Avenged Sevenfold - Hail To The King
Talk about showing the world what you are truly capable of. Avenged Sevenfold's album
Hail To The King has quickly become one of my top albums of the year. From the first song to the last one, there's only one song that isn't as strong as the rest, and it's
Requiem. I don't know, it just doesn't seem to fit in with the rest of the album. I do like the attempt and the style they were trying to go for, but for this band, it just doesn't really work. But with any good Avenged album, it's got to have a ballad, and
Crimson Day does the job in being one of the best ballads I have heard in the metal/rock genre. Though, they've never not delivered a good ballad. I was in the same boat as a lot of people where you just didn't want to hear another Avenged Sevenfold album mostly for the fact that it's never really enjoyable, however I did find a lot of enjoyment out of Nightmare, but anything before that isn't too fantastic. But, I hold the opinion that if you've sworn off Avenged Sevenfold for good, take that back and listen to this album, you'll find something you like from it, easily.
There's one specific thing that I noticed about this album when it was released. I was saying things like "wow, this sounds just like [insert band here] etc etc. Only to find that that is exactly what they were going for. I've seen quotes being thrown around from the band that they wanted to pay tribute to the band they are heavily influenced by, and in doing so, making an album that shows those influences very strongly. I listened to it again once I learned that, and I have come to the conclusion that they did a fantastic job in doing so.
Not only is the album enjoyable and heavy and fun to listen to, it's got a concept that is beautiful and awesome and attributed very well. I hope they keep to this sound in their future albums, and perhaps keep on the trend of using strong concepts to their advantage. They've got the talent for it, and this album showcases that very well.