This is the latest and newest album from Avenged Sevenfold. Just the excitement of novelty that they would launch an album this year made me even more interest by the disc. When I saw it available for download I did not think twice. I had already heard the 'Nightmare' and 'Buried Alive' before, first glance I did not like these songs, I had to listen to them more about 3 times to get me interested - like all other songs by Avenged - . But talking about the album itself, I noticed an extreme change in the rhythm and beat on drums - of course, the drummer has changed - but they did not elect a musician with their eyes closed, they made the choice quite clear in what they wanted, and nobody less than Mike Portnoy of Dream Theater - that left the band later because he was very fond of staying in Avenged Sevenfold - which I think is way more talented than ‘The Rev’ himself and also think that those who says that James is more talented than Portnoy, pure recent bereavement, so that the only argument they use is ‘The REV sings, Portnoy no’. Big deal, if we consider the techniques used in drums by both, we see that Portnoy is better in Dream Theater and in Avenged Sevenfold! Only Mike Portnoy on drums makes their new album exceptional! It is cool in many ways, the heavy songs like 'God Hates Us' and 'Natural Born Killer', as well as in the lighter songs like 'So Far Away'. Explicitly, the members express the feeling of nostalgia for the lost member in every song, the melody, the lyrics, on the cover at all. It is a heavy album, funny, but above all beautiful and sad. I really liked this disc, moreover with the quality of the music becomes their first album to reach the first Billboard Top 200 selling over 163,000 copies!
Conclusion: Avenged Sevenfold is a really cool band, but for teenagers, like me who like a heavier style of music, fast or even funny. But, for example, when I showed them to my father a few songs he did not like them to the point of recognize the band till today as 'those nasty' when most people between 13 and 17 years idolize them. I also say that they really are a passing phase, are highly seasick, especially when you mature and need a more serious musical style.
segunda-feira, 22 de novembro de 2010
Nightmare- Avenged Sevenfold
quarta-feira, 17 de novembro de 2010
Avenged Sevenfold [Self-Titled]- Avenged Sevenfold
Well, here I am, reviewing the self-titled Avenged Sevenfold. This album is considered by the artists as their best work, hence the name self-titled. Reaching No. 4 in Billboard 200, still not fair the position given to the album, Avenged Sevenfold exceeded the expectations of the previous album, selling over 500,000 copies and classified as album of the year by Kerrang!, also is certified as Gold Album by the RIAA. Not least, like the previous album, every song on this one are cool, in my opinion, because the two albums reach different audiences, the previous City of Evil, had as main objective the more hardcore people, who prefer a sound fast and heavy, suitable for circles, now they are looking for people, how can I say, more sentimental, searching lyrics and melody calmer. Many people were disappointed with this album because it really was a radical change Avenged Sevenfold’s Style, meeting the needs of the second group. To my delight, I'm in the middle ground between these two groups, and there are so many people who are satisfied with both albums. Talking about the positives of the album is that the recording is really amazing, we never heard about the forks committed in the first of all albums. They really have improved in many aspects. Among them we see a distortion, already used on the previous album, which later becomes the official brand of the guitar in Avenged. Drummer James Sullivan begins using the triple bass drum, thus improving the speed and fills. The vocals of Matt Shadows totally forgot what it is scream (except at the beginning of the song "Critical Acclaim"), but he improved his singing techniques, using new technologies to change the voice, such as Auto-Tune, the song 'Lost'. It also has the use of alternative instruments, taking care of certain songs like 'Afterlife', they are present in all the music, and without them we noticed that the track would suck at all. These are instruments that makes an interesting and beautiful eco. What I also found cool was that The Rev’s –how the Drummer James was widely known- voice on that album was highly valued as to be present in most music. In much of them he appears screaming, but in others as 'Critical Acclaim', he sings the chorus. And as always, there are downsides, such as large loss of fans for leaving entirely aside the hardcore. I think they could at least try to continue with the hardcore, leaving traces of it in the disc. Remembering what I said before, Avenged Sevenfold is one typical album, which the listener hears it all, and never tire of listening! Because we have the classic 'Critical Acclaim', 'Almost Easy' and 'Scream' putting on a show at the creepy then 'Afterlife' with the violins, then 'Gunslinger' having characteristics of 'Dear God', a ballad kind from west, where 'Gunslinger' still have a agitated part, then with the 'Unbound' and 'Brampton Cocktail', which are less known, but are very nice, in that 'Unbound' The Rev makes a child's voice, 'Lost 'with the differentiated vocals and to finish, the classic' A Little Piece of Heaven ', written by The Rev, eight minutes and an epic chorus.
sábado, 13 de novembro de 2010
City of Evil- Avenged Sevenfold
quinta-feira, 11 de novembro de 2010
Waking the Fallen- Avenged Sevenfold
This CD by 'Avenged Sevenfold' in my opinion is way more interesting than its predecessor, 'Sounding the Seventh Trumpet’, for various reasons that I considered negative in the last one, that are much improved on this record that I will now criticize. The recording in comparison with the other I won’t even comment (just kidding, of course I'll comment because if the criticism becomes too small it won’t be interesting). Let's say that this album took a new technique, get into the rhythm. After the first experience of entering in the road they finally made songs with total quality. The guitar distortion is audible and clean this time, so much, that on tracks like 'Remenissions' an acoustic distortion appears in the chorus, and has a solo with harmonies of notes. Even the power chords are well done, with a category level much higher than the previous album! The bass improved like from water to the wine, because it gives the basis of the song accompanying the rhythm guitar. The drum works much better with two pedals techniques, fills, blast beats and stuff. The BPM are extremely fast in the track 'Eternal Rest', which besides having a fast drum beat, has very clever vocal harmonies, while a person is singing something else sing the backing vocals, with different lyrics and everything (but I will talk about the vocals later). On the fills, or in other words, improvisation, the drummer James Sullivan goes well, and always light and precise. It really was a great job and I would like to congratulate NRG Recordings, which in 2003 led to a great recording of a great success band today. The vocals this time are better divided, split up best in clean singing and Metalcore shouting, where the lead singer Matt Shadows can do both very well, sometimes doing vocal harmonies with those two types of voices. When he decides to sing, can achieve any sort of tone. That's what I find interesting in Matt, being able to sing varying tone and intensity, to screaming at certain point. In this disc, the songs are very creative. We can see the constant use of piano and some times, as in 'I Will not See You Tonight (pt. 1),' cellos, this song has a sentimental aspect, the music is very beautiful. The other creative points are the riffs of the songs that eventually became hits around the world. Also, the lyrics that take up the topic of religion and Bible verse. The song stays cooler when you pay attention to them. What would be essential on this CD are the songs 'Unholy Confessions' which is very cool, 'Chapter Four' is also very good, 'Remenissions', especially the chorus, 'Second Heartbeat', which together with the previous perfectly demonstrates the variation of singing styles, to finish 'I Will not See You Tonight', nine minutes of pure prettiness and sentimentality, which together with the use of piano and cello becomes one of the prettiest songs on the album.
segunda-feira, 8 de novembro de 2010
Sounding the Seventh Trumpet- Avenged Sevenfold
The songs from the first album by the band 'Avenged Sevenfold' is a very raw Hardcore, I'd say. The recordings are not perfect, has constant flaws in the rhythm and the distortion of the guitar is very dirty. The voice of Matt Shadows is much like the voice of the Melodic Death Metal, and there are other parts where he sings with a clear voice. This radical change is a characteristic of Metalcore. I particularly like that noise, it gives more power to the song especially with those totally heavy instruments. No wonder now because later he needs to do a vocal cord surgery. They also do some interesting vocal harmonies, for example, when Matt Shadows is screaming has another voice saying the same thing but with a clear voice. Some songs, like 'We Come Out At Night' at the end and 'Warmness on the Soul', are calm and have clean vocals, no guitar distortion, or rather it piano. There are songs that are opposed to those previously mentioned, where the bass and drums are still very primitive and guitar has that distortion which hardly we notice the musical notes. The drummer always seeks to keep a violent rhythm, with a huge variety of noisy cymbals. The double bass also contributes considerably to what the drummer James Sullivan envisioned, because it makes the song have this violent and raw aspect. Speed, accuracy would be the possible words to describe the drummer on this record, in many songs, he performs a monstrous blast beats. The guitar has a very poor quality, sometimes enough to scratch the note. The bass in most cases follows the guitar line, but runs out much to the beat. I can consider the time wasn’t, perhaps, very appropriate for the recording of Hardcore, but the sound quality is really not very good. However, for a first studio album, for someone who just entered in the highway, the disc is pretty cool. The essence of the album would be "Turn the Other Way ', which perfectly demonstrates the singer's voice changing, 'Warmness on the Soul ', is an example of quiet music CD, 'Streets', it shows the fastness of the drummer and to end 'Lips of Deceit’, because it shows the bass bad quality sometimes and the cool harmonies.
sexta-feira, 5 de novembro de 2010
Avenged Sevenfold
Oi pessoal... a partir de hoje vou começar a criticar a discografia completa da banda americana de Hardcore "Avenged Sevenfold". É uma banda incrível pelas músicas que eu venho escutando. Eu já tinha ouvido à todos os discos deles, agora vou fazer uma critica sobre eles, e pelo visto muito positivas. A banda 'Avenged Sevenfold' foi formada em 1999 pelo vocalista Matt Shadows. Lançou seis discou até então, em ordem de lançamentos: 'Souding the Seventh Trumpet' (2001), 'Waking the Fallen' (2003), 'City of Evil' (2005), 'Avenged Sevenfold' (2007), 'Live in LBC and Diamonds in the Rough' (2008) e 'Nightmare' (2010). Sofreram bastante com a perda recente do baterista James "the Rev" Sullivan e pararam na produção do 'Nightmare', mas agora voltam mais fortes que nunca, fazendo rock por aí com o novo baterista, o ex do 'Dream Theater' Mike Portnoy! Aproveitem!
quinta-feira, 4 de novembro de 2010
ANThology- Alien Ant Farm
The 2001 'Alien Ant Farm's album works well in all directions. The recording has a terrific quality, congratulations for the excellent work by DreamWorks Records. I say this because it is possible to listen to all the instruments in good sound; the fact is that the bass is very prominent on this CD. Among other things we also see the group of musicians who perform their jobs more than okay. They put all their talent on this album, trying its best to experiment new techniques to improve the musicality of the band. The drummer always exploits the ride cymbal and hi-het when he can, and does not use double pedal (I like when a drummer shows that you do not need the pedals to do a little tap fast and lively). The bass is very cool, it follows the guitar, or does the base by itself when the guitarist decides to do arpeggios and fingerings. The singer's voice is pretty nice, it is a junction that very common, crude, voice that we can see any Pop Rock band (or punk, to resemble a little with the singing of Tom and Mark's' Blink- 182 '), shouting, also common in bands, metalcore or screamo, and finally an alternative voice, a little quieter would say that is the voice used by the' Tool '. The backing vocals are, just as the leading voice, very interesting. Bassist (executor of the backing vocals) follows the same idealization of the lead singer: When the singer sings, he keeps playing the harmonies, in different cases, he also uses the alternative voice, and at other times, like the "Smooth Criminal” he does a voice an octave to the top! For me the best songs on the album, its essence, are 'Smooth Criminal', Michael Jackson’s cover, really cool, 'Courage', the heavy intro of the album, and 'Attitude', typical of Pop Rock hits! This CD features nearly an hour of pure entertainment. I recommend it!