This wasn’t Avenged Sevenfold’s first album but it was the album that began their journey to the band they are today. It didn’t bring them mainstream success but what it did bring was a host of fans
This album has tracks that are mostly longer than your radio friendly length, something the band would cut down on when they made it to a major label. But whilst these tracks are long, they lose none of their appeal or power. This sustainability in their long tracks are what helped A7X garner their fan base in 2003 when this album was released.
The album starts with a fantastic intro track which leads straight into the hit song Unholy Confessions. This is one of the shorter more radio friendly length tracks on the album although even this track is considered too long for radio at almost 5 minutes long. But it is 4 plus minutes of solid quality nevertheless.
One of the songs from this album that the band have played live in recent years that wasn’t a single is Chapter Four. It’s got the old school Avenged Sevenfold sound to it where it mixes elements of hardcore with melodic harmonies. It also mixes the duelling guitars that are one of Avenged Sevenfold’s trademarks.
Eternal Rest has some very hardcore vocals on it. This would be the last Avenged Sevenfold album to feature hardcore vocals so heavily, but it’s clear to see how the band were trying to blend their older sound with their newer sound perfectly in this track. It also has a killed guitar riff in this song that to me just screams Metallica and other heavy metal titans of the past.
The second single from this album was Second Heartbeat which is a massive and twice as long as any radio friendly singles; coming in at 7 minutes and just 1 second. It has drums that could appear so simple yet are already so intricate and complicated that you can’t always pick it up. There are some very simple guitar bits to this song but it’s the simplistic nature of elements of this song that makes it work so well, such as the catchy breakdowns.
9/10
