And with good reason as well as being the biggest single from their breakthrough record, it’s an absolute, iron-clad anthem, still the only track from that era to remain a live staple and, for many Avenged fans of a certain age, the definitive A7X anthem. ![]() ![]() Unholy Confessions (Waking The Fallen, 2003)Ĭhances are, if you came to Avenged Sevenfold on the Waking The Fallen album, it would be thanks to Unholy Confessions. That it was a modern-day prog metal masterpiece was what truly counted. That Exist had genuine scientific merit was a bonus. ![]() ‘High from the heavens, I can’t see the pain, does anybody care?’ laments the singer, sounding every inch the onlooking astronaut, floating through a galaxy still finding itself.Īnd as for Neil? The band later revealed that he was all-in on the song thanks to its more educational values. Ultimately, the guitarist was proved right Shadows’ pained and ponderous lyrics add an extra level of otherworldly emotional depth to the song. Shadows later revealed that he was persuaded by Syn to add his voice to the track after previously pushing for Exist to remain an instrumental. It takes more than seven minutes before we even hear so much as a vocal – and according to the band, that was originally not even on the table at all. It was, by a distance, their boldest and most bonkers experiment yet, but what’s most amazing about Exist is the fact that under the maddening length, the weighty concept and the impressive cameo, it’s actually, like, really fucking good. Oh, and including a bonus, spoken-word narrative outro by everyone’s favourite American astrophysicist, Neil deGrasse Tyson? Oh, go on, then. A 15-minute long, sci-fi concept mini-opera designed to replicate the Big Bang and the very beginnings of Earth in musical form? Sure. Not bad, lads.Īvenged Sevenfold were making long songs cool again back when their peers were bashing out cookie-cutter five-minute metalcore tunes, but few would have predicted a song like Exist ever entering their canon. Despite the unexpected direction, the song proved to be a monstrous success as of 2019, it’s their most streamed song ever, racking in well over 200 million listens on Spotify. Hail To The King is a methodical, driving headbanger full of menace, packing lyrics straight out of the Manowar playbook and carried along by a relentless, marching drum beat that sounds nothing less than colossal. “We wanted this groove, this energy throughout,” added Syn, and it was certainly an ambition they saw through to fruition. “We stripped everything down,” confirmed Zacky later of the album’s titanic title track. “There’s definitely more Sabbath in what we’re writing.” Many scoffed at the comparison, refusing to believe that Avenged would be able to leave their wild, experimental nature behind them. “The new album has a lot more of a Black Sabbath/ Led Zeppelin feel to it,” suggested the singer. ![]() Back in November 2012, M Shadows hinted to Metal Hammer that the band were looking to fully channel the more straight-ahead, rock-the-fuck-out vibe of some of their heroes. The clues on Avenged’s simplistic new direction were there months before. Avenged Sevenfold: writers of the best pure, classic, no-nonsense heavy metal anthem of 2013. Avenged Sevenfold: a band for whom the term ‘restraint’ was pretty much limited to seatbelts and handcuffs. Avenged Sevenfold: a band who had made a career out of shoving every single idea they thought they could get away with into every crevice of their music.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |