City of Evil - Dark Publications

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Editorial Reviews:

Album Description
Shattering preconceptions of punk and metal, Avenged Sevenfold blazes a bold new path with its debut major label album, City of Evil. Fusing punk with melody, metal intensity with an adventurous spirit, the drama and darkness of A7X moves effortlessly from his powerful vocal punch to thick cascading melodies, from loud and fast to epic. Influenced by everyone from Pantera, Metallica and Iron Maiden to Bad Religion, Misfits, Guns 'N Roses, prog-metal and experimental rock, Avenged Sevenfold seeks its own musical vengeance with City of Evil.

Customer Reviews: Read 465 more reviews...

4 out of 5 stars

Nu Metal Slayers September 8, 2005
76 out of 91 found this review helpful

This is the disk that could push Nu Metal into the drainage vortex and bring guitar rock back to the forefront of hard rock with a "Vengeance". In fact, City of Evil may have the best Heavy Metal song on it that I've heard in years with Bat Country.

If you've been an A7X fan or you are at least familiar with their past work like their last disk Waking the Fallen, prepare yourselves for a somewhat new sound. Out is song after song of the angry shouting so typical in speed/death metal, and in is City of Evil with a disk of singing by M. Shadows that is a metalhead's dream....Clear with great vocal harmonies.

The music is hard. Spectacular drumming by TheRev that seems to be preformed effortlessly but precisely. Head banging guitar solos and driving bass, put together with vocal melodies that move away from the death/speed metal sound of A7X's past efforts to a sound that I can listen to with my wife in the car...well...almost.

The songs are epic (all well over 5 minutes each), complex but very tight. A fair analogy might be early Bruce Dickenson Iron Maiden meets Guns n Roses meets A7X's own style of unique speed metal.

The jewel of this disk is track 4...the radio played Bat Country. But there are several standout tracks here. I think that there were only 3 tracks that I said that I probably wouldn't rip to my library. Pantera fans will want to give track 10 (Betrayed) a listen; I think that it's kind of the story of the last days of the late, great Dimebag Darrell (see my review of Damageplan's New Found Power). Tracks 7,8 & 9 also shine.

City of Evil brings a refreshing, somewhat newish sound to Metal fans, and it is most definitely worth having in your collection if you're into the genre. Give it a try.

4 out of 5 stars

Surprisingly good September 30, 2005
33 out of 45 found this review helpful

When I first looked at Avenged Sevenfold's look and read their stage names, I laughed my head off. Long an indie favorite and now making a breakthrough on a major label, I mistakingly categorized Avenged Sevenfold with the current crop of metal pretenders like Atreyu, Trivium, etc. Then I decided to give these guys a listen, and once you get past their schtick, you'll discover that there is some great hard rock/metal here. Lead single "Bat Country" (supposedly inspired by the late Hunter S. Thompson's tripped out Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas) isn't anything real special, but opening track "Beast and the Harlot" isn't only catchy and melodic, but it has possibly one of the most well played and catchy bridges and harmonies in recent memory. Other tracks, including "Trashed & Scattered" and "Seize the Day", display some great duel guitar wizardry, which is refreshing in the mainstream metal scene considering the last few years were nothing but hip-hop beats and downtuned guitars. "City of Evil" isn't perfect, and a majority of it is too mainstream aimed for hardcore fans of old metal like Pantera, Slayer, Morbid Angel, etc., but it's a welcome surprise in the metal world today. All in all, if you've never checked out Avenged Sevenfold, give "City of Evil" a try.

5 out of 5 stars

"I can't trust anyone, witness and see it in my eyes..." May 22, 2006
27 out of 33 found this review helpful

"City of Evil" was my first introduction to Avenged Sevenfold. The CD looked interesting enough so I picked it up without hearing a single song. My first impression was that I liked it. I didn't love it, but there was something about this band that was intriguing me. I decided to pick up the earlier releases and was shocked to find such a different sound on them. At first, I liked those a lot more than this album, but the more and more I listened to "City of Evil," the more and more I fell in love with it.

Having a completely different singing style sound, having more melodic riffs to accompany stronger song craft while still keeping that heavy edge that they're known for, Avenged Sevenfold gets rid of their emo look and feel and strive to come up with something better, something stronger. I believe they accomplished that. The songs on this album are like short stories. Instead of the "life is horrible" or "kill me now" vibe that you would've expected from them on their earlier releases, they have written stronger songs with different meanings. "Strength of the World" is constructed like something you'd expect from an old Western--a man coming home to find his family murdered, and swearing revenge on the killers responsible. "M.I.A." appears to be very much influenced by the ongoing war we're dealing with, as it tells the story of a soldier coping with his feelings after everything is all said and done.

And other songs... well, they're just amazing to listen to. "Bat Country" is a tribute to the late Hunter S. Thompson, and "Betrayed" is dedicated to the murdered Dimebag Darrell. All of the songs have haunting lyrics and lines that stay in your head long after the song is done. The guitars sound fantastic and the drumming even sounds improved over the other releases.

People who loved the old Avenged Sevenfold may be put off by the lead singer's new approach. He doesn't have that "death-metal" like scream that can be found on the other releases. This may put off some people, but I have to say I like the new style. It fits the content of the songs, giving them more life and depth than it would if he were just screaming non-stop.

The entire album is great from start to finish. It's hard to listen to it out of order, so rarely do I do that. I start on the first track and play it all the way through. My most favorites, however, are "burn it down," "bat country," "trashed and scattered," "the wicked end" and "strength of the world." Again, all are great but those are my favorites. I especially love the lyrics in "the wicked end." There's a part of it towards the end where it sounds like something Danny Elfman would have composed.

"City of Evil" is a complete success in my eyes. It's not one that you can listen to just once and then give out your verdict. Let it consume you. Play it again and again. Get lost in the songs, the lyrics and the melody. It won't be a winner to all but if you're looking for something different, I highly recommend it. Try to act like you're not going to have a line or two stick in your head after the CD is done playing -Michael Crane

5 out of 5 stars

How should I start... July 28, 2005
13 out of 17 found this review helpful

Ok lets see... This CD to me is not metalcore, it is not hardcore, it is not screamo, it is PURE METAL. You retards that think a bunch of screaming over distorted, untalented guitar riffs is metal. Shame on you. This CD reminds me of Iron Maiden and earlier metallica. It has a bad-ass feel just like the 80's metal scene had. Moving on... HOW BOUT THEM SONGS

I dont feel like writing reviews for each song, so here are the best songs on the CD: tracks, 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11. seriously they are all great. But out of all the AWESOMELY AMAZING songs, I would have to say that M.I.A. is the best.
I relate to it well, for my brother is in the army and is currently in the middle east.

Now, what have we learned today?

-This is not metalcore
-This is better than that crappy metalcore
-Metalcore sucks
-This is PURE METAL
-Listen to Iron Maiden
-This CD is awesome

Thank you...

5 out of 5 stars

Wow... I'm Hooked October 7, 2005
13 out of 18 found this review helpful

Let me just say... I had only heard 2 a7x songs prior to listening to City Of Evil. Chapter 4 (from the previous "Waking the Fallen") and Bat Country. I really got the album because of Bat Country, it is an amazing song from top to bottom. After purchasing the album, I can't even begin to choose a favorite. This is one of those rare albums you can pop in the CD player and completely neglect the skip button all the way through. I am still listening to it nonstop all the time and I think they have become my favorite band, and I didn't even really enjoy harder rock until I heard City of Evil and then Waking the Fallen. a7x has restored my faith in rock and roll. Rock on dudes, but lose the nail polish maybe. Also - 11 tracks might not seem like a lot of music but when added up it's well over 70 minutes, every song is at least 5 mins.

Breakdown

1.) Beast and the Harlot - 8.5/10 great opening track

2.) Burn It Down - 9/10 Breakneck speed that stops on a dime and hits hard until the end.

3.) Blinded in Chains - 7.5/10 Not one of the best tracks but Its still a quality song

4.) Bat Country - 10/10 I loved it even more when I found it was a tribute to Hunter S Thompson and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

5.) Trashed and Scattered - 9/10 - Along the lines of Burn it down. This one starts off a little slow but then it picks up and kills all the way through. Awesome chorus.

6.) Seize the Day - 9/10 this one grew on me, I'm a fan of piano infused into rock (Think November Rain or I won't see you tonight part 1)

7.) Sidewinder - 10/10 It's awesome all the way through, and the acoustics at the end is the icing on the cake.

8.) The Wicked End - 11/10 Quite possibly the greatest song I have ever heard, I am still blown away when Shadows' voice and the instruments join in with the orchestra. It's dominance defined. They actually did this live too with the full string orchestra and boys choir.

9.) Strength of the World - 10/10 It's long but it's just so good. Again, the guitar solos will blow you away.

10.) Betrayed - 9.5/10 Great Tribute to the late great Dimebag

11.) MIA - 8/10 Another good mix of slow down and start back up, which they've been doing through the whole album. Kind of tough to have to Follow up tracks 7-10, but it manages.

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