Album review: Avenged Sevenfold's 'Nightmare'

The major labels may continue to wither, but they won't go out without a bang. After all, there's no other way to explain the recent promotional tie-in between the new Avenged Sevenfold track "Welcome to the Family," and its ideological brethren, the ultra-violent video game, "Call of Duty: Black Ops."

Set to a string of explosions, helicopters and assault rifles clutched by solemn young men with shaved heads, the unabashed militarism is frightening and almost pornographic in its zeal. Whether you appreciate the veteran hard rock/metal hybrid depends on your tolerance for spiraling guitars, avalanche drums and satanic screams. Or your inclination to the aesthetic spelled out in the video for lead single "Nightmare," with its bloody and cackling children, experimental surgeries and morbid obsessions. Consider it Edward Gorey as re-conceptualized by Hannibal Lecter and Korn.

Metal doesn't die, it mutates, and sonically, Avenged Sevenfold has cribbed from the usual suspects: Linkin Park and the Nu-Metal school, a little Black Sabbath, and the Orange County punk-thrash that inevitably influenced its formative years. The sincerity is palpable even if the style seems synthetic, particularly on "So Far Away," which presumably addresses the untimely death last year of their drummer, James "The Rev" Sullivan.

With imagery haunted by death and lyrical allusions to alienation and angst, Avenged Sevenfold's fifth full-length is almost impossible to appreciate unless you fit the prime demographic: tormented teenage boys.

— Jeff Weiss 

Avenged Sevenfold
"Nightmare"
(Warner Bros.)
Two stars (Out of four)

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Comments

[William Pozuelos]

Jeff, you kno, when one does an album review, they usually review the music, melodies, the harmonies, the meaning between the lyrics and every now-and-then compare it to the artist's last production. lol, you are a fucken idiot.

[rgriffsf]

Whew, after reading this review I am certainly glad that I bought the Album first. This is my first A7F purchase. I'm 46 years old. Surprised Mr. Weiss? I'm not a Teenager and I Love this record! There are shades of early Metallica in the riffing and contrary to what some have said there are influences from Linkin Park in the vocalizing harmonies. I will now go back and check out the previous releases. I can't say that I will like it all. However, this work is a very personal piece of work that speaks volumes about grief and the anger that sometimes can squeeze out of it. These are themes that any person can relate to no matter what their age. Great Work!!

[Imani H.]

Oh please! This has got to be the most biased piece of garbage i have ever read. Instead of reviewing an album based on its musical quality, Jeff has completely smeared it and even put a label on it. Well let me tell you, i am a 17 year old girl who watches pokemon and loves photography and this is quite possibly one of the most musically creative albums that i have ever heard. Write about that.

[Heather Beville]

Let me start off by saying that I'm a 27 year old happily married Army wife, mom, and die-hard music fan...especially A7X's music. Avenged Sevenfold is a rarity in music that is produced in today's generic and shallow market. To state that only tormented teen boys will like this album proves that the "reviewer" has no clue as to what he's saying... refer to my first sentence to see he's obviously clueless. I'm not a music snob and appreciate genuine talent of all genres and greatly appreciate the diverse talent that this band offers. They write their own songs, produce their own music, play numerous instruments, experiment and take chances with their sound....AND IT ALWAYS WORKS! What more could a fan ask for? They are passionate about music and in turn their fans are passionate about them and their quote, "pornographic, satanic mutation of music". :) Now lets find a reviewer who knows music to really review "Nightmare"!

[Sam.B]

I would suggest that to get back at such a hatefull review, we all go and download the album, (if you havent already, or again of you really want to) to push it to the top of the charts! sow how popular they really are!

R.I.P Jimmy!

[richie]

wowwww satanic? a good amount of screamo lyrics are based from christianity... this is probably the worst review ive ever read.... jeff weiss shouldnt post any more of his dumb biased ideas... guy has no idea what hes talkin bout..

[Joe Bananas]

Did he seriously compare A7X to Linkin Park?

[Alissa]

This made me sick. First of all, satanic screams? Tormented teenage boys? That's only a LITTLE bit of an insult. And don't you think if you're going to make a short review of an album that's well over an hour long, that you shouldn't write about the Call of Duty video for more than half of the page? Focus on the album, not one little video that was released. How you got into writing, I have no idea. But you should either quit or be fired because you obviously know nothing whatsoever about the album, considering you couldn't even write about it. I hope you read all of the comments on the page so you can go cry to your mommy about it later.

[Oscar]

This guy sucks, he shouldn't review any album never in his life!!

[David]

I am 12 and what is this?

[Connor]

Yo Jeff Weiss, ima let you finish but your review is the worst review i have ever read.

[Becca Meyer]

Ok. I'm 17, and I'm a girl, and a metalhead. I'm pretty sure that I don't really fit the demographic of "tormented teenage boys" and I love Avenged Sevenfold and all of their work. I've listened to them ever since I heard "We Come Out at Night". Their work has evolved a lot and each one of the band members are extremely talented.

I don't think you actually listened to the album, and I honestly hope to god that you get fired. Not only for your horribly written review but also for offending so many people and basically mocking James Owen Sullivan.
I implore you to actually know what your talking about before you stick your middle aged foot in your mouth.

[Alex Herle]

Man this guy must be a big Lil Wayne fan or something. You didn't even talk about the music, all you did was rip on metal music and declare it suitable only for tormented teenage boys. What a biased review; one of the worst reviews I have ever read. Avenged Sevenfold are writing about their best friend who recently died and their feelings towards him, not about hating their lives and cutting themselves like you made it seem, but you probably just cast it aside when you saw it was a metal album. May god have mercy on your soul for your narrow-minded view on music. I really hope you lose your job, sir.

[Conor]

Mr. Weiss-
Have you the decency to look at what this band has gone trough over the past 6 months?
Have you the courage to admit your lackluster review of this dynamic album is utter garbage, and deserves a spot in my garbage disposal?
Hell, have you even listened to this album?
Are you just writing this review to rebel against the rest of the metal community because you didn't get enough attention as a kid?
Can you feel the passion in their hearts and instruments as they put out a beautiful tribute album for one of the all time great drummers?
Sir, do you even know what music is?
These 5 talented musicians lost a brother, and even if you didn't like the album, at least recognize the effort put in by these men. Unlike Avenged Sevenfold, you wouldn't put out your best work in your guitar hero band after your game data got erased. That's essentially what happened to them. Go get a real job, Jeff, not reviewing albums you're evidently under-qualified to review. Once you've made it in the real world, maybe me and the rest of the metal community will listen to you. Thank you, and good riddance.

[Chris Fowler]

Holy Crap. So now album reviews are a lash out at video game and war culture? Hang on, i thought 'albums' were recordings and 'music' not videos, games, world events or violence. So you didnt actually listen to more than 3 tracks off this (incredible) album? You have insulted the name of Jimmy Sullivan by passing off his death as 'untimely', which can and probably has angered hundreds of dedicated fans. You sir, need to be put back in your place, and consider rewriting this review, or leave your job.

[shawn]

You call that a review?

[Brian Sorrell]

Did you even listen to the album? Who the hell do you think you are? You are nothing more than a pompus prat with victorian-era ideology and a broken hearing aid. ""So Far Away," which presumably addresses the untimely death last year of their drummer, James "The Rev" Sullivan?" You are a complete idiot.

[Rob]

You sir are an idiot.

Is that short and concise enough of a review for you? Next time try and actually put a little thought and research into your material.

I imagine you think you're clever like a lot of the other hipster "indie" d-bags "reviewing" music out there.

[Jessyca]

haha, I cracked up when you said that this album is for "tormented teenage boys." wow, first of all, I personally am extrememly inpressed with this album.. They put so much of themselves in this, it's raw honesty. Not to mention the insane talent of being able to pull off so many styles of metal. Next time you write a review, it'd help if you actually included info on the band or the tecniques of the music instead of just basically writing out YOUR feeligns toward them. People read reviews to for info on the MUSIC on because they care about your opinion. retire!

[A7x Fan]

Dude WTF?! don't you understand that they lost their brother/friend in the process of recording?! Don't you understand that they were going through a rough time and decided to move on and dedicate a wonderful album to him and vent their feelings?! Do you know the feeling? Do you have any musical taste? I guess you don't because then you would be more appreciative and would rate the album 4, because it's that awesome. Your job is just sooooo easy. All u do is sit around and rate things and criticize. Do us all a favor and get s real job....or do better at it. I'm gonna rate your personality.
(-999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999 out of 4)

[Alicai]

WOW,really??!! All I have to say is that Avenged Sevenfold is fucking amazing and that you just pretty much threw yourself under the bus with us A7X fans. the "Nightmare" album is amazing, and it definately deserves 4 stars instead of 2. I know I will never read anything else written by you.
RIP JIMMY
A7X foREVer <3

[nate]

this is a crappy review. just because you don't like the music doesn't mean you can limit those who will to "tormented teenage boys". I also think this review ignored the majority of the amazing songs on this album, particularly danger line which is heartbreaking and emotional. Just as their other albums, A7X has released a stunning, amazingly powerful piece of work that can be appreciated by everyone who doesn't limit the uses of the songs for video games.

[Sean Crist]

Jeff, I'd love to go on and on about how wrong your review about this album is. I'd love to also say that everyone is entitled to their opinion. But here's my problem; as a journalist who's opinion is actually published...it could at least be an EDUCATED opinion. The fact that the only two 'influences' you mention are Korn and Linkin Park; leads me to believe that you might have gone to such excruciating lengths of research as to watch four minutes of the Nightmare video on YouTube, and possibly skimmed through a song or two whom's titles might have caught your eye (such as God Hates Us and Natural Born Killer...both of whom have 'satanic screams' that conveniently happen to be in the beginnings of both aforementioned tracks). Would it have killed you to venture over to google and maybe get some background on the circumstances under which this album was recorded...or even mention the name of even a solitary member of the band? It's free, you know? Think what you will about Avenged Sevenfold; but AT LEAST have the courtesy to not so blatantly pee on every reader's leg and say that it's raining! The depth of your review makes a teacup look like the Mariana Trench. I sincerely hope that the LA Times refrains from sending another metal album your way to review, because from the tone of your article; it sounds like it would be akin to sending a lactose intolerant person to profile a cheese factory. In closing, I hope that you have enough of a conscience to return any and all financial proceeds you might have received in return for journalistic skid mark of a review you wrote. Because otherwise; you stole it....

[Skye]

HAHAHAHA!!! Wow! You really pissed off a lot of people! If this album is meant for "tormented teenage boys"... Consider me now a 13 year old boy. I say 13 cause I'm not going to stop listening for a long, long time!

[Marshall Dockery]

Personally Mr. Weiss, people like you are a discrace to the music business. I dont have to sit here and rant and rave at you when i have 200 comments backing me up. They speak for there selves. You call a song wrote by Synyster Gates for his fallen bandmember and best friend "Synthetic"
You sir are a disrespectfull "Synthetic" idiot.