When Huntington Beach (California) act Avenged Sevenfold released their second album Waking The Fallen (Released in 2003, and the follow up to 2002’s‘Sounding The Seventh Trumpet), it certainly met with some strange reactions.

While fusing together unlikely genres is nothing new, Avenged Sevenfold managed to not only defy true categorisation (Everything from metalcore, punk, hardcore and classic metal were used to describe the bands sound), but truly push the boundaries of what’s acceptable within the metal scene, and pull it all off convincingly.

In the couple of years since, the five piece act (Consisting of vocalist Matt Shadows, guitarists Zacky Vengeance and Synyster Gates, bassist Johny Christ and drummer The Reverend) have managed to survive Shadows throat surgery (Which plays a huge part in the change of sound on City Of Evil from their previous releases), and signed to a major label (Warner Bros. Records) for their third album.

As mentioned, the biggest difference between Avenged Sevenfold of old and new is notably within Shadows’ vocals, with the opening cut ‘Beast And The Harlot’ seeing Shadow casting aside all of the hardcore screaming of the past, and relying solely on his clean vocals to carry the song. While some may find the change a little too dramatic, his raspy approach does actually suit the shift in the musical backdrop adopted by the band (This is straight out ‘80’s sounding power metal, complete with over the top solos), and a great precursor to the albums general sound over the remaining ten tracks.

‘Burn It Down’ and ‘Blinded In Chains’ virtually carry through the multi layered harmonised/anthem like feel of the opener (With only the faster pace and the double kick drum work separating the two), while the ferocious ‘Bat Country’ (Dedicated to the late author Hunter S. Thompson after the band’s experiences in Las Vegas) is the first genuine stand out with it’s amazing solo work (Courtesy of Gates), Shadows’ screams (The only real examples of the Shadows past on the album), the over the top lyrical content and the straight out rock feel overall.

The band continue to run with quality material with ‘Trashed And Scattered’ (The small Aerosmith ‘Jailbait’ influence is cool) and the Guns N’ Roses sounding (I’m thinking ‘November Rain’) ‘Seize The Day’, while the experimental epic ‘Sidewinder’ incorporates Def Leppard sounding hard rock and harmonies, along with Latin influenced percussion.

‘The Wicked End’ dabbles with a choir and a fourteen piece string section to add an orchestral feel, but it’s soon shown up with the highlight on the album ‘Strength Of The World’, which pulls out all the stops with a spaghetti western score introduction, traces of country music and straight out hard rock and metal amongst the orchestral passages.

The final couple of tracks, ‘Betrayed’ (A twisted tribute to the late Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrell) and ‘M.I.A.’ are solid, but anti climatic following the epic beforehand.

Avenged Sevenfold deserve credit for again trying something different (Once again rendering themselves unclassifiable genre wise) rather than deliver another variation of their past stabs at metalcore. And while Shadows vocals no longer carry the same amount of aggression as they did before, the music more than suits the change of sound, allowing the musician aspect of the band to flourish and extend itself outwardly.

City Of Evil isn’t like Avenged Sevenfold of old, but then it certainly doesn’t sound like anyone else either, which is a good thing in itself.

» avengedsevenfold.com