84: Avenged Sevenfold – City of Evil

I was going to put this album in my list next week, but with the passing of The Rev today, I thought I would dedicate this post to him. Avenged Sevenfold's City of Evil (2005) has been one of my favorites since I heard it four years ago. It is the perfect example of a good band becoming great. I was familiar with their previous two albums, but City of Evil was above and beyond them in both maturity and musicianship.

M Shadows' vocal coaching was the best thing to happen to them. While I like some good metalcore, I don't think most metalcore bands can pull it off and the results are usually mediocre. Avenged Sevenfold's first two albums were okay and more palpable than most new metalcore efforts. There was good song writing and arrangement. However City of Evil demonstrated that Avenged Sevenfold wanted to grow up and be a serious metal band.

While their self-titled follow-up is a good album and I like it a lot, City of Evil is a great album which I never tire of hearing. Avenged Sevenfold found their sound and pace and it may be their peak album. "Bat Country" is obviously a great song, but "Burn It Down", "Sidewinder", and "The Wicked End" are just as good and the other tracks hold the album together as a consistent rock masterpiece.

Obviously their future is uncertain with The Rev's death, but Avenged Sevenfold is a great band and City of Evil is a worthy addition to your collection.

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Tagged as: 100 Days 100 Albums, Avenged Sevenfold, Music, School of Rock