Text written by WikiBrother Leonardo Orletti
In the penultimate month of the 20th century, four young Californian childhood friends entered a Hollywood studio to spend what little money and time they had recording the first album of their newly formed band, Avenged Sevenfold , titled Sounding The Seventh Trumpet .
The context wasn't very encouraging. Besides the limited studio time, a consequence of their limited funds, all the musicians were, at most, 20 years old (I couldn't actually find out the bassist Justin Sane ), therefore, with little to no experience. And Good Life, the small record label that had invested in the boys, didn't have the financial means to help much.
The album was released approximately eight months after recording, in July 2001. The band's name and the album title are based on biblical contexts, even though the band has never declared itself Catholic or anything similar. The debut album contains no religious questioning or even a clear reference to the subject. The theme would appear in later compositions, but at this point, it's not relevant.
Shortly after recording the album, the band gained a new member, guitarist Synyster Gates , who was already a friend of the band. The quintet recorded a new version of the album's first track and re-released the album early the following year, already including the new guitarist and the new bassist Dameon Ash , who replaced original bassist Justin Sane before the album's promotional tour.
The opening track is called “To End The Rapture.” Originally, it's almost a solo track by vocalist Matt Shadows, as he wrote the lyrics and is the only musician involved in its performance. Shadows sings and plays keyboards. The re-recording has been given a heavy metal makeover with guitars, bass, drums, and even backing vocals. This is Synyster Gates' only appearance on the album.
From the second track, “Turn The Other Way,” Avenged Sevenfold shows what they're made of. The first track is merely a not very revealing introduction. The heavy instrumental and screamed vocals announce the arrival of yet another metalcore group on the scene. Between the late 90s and early 2000s, several large bands of the genre emerged, mainly in the USA. The vocals vary between screamed and clean, and the heaviness of the guitars is blended with melodic passages present throughout the song.
“Darkness Surrounding” is even faster and heavier. The techniques used are similar to the previous track, but this time with a greater dose of creativity. The prodigious drummer Jimmy Sullivan , credited as “The Reverend Tholomew Plague”, is by far the highlight. The song even has a drum solo.
In “The Art Of Subconscious Illusion,” M. Shadows starts by singing clean, but only briefly. For a moment, he even ventures into guttural vocals. This would be a good soundtrack for a mosh pit. Here's another highlight for the drummer who, in addition to juggling the drumsticks, provides support with backing vocals. In later albums, The Rev would mature significantly in this role.
The fifth track is called “We Come Out At Night” and can be analyzed in two ways. It would be nothing but screaming (not very different from the rest of the album) if the chorus weren't one of the softest and most melodic, if not the most. Up to this point, Avenged Sevenfold's lyrics are always consistent. They deal with fear, mystery, rebellion, always in a very aggressive way. By the way, the vocalist is responsible for all the lyrics on the album.
“Lips Of Deceit” is the heaviest of them all. Here the band takes a risk, abandoning the feeling and the little melody present in the other songs. These are two important elements, even in the most extreme rock or metal. Disposable music.
“Warmness On The Soul” is the name of the only ballad on the album. After a song with zero feeling, M. Shadows and company did the opposite, but ended up going too far. The song is reminiscent of 1980s glam rock from Los Angeles. It has a catchy and melancholic melody. It's no exaggeration to say that the lyrics are unbearably saccharine. “Warmness On The Soul” definitely doesn't belong on an album like this.
A7X 's sound returns to the pandemonium-like atmosphere from which it should never have strayed. After a break in rhythm, the music improves. The mix of vocal styles in the chorus is interesting. Shadows alternates between screamed and clean vocals repeatedly. Good work from the vocalist, who, in the final part of the song, resembles Corey Taylor of Slipknot.
“Breaking Their Hold” and “Forgotten Faces” are similar songs. They are very heavy tracks and represent true hardcore roots, although they also feature a melodic and clean chorus. But here the lyrics go against the heaviness. From the seventh track (that nonsensical ballad), Matt Shadows starts singing more complex and romantic lyrics, leaving aside the aggressive side of things.
In “Thick And Thin,” lyrics and music come together again, all in a heavy, yet not overly so, way. “Mr. Sombras” starts out singing somewhere between clean and raspy vocals, but he soon moves into his comfort zone and once again reaches the guttural register, even if only briefly. The track also has its melodic side, always accompanied by the vocalist's more restrained vocals.
In the penultimate track, called "Streets," Avenged Sevenfold brings influences from Sepultura and nu metal, more precisely bass and drums, handled by Dameon Ash and The Rev. The vocals are fast and again more restrained than usual, and Zacky Vengeance is reminiscent of punk, and this whole mix of influences transforms into a good song.
“Shattered By Broken Dreams” is a typical album closing track. It's the longest on the record and, not only for that reason, it stands out, even if not by much, from the other songs. The band ventures into more than one nuance and sudden changes of rhythm. It's part ballad and part hardcore screaming, and I'll go further. If it were a true ballad, it would be honest and aligned with the context of the album.
The quality of the last track was lacking in the overall work. The final result is a disjointed album, with loose songs. The production didn't guide the band in a specific direction. It seems that Avenged Sevenfold's objective changes with each track. The lyrical themes shift without much sense. When the album is developing in one way, a ballad completely different from anything one could imagine comes in. But in the end, with time, the band would prove that this lack of balance would be a highlight not only at the beginning of their career, since, with 20 years of history, the group is still doing very different things with each release.
The production wasn't the best, and the musicians, lacking experience, weren't able to fix things. Even with all the difficulties, shortly after the release of their first album, the band signed a contract with a major label and gained international fame. In my opinion, the versatile vocals of the lead singer and the potential of the band's drummer were the highlights of the album that caught the industry's attention and propelled Avenged Sevenfold to the level they occupy today.
*This text was written by a Wikimate and does not necessarily represent the opinions of the site's authors.
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