Hail to the King - Avenged Sevenfold album review

Hail to the King - Avenged Sevenfold

Hail to the King has been long awaited by A7X fans ever since the clues started to leak from the band’s Facebook page and to external blog: Deathbat News. It’s the 6^th studio album by the metal/hard rock band from California, and the first without input from their deceased drummer Jimmy ‘The Rev” Sullivan. The band re-recruited Mike Elizondo as the producer for the album, who also produced their last record: Nightmare.

The sound on this album is different to what A7X fans are used to, but does ‘carry on’ in a way from some musical themes of the last album. Hard rock/early heavy metal influences are definitely evident, such as bands like Metallica, Sabbath and Zeppelin. Singer M. Shadows did mention he wanted to open up the sound of the band and ‘keep it simple’ with less overlapping vocals and more riff based songs.

The drums on this album definitely differ from previous as well, and I get the feeling it isn’t just the newby Arin Ilejay. The double bass drums are rarely heard on the tracks with a standard rock beat being fairly consistent with a few variations of course. The title track and first single of the album ‘Hail to the King’ basically sums up the drum groove for the album. The bass drum tone itself was one I found quite remarkable though, and it definitely packs a punch especially in those slower tempo beats such as ‘This Means War’, and when you get to that triplet note pulse in the chorus it just floors you.

Now to a hot topic of the album: the new guitar amps. If you aren’t already aware, guitarist Synyster Gates has worked with A7X’s guitar manufacturer Schecter to produce some custom amps for themselves and the public, called the Hellwin. I think Schecter would have been equally excited as the guys in Avenged following the production of these amps, and rightly so. These high gain tube monsters sound fantastic on the new record and provide a classic crisp clean tone too. The clean tone is most notable on the ballad ‘Crimson Day’, where Syn also used a capo’d baritone guitar to achieve one of the best clean tones I’ve ever laid ears on. The power of these amps is shown in ‘Requiem’ where you can hear that beautiful alternating palm muted to open progression in the verse. Syn and Zacky V have continued their alliance with Schecter and carried on using their custom guitars as well, which always have a great addition to A7X’s sound.

The other lucky man to get some new gear for the record also, is bassist Johnny Christ. He’s also joined the dark side and formed an alliance with Schecter to create the Johnny Christ Signature Bass. This is a step up from the Music Man Stingrays he’s been using up until now, with 2 active EMG pickups, one of which is actually a guitar pickup for added high end. This bass’ great sound can be heard easily in ‘Heretic’ during a fairly spacious verse.

Last but not least the vocals on the album have once again lived up to Shadows’ high standard. He hasn’t brought in as much growl as previous albums, but he still uses his diaphragm in the amazing way that has brought him to where he is. Those ear pleasing sustained notes are still evident in tracks such as ‘Planets’ and ‘Requiem’, with simple melodies still being used in an attractive manner. Also, aside from Shadows and SATB choir features on ‘Requiem’ (in Latin I’m lead to believe) which shocked me when I first heard it. Lyrical themes on this album don’t stray much from Sevenfold’s usual material such as struggle, warfare and sorrow.

In addition to the band themselves, brass arrangements feature on some of the tracks such as the opener ‘Shepherd of Fire’ and ‘Planets’. This adds some of that creative metal edge that Avenged Sevenfold likes to play with, and provides a beefy foundation when those perfect 5^ths in the lower brass appear. Other additional instruments include piano on the closing ballad ‘Acid Rain’ which sooths the rhythm section under Syn’s wailing solos and Shadow’s powerful vocals. Strings are also present on this track throughout the duration and give the listener another side to music with their close to counter-melodies.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this album in its entirety. A7X has still included some of their key features such as L+R speaker guitar harmonies and musical theory intuition which is what makes it a killer record. I’ve listened to the album countless times since the day I received it in the mail and will most likely continue to do so in anticipation of their headlining Soundwave appearance in Australia next year which I will definitely be heading off to.

You can buy the album on iTunes here:

https://itunes.apple.com/au/album/hail-to-king-deluxe-version/id672046420

Or check out the band’s new gear here:

http://www.schecterguitars.com/Products/Bass/Johnny-Christ-Signature-Bass.aspx

http://www.schecterguitars.com/Amplification/Synyster-Gates-Signature-Design.aspx

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