It is not my job to write about music, and this is the first time I've ever put my feelings about an album into words. I can't guarantee it'll be accurate. Or make sense.)
My thoughts the first time I listened to it were: This is GREAT driving home at night on the highway music! I have a 1.25 hour commute each way from school, and while I love me my talk radio in the morning and afternoons, Sean Hannity can get a bit repetitive for me. So I've started, *gasp*, listening to CDs.
On a more musical level, the CD starts out closer to traditional metalcore, and gets more experimental as it goes, adding samples that sound like they came from movie soundtracks, acoustics guitars, and even a mini orchestra. It flows very well, forming a cohesive whole. Sometimes "it flows well" is a codeword for "it all sounds the same" but only a few or difficult to distinguish with a casual listen.
I thought I'd go through a few of the highlights of the album, just to give an idea of what it is about:
-"The Beast and the Harlot"- the opening track. I really like this one. It has a great epic opening that devolves into blast beats. The vocals are clean and melodic, even though it is one of the more "metal" songs on the album. The lyrics are taken directly from the Book of Revelation's "whore of Babylon" or "Babylon the great", who is eventually overtaken by a seven headed, ten horned, beast. In the video though, a7x modernizes the story and creates parallels to Hollywood's materialism and vanity. I also liked the imagery of ancient Mesopotamia, as I have always loved ancient history and mythology, which is often used in metal. Iron Maiden's "Powerslave" album comes to mind. This is a great opener with great energy.
-"Bat Country"- I am less enthused about this one, but included it because it is the most famous and successful single from the album. It was on Madden 2006 and Guitar Hero 2. It is based on a Johnny Depp movie "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" which basically consists of various scenes of Johnny Depp on hallucinagenic drugs. This is not why I am not fond of it though. It is a hair's length away from being "douchbag radio rock metal" (a la Three Days Grace, Theory of a Deadman), especially with its kinda whiney vocals and frantic pace. However, it is very catchy and has song great guitars that save it from medipopcrity.
-"Strength of the World"- This one took longer to discover on the CD- it is #10. This is where some of the "movie soundtrack" noises really contribute to the song. The opening is an acoustic guitar/string ensemble arrangement that reminds me of what the background music would sound like as explorers discovered the New World. If you can't imagine that, maybe imagine something from the LOTR. The theme begun here is peppered throughout the song in the background, weaving the disparate intro into the song.
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