Gothic Theatre
Avenged Sevenfold
At a time when most hardcore punk bands wouldn’t dare to be tagged as “heavy fucking metal,” Orange County-based AVENGED SEVENFOLD wouldn’t dare be caught dead pegged as the atypical O.C. hardcore punk band. In fact, the five-man act went as far as stripping their true identities for assumed names to place the emphasis on what matters most—the music.
And it’s those almost-overwhelmingly technical arrangements that make AVENGED SEVENFOLD so musically important. Ranging anywhere from glam rock (vocalist M.Shadows cites Guns ‘N’ Roses front man W. Axl Rose as one of his musical mentors) to melodic Bad Religion-esque skate punk to church-burning Scandinavian black metal, AVENGED SEVENFOLD precisely blends all of the aforementioned styles to create the 13 tracks of its domestic debut full-length titled Sounding The Seventh Trumpet, on Hopeless Records.
Sounding The Seventh Trumpet encompasses an immense latitude of sounds and influences, garnering comparisons that are rarely listed in the same sentence together—from Skid Row, Guns ‘N’ Roses and Queen to Death By Stereo, Slayer and In Flames.
Frustrated by the current state of music, AVENGED SEVENFOLD truly don’t care about any scene, trend or clique; the act approaches music strictly on its own terms—terms that are proving to be a recipe for success. Recorded in less than a week’s time with veteran producer Donnell Cameron, Sounding The Seventh Trumpet is highlighted by the intense guitar and bass riffings of guitarists Zacky Vengeance, Synyster Gates and bassist Dameon Ash. The tracks of Sounding The Seventh Trumpet are seamlessly driven by the double-kick drum accents and patterns of drummer The Reverend, who in a remarkable feat, banged out over half of the tracks in a single take. Furthermore, it’s almost hard to fathom that the instrumentation is fronted by a cathartic combination of polished, straightforward melodies and possessed, murderous vocal growlings by Shadows.
AVENGED SEVENFOLD’s live show is just as intense and dynamic, with a radical package of visuals, lights and a distinguishable appearance; a guaranteed far cry from the standard-fare, straight-off-the-streets air of most hardcore and punk bands. And it’s this show that AVENGED SEVENFOLD will deliver outside of its home base.
So while every band might put its own spin on a certain, specific genre, AVENGED SEVENFOLD’s Sounding The Seventh Trumpet puts a spin on the entire umbrella of hard and heavy rock music. Prepare for the assault.
