Summary:The first release with new drummer Arin Ilejay of Confide [takes over for James "The Rev" Sullivan, who passed away in 2009] for the California heavy metal band was produced by Mike Elizondo.
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Record Label:Warner Bros.
Genre(s): Emo, Pop/Rock, Alternative/Indie Rock, Post-Hardcore, Alternative Metal, Heavy Metal
Watch your tongue or have it cut from your head
Save your life by keeping whispers unsaid
Children roam the streets now orphans of war
Bodies hanging...
Fusing elements of goth, screamo and what was once called nu metal with the late-Seventies new wave of British metal-metal, their sixth LP piles clarion solos atop clean, sludge-chug riffs.
By the album's second half, Avenged Sevenfold can't help but let loose their guitar shredding theatrics a bit, and their personality starts to shine through as the tempo quickens and tracks take flight to unabashed height
It’s as if Metallica decided to try and court the 16 year old post-mall goth crowd with a bunch of inane Black Veil Bride like lyrics, while adding in a bit of Avenged Sevenfold-lite songwriting.
Fantastic album by Avenged Sevenfold. They've managed to create a more consistent sound throughout the entire album with many powerful andFantastic album by Avenged Sevenfold. They've managed to create a more consistent sound throughout the entire album with many powerful and catchy songs you'll want to listen to repeatedly. More of a hard rock, less metal sound at times but a great direction they decided to go with this album.…Expand
Hail to the King is a brilliant album, and a brave step in a new direction for Avenged Sevenfold. While Nightmare and Avenged Sevenfold wasHail to the King is a brilliant album, and a brave step in a new direction for Avenged Sevenfold. While Nightmare and Avenged Sevenfold was interesting, partly because of the radical differences from song to song, Hail to the King has a clear style and is a step forward for the band.…Expand
This review contains spoilers, click expand to view.
I would like to start off by saying: Rolling Stone is retarded. You can read any review you want, but please don't read that one. It's a terrible review that's completely irrelevant to the album.
ANYWAYS
This album is obvious not similar to Nightmare and Avenged Sevenfold. But that's exactly what the band was aiming for. They wanted to experiment by having a more classic metal sound. I believe they succeeded.
Shepherd of Fire: This song is a nice kick off for the album, took me a few listens to fully enjoy, and has an amazing kick-ass solo from Syn.
Hail to the King: Another nice track with a good riff, but lacking in the chorus.
Doing Time: Shortest Avenged Sevenfold song in the past 10 years, the second one in those years that was under 4 minutes (the other being Almost Easy, with other shorts ones on Waking the Fallen) and it's a bit of a boring song.
This Means War: One of the best songs on the album. Everyone says it ripped off Sad But True by Metallica, but really they're both awesome songs with completely different vocalists, so you shouldn't care.
Requiem: A bit of an interesting song, also gets better with repeated listens.
Crimson Day: After the first half of the album being hardcore songs, you get a break with this nice soft track.
Heretic: Another good song, meant to be the bridge from Nightmare to Hail to the King according to the band, and it makes sense.
Coming Home: Best song on the album. 'Nuff said.
Planets: The most bizarre song on the album, has an interesting sound and vocals from Shadows that get a bit exaggerated at times (to the point of annoyance.)
Acid Rain: Nice soft song, perfect way to end the album.
It's definitely not A7X's best, but it's not really their worst either. It's a worthwhile album, and hey, bands are allowed to experiment right?…Expand
Usually when a band experiments with their sound over time, it means they're adding more. A7X have done exactly the opposite & taken a stepUsually when a band experiments with their sound over time, it means they're adding more. A7X have done exactly the opposite & taken a step back, though not in a bad way. The songs are for the most part stripped down to driving riffs & continuous grooves, taking a few of their purely A7X traits & focusing that towards recapturing the classic heavy metal of the 70's & 80's, as opposed to the huge multi-part opuses on their last few albums that almost bordered on progressive. They got rid of the ambitious concepts & sprawling epics not from laziness or in a pathetic reach for mainstream appeal, but rather because they wanted to keep from focusing more on ambition than actually writing good memorable songs. Heck, some of the most praised albums in metal history had that kind of mentality. Am I saying Hail to the King will one day be considered as iconic as those albums? Most likely not. But it's hard to deny there's a similar appeal in that area.
Fortunately this doesn't mean there's a lack of variety & all the songs bleed together, for the most part. There's your standard mid-tempo heavy metal jams of course, like the awesome title track which encapsulates most of this album's best qualities: simple but effective crunchy power chord-driven riffs multi-layered with fiery leads & solos, memorable melodies that would sound amazing in a live setting, and M. Shadows' powerful vocals that are never without conviction. I've heard people complain that the drums on this album are “too simple”, and while I can kinda see where they're coming from, you have to remember that a drummer's beat is meant to fit the song or else it's just obnoxious. And more minimalistic songs like these call for a bit less technicality. But you've also got songs like “Doing Time”, an uptempo jam that's probably the closest A7X has gotten to “fun”. And each half is closed with a great ballad, “Crimson Day” and “Acid Rain”, which easily have some of the more impactful lyrics on the album, with “Crimson Day” being basically this album's “Buried Alive” in how fantastically it builds throughout. The bonus track “St James” is also worth noting, as it, as opposed to “So Far Away” which mourned The Rev's death, “St James” celebrated his life, and fills you with joy rather than sadness, which in my opinion makes for a much better sendoff, as great as “So Far Away” is.
There are some flaws though. Some of these lyrics are just cheesy in how completely un-self-aware they can be at times. For me some of the main offenders include the over-seriously absurd & over-the-top “Planets” & the paint-by-numbers Satanic song “Requiem”. Sure there's a couple moments like on “Acid Rain” where these traits can work positively, but they're few & far between, and it's in the more grounded moments like “Crimson Day”, “St. James” or to some extent “Doing Time” where the lyrics really shine. Going more into individual tracks, to me the weak links on this album are “Planets” & “This Means War”. We all know that the latter is such a blatant “Sad But True” ripoff it's not even funny. Keep in mind I'm not one to accuse every song that reminds me of other songs of being a ripoff. For example “Heretic” has a very “Symphony of Destruction” like feel to it. But you can tell that at most it'd be a thought in the back of A7X's mind as they were writing it. Meanwhile “Planets” has some really lazy & lethargic melodies that throw off any mood it was trying to set, not helped by the overly repetitive chorus.
I suppose that between the A7X fans that are furious that the band took any chances & the blind fanboys/fangirls that'll call an hour of Johnny Christ farting a 10/10, I'm somewhere in the middle. Hail to the King is a pretty good album, and one with a refreshing back-to-basics approach that thankfully isn't at the expense of the band's constant best traits. It's just shaky in the lyrics department & could've easily been shortened by about 10 minutes. I don't think it's their best album to date, but it's at least a worthwhile listen that's by no means an epic of time wasted.
Top 5 tracks: Hail to the King, Doing Time, St. James, Acid Rain, Coming Home
Score: 74/100…Expand
Don't get me wrong, this album is pleasant to the ears, but is not exceptional. The guitar writing certainly has lived up to par if notDon't get me wrong, this album is pleasant to the ears, but is not exceptional. The guitar writing certainly has lived up to par if not improved. The vocals are okay, not as interesting as in previous albums. Bass is much more distinctive, I love it. A couple thing that breaks my heart about this album is the drumming... just not dynamic at all, let alone to the superior standard the percussion writing was held to before. Just saddening. Another thing I miss is the unique and surprising song structuring found in other albums. songs like fiction, welcome to the family, save me, a little piece of heaven, and a few others. Not a single song surprised me; entrances were very static and not something unique to this band. This album reminded me of something MASTERPLAN would have released. Worth the money I used to buy it, but I wish It was worth more.…Expand
If you like metal like Iron Maiden, Megadeth and bands like that you will love this album for sure, but If you like the old avenged sevenfoldIf you like metal like Iron Maiden, Megadeth and bands like that you will love this album for sure, but If you like the old avenged sevenfold with evil metal coming out of the guitar and the voice, you will hate it.
I miss the old avenged sevenfold, this album is repetitive as f*ck, DON'T BUY THIS SH*T…Expand
