Avenged Sevenfold - Hail To The King - guest review
Avenged Sevenfold - Hail To The King - guest review
Tracklist
01. Shepherd Of Fire02. Hail To The King
03. Doing Time
04. This Means War
05. Requiem
06. Crimson Day
07. Heretic
08. Coming Home
09. Planets
10. Acid Rain
Guest review by
FatherOfBodom September 21, 2013
Even though I just admitted I'm in love with this band, I'm not blind to the fact that their sound is changing. I remember when I used to blast "Waking the Fallen" and I thought it would be the heaviest thing I'd ever listen to (I was young). Of course, I've loved everything they have released since, but I've never been punched in the face from them like when I was a kid.
The truth is, I believe if you're the kind of metal fan who only listens to music at 1,000 bpm, you're probably not going to like Hail To The King. You also probably didn't like Nightmare a whole lot either, and were mildly impressed by Avenged Sevenfold. So if you're going to give this album a spin, it might help just to act like it's not even Avenged Sevenfold you are listening to. If you experience the album as its own entity, I would wager you would find something you like.
Lots of speculation has been given as to why Avenged titled their album Hail To The King. The resounding answer, other than the fact that it is the name of the lead-off single, has been that it was the band's tribute to their old school heroes. I think this fact is very present in this album. This has part to do with what I said about Avenged Sevenfold slowing down their tempo. However, I think this slower approach still rocks.
If you listen to songs like "Doing Time", "Heretic" and even the title track, they are much simpler, straightforward rock riffs, but they still get in your face. It's also not the first time Avenged Sevenfold has released a slower song that worked. For instance, I wouldn't classify "Almost Easy" a particularly fast song, but it's awesome, and the same can also be said for "Afterlife" and the title track from Nightmare. Perhaps if they would have told people, Hail to the King was actually Black Sabbath's comeback record, people would call it the greatest album of all time.
Now, even though I've been talking about how the sound has changed over the years, I still believe this is an Avenged Sevenfold record. I would not consider this a sell-out. The dual guitar harmonies are once again very present, and they are still coming up with creative riffs. There has also been much speculation about Avenged Sevenfold possibly ripping off Metallica in this album (I have also heard Iron Maiden, Pantera and Guns N' Roses). I won't tell you my opinion, but I will at least say there is room for debate. Original or not, this album is solid and it gets my stamp of approval.
Favorite Tracks: "Shepard Of Fire", "Hail To The King", "This Means War", "Requiem", "Heretic"
Written by FatherOfBodom | September 21, 2013
Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
Comments
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Posts: 231
Yeah I listened to Waking The Fallen and City Of Evil which were great. The self titled one was alright (a few classics). Then they just seemed to be losing my interest with nightmare. I'll give this one a shot, but I think it's just going to be average at best.
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Posts: 1469
This album title could fit perfectly in Manowar's discography.
---- "Why would we fear death, when life is so much more frightening?"
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Posts: 6212
I heard that the album was supposed to be called "Hail to the Kings of Ripoff", but the band didn't want to be that honest with their fans.
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Posts: 6675 Written by FatherOfBodom on 22.10.2013 at 07:48 Most of the album is a case of songs sounding "similar to", rather than being "exactly like", but "This Means War" is a definite rip-off of "Sad But True", no doubt about it...
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Posts: 9726 Quote: ...And then it's revealed they were sleeping with commercial rock the entire time. I don't get why everyone is bashing this album for being a rip-off album. They've been doing it for years. Same derivative, plastic nonsense new year. It's nice that they let Lou Pearlman still manage bands from behind bars, though.
---- "I got a lot of really good ideas, problem is, most of them suck." - George Carlin
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Posts: 105
I love your comparisons (especially the high school girlfriend thing), but disagree with the ultimate point. I, too, loved Waking the Fallen and City of Evil. I even really enjoyed Nightmare. Hail to the King, on the other hand, just flat out sucks IMO. "Heretic" is the only song on it I truly enjoy.
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