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City of Evil

 
Album Review: City of Evil
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City of Evil

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  • Artist: Avenged Sevenfold
  • Rating: StarStarStar
  • Release Date: June 07, 2005
  • Type: Contains explicit content, Lyrics are included with the album
  • Genre: Rock

Review

Avenged Sevenfold's first two albums had a clear influence from heavy metal, but the California combo also freely incorporated emo, screamo, and post-hardcore elements. The mixing and matching meant 2003's Waking the Fallen had as many sighing harmonies as it did harmonized guitar freakouts. And yet City of Evil, the band's third record and Warner debut, is absolutely rife with the imagery and pacing of classic metal. Look at that artwork. It features a skeletal swordsman flying a steed with steaming nostrils over the urban inferno of the title; tattoos, demons, and a skull with flapping wings adorn the lyric book. The New Wave of British Heavy Metal influence is immediate and prevalent, from the maniacally rippling percussion throughout to the triumphantly whining lead guitars in the chorus of "Blinded in Chains," or the soaring melody in "Burn It Down" that meets its match in Metallica-styled verses. The downshifts into guttural roars are largely gone, replaced by better-integrated atmospheric stretches or the tighter songcraft of a track like "Bat Country," which intersects punk and pop influences in a manner similar to My Chemical Romance. At over seven minutes, "Wicked End" is a late-album standout. Vocalist M. Shadows rips through couplets like "We've grown in numbers, six hundred sixty-six/War breaks, a sign of the end, eternally expelled/Look to the sky for knowledge, the stars align tonight," guitarists Synyster Gates and Zacky Vengeance trade off blistering solos, and there's a full choral interlude in the center, complete with an angelic host and sighing cellos. Which is all totally metal, and refreshingly unmarred by attempts to fit too many jumbled genres in. City of Evil's ballads are a little trite, and even its double-bass raging doesn't necessarily break new ground. But Avenged Sevenfold gets all the pieces right, and sound like they're having more fun here than in the scattershot approach of the first couple records. ~ Johnny Loftus, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track TitleComposersPerformersTime
Beast and the Harlot (Lyrics) Avenged Sevenfold Avenged Sevenfold (5:40)
Burn It Down (Lyrics) Avenged Sevenfold Avenged Sevenfold (4:58)
Blinded in Chains Avenged Sevenfold Avenged Sevenfold (6:34)
Bat Country (Lyrics) Avenged Sevenfold Avenged Sevenfold (5:13)
Trashed and Scattered (Lyrics) Avenged Sevenfold Avenged Sevenfold (5:53)
Seize the Day (Lyrics) Avenged Sevenfold Avenged Sevenfold (5:32)
Sidewinder (Lyrics) Avenged Sevenfold Avenged Sevenfold (7:01)
The Wicked End Avenged Sevenfold Avenged Sevenfold (7:10)
Strength of the World (Lyrics) Avenged Sevenfold Avenged Sevenfold (9:14)
Betrayed (Lyrics) Avenged Sevenfold Avenged Sevenfold (6:47)
M.I.A. (Lyrics) Avenged Sevenfold Avenged Sevenfold (8:46)

Credits

Samuel Fischer (Violin), The Reverend (Group Member), Stephen Ferrara Grand (Guitar Technician), Avenged Sevenfold (Audio Production), David Mergen (Cello), Andy Wallace (Mixing), Stephen Cruz (Choir, Chorus), Zacky Vengeance (Vocals), Craig Aaronson (A&R), Josiah Yiu (Choir, Chorus), Chapman Baehler (Photography), Sally Stevens (Choir, Chorus), Andy Olyphant (A&R), David F. Walther (Viola), Victor Lawrence (Cello), Synyster Gates (Vocals), Brian Haner (?), Samuel Formicola (Violin), Scott Gilman (Orchestration), Brian Haner (Pedal Steel), Synyster Gates (Vocal Producer), John O'Mahoney (Digital Editing), The Reverend (Vocals), The Rev. (Drums), Fred Archambault (Producer), Brian Haner (Guitar), Zacky Vengeance (Group Member), The Reverend (Drums), Matt Funes (Viola), Steve Sisco (Assistant), Samuel Fischer (Soloist), Synyster Gates (Guitar), The Reverend (Piano), Jeannine Wagner (Choir Master), Liane Mautner (Violin), Victor Lawrence (Soloist), Celia Cruz (Choir, Chorus), Zacky Vengeance (Guitar), Nick Cosmi (Artwork), Songa Lee (Violin), Mark Robertson (Violin), David Low (Cello), M. Shadows (Vocals), Nathan Cruz (Choir, Chorus), Synyster Gates (Piano), Scott Gilman (Producer), Mike Fasano (Drum Technician), Colton Byer Johnson (Choir, Chorus), Synyster Gates (Orchestration), Alan Grunfeld (Violin), Mudrock (Audio Production), Johnny Christ (Guitar (Bass)), Alan Hong (Choir, Chorus), Zachary Biggs (Choir, Chorus), Sean Sullivan (Choir, Chorus), Synyster Gates (Group Member), Bruce Dukov (Violin), Casey Howard (Cover Art)
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Wikipedia: City of Evil
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Home > Library > Miscellaneous > Wikipedia
City of Evil
Studio album by Avenged Sevenfold
Released June 7, 2005
Recorded April 2005
Genre Heavy metal
Length 73:10
Label Warner Bros.
Producer Avenged Sevenfold, Andrew Murdock
Professional reviews
Avenged Sevenfold chronology
Waking the Fallen
(2003)		 City of Evil
(2005)		 All Excess
(2007)
Singles from City of Evil
  1. "Burn It Down"
    Released: June 12, 2005
  2. "Bat Country"
    Released: September 26, 2005
  3. "Beast and the Harlot"
    Released: March 6, 2006
  4. "Seize the Day"
    Released: July 7, 2006

City of Evil is the third album and first major label release by American rock band Avenged Sevenfold. The album was released on June 7, 2005 by Warner Bros. Records. The album obtains a more hard rock sound than Avenged Sevenfold's previous two albums, which had been classified into the metalcore genre.[1][2] The album is also notable for the absence of screaming vocals; M. Shadows worked with vocal coach Ron Anderson—whose clients have included Axl Rose and Chris Cornell -- for months before the album's release to achieve a sound that had "grit while still having the tone.[1][3] The album was certified platinum in August 2009, and has gone onto sell over 1,000,000 copies in the United States, and 1,500,000 total worldwide.

Contents

Reception

The album debuted at #30 on the Billboard Top 200 selling over 30,000 copies.[4][5] It received positive profiles in Rolling Stone and All Music Guide, with Rolling Stone lauding the guitar work.[6][7] In addition, "Bat Country" was one of the breakout singles of 2005, reaching #2 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Charts, #6 on Billboard's Modern Rock Charts, and #1 on MTV's Total Request Live.[8] The album was ranked #63 on Guitar World's "100 Greatest Guitar Albums of All-Time," and the band won "Best New Artist" at MTV's Video Music Awards, beating out artists like Rihanna, Panic at the Disco, and Chris Brown.[9][10]

Track listing

All songs written by Avenged Sevenfold.

  1. "Beast and the Harlot" – 5:41
  2. "Burn It Down" - 4:58
  3. "Blinded in Chains" – 6:35
  4. "Bat Country" – 5:13
  5. "Trashed and Scattered" – 5:55
  6. "Seize the Day" – 5:32
  7. "Sidewinder" – 7:01
  8. "The Wicked End" – 7:10
  9. "Strength of the World" – 9:14
  10. "Betrayed" – 6:47
  11. "M.I.A." – 8:46

Videography

City of Evil features most of the songs that Avenged Sevenfold has made videos for. On May 4, 2005, they released a promotional video for "Burn It Down", which was done in the same way as "Unholy Confessions" on Waking the Fallen (live video with dubbed music). On July 28, 2005, their first professional video for a song on the album, "Bat Country", was released. It was directed by Marc Klasfeld. On February 6, 2006, "Beast and the Harlot" was released. This was a few weeks after it had been leaked on YouTube.com. It was directed by Tony Petrossian. Most recently, on June 30, 2006, the video for "Seize the Day" was released on Avenged Sevenfold's MySpace. The video was directed by Wayne Isham.

Personnel

Avenged Sevenfold
Additional Musicians
  • Brian Haner Sr., Suzy Haner, Valary DiBenedetto and Michelle DiBenedetto on "M.I.A"
  • Brian Haner Sr. on "Sidewinder"
  • Justin Meacham - Additional piano on "Sidewinder"
  • The Rev played piano on Seize the Day per the album liner notes.
Production
  • Scott Gilman - Producer, orchestrations, string conductor, additional keyboards and percussion

References

  1. ^ a b Warped Tour outlasted by putting teenagers' interests first The Orange County Register. July 6, 2005. "We were lumped into metalcore, but with this record we really wanted to get out of it... We didn't even know why we were screaming. One day, we were just like, '(Bleep) this, there's no way we're gonna scream on the next record.'"
  2. ^ "Avenged Sevenfold: City of Evil." The New Zealand Herald accessed via LexisNexis. September 11, 2005. "But City Of Evil is some of the most exciting and epic rock'n'roll around at the moment. In fact, this album is a snorting and snarling mongrel that is as much for fans of classic rock as it is for those into metal."
  3. ^ Avenged Sevenfold Interview Blistering.
  4. ^ Whitmire, Margo Coldplay Earns First Billboard 200 No. 1 Billboard. June 15, 2005.
  5. ^ Avenged Sevenfold's "City of Evil" Unleashed June 7 Market Wire. June 22, 2005.
  6. ^ Album Review: City of Evil Rolling Stone. July 28, 2005.
  7. ^ City of Evil Review AllMusic.
  8. ^ Moss, Corey Avenged Sevenfold: Appetite for Destruction MTV.
  9. ^ 100 Greatest Guitar Album of All-Time Guitar World reprinted on Rate Your Music. October, 2006.
  10. ^ Avenged Sevenfold Capture Best New Artist Ultimate Guitar. September 9, 2005.
v • d • e
Avenged Sevenfold
M. Shadows • Synyster Gates • Zacky Vengeance • Johnny Christ • The Rev
Justin Meacham • Dameon Ash
Studio albums
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Singles
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This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 

 

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Album Review. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "City of Evil".  Read more

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