"Life is but a dream..." is the 8th album by US metal heavyweights Avenged Sevenfold. Released in June 2023, it has been 7 years since they last released an album, that being "The Stage", back in 2016. So why has it been so long? Obviously, there was Covid and organising the orchestra sections in Prague. But on top of that the band seemed like they were very relaxed and chilled into taking their time making the record. Realising that they are in a fortunate position that they are such a huge band and I have heard them say that at this stage in their careers they can basically do what they want.
And with "Life is but a dream..." they have certainly done just that. This is not a band that regurgitates the same thing, album after album. Neither it is band who are trying to please all their fanbase. They have come a long way since their metalcore roots, releasing their first album "Sounding the Seventh Trumpet" back in 2001. They have constantly tried to change and evolve their sound, even from 2nd album "Waken the fallen" it was clear that Avenged weren't your normal metal band. Then boom they released "City of evil", their breakthrough album and although tragedy hit with the passing of the drummer the Rev, the band continually release high quality material.
Personally though, I only got into them after singer M Shadows and guitarist Synster Gates appeared at the Hollywood bowl in 2017 at the Chester Bennington memorial concert where they collaborated on a song with the other members of Linkin Park. This turned out to be my gateway to discovering Avenged and I have been delving into their back catalogue ever since. When they finally got round to releasing "Life is not a dream..." I was excited as it’s a long time to wait for new material from a band. The first single they released was "Nobody" and I still to this day have mixed feelings on this song. It has this simple 2 note riff which runs through the whole track. Sometimes it can get annoying as its almost too simple and repetitive. But once you get into the track there is so much interesting things happening which can distract you from it whether it's Gate's guitar solos or M Shadows vocals.
This album really is a rollercoaster. You can say for absolute certain that they have never done anything like this before. Yes, there are parts of the album, you go "oh that’s classic Avenged". But as a piece it is totally unique. In fact, I would go one step further and say no artist has attempted an album like this. Yes, there are plenty of artists who produce unique, experimental albums. But this album, with the use of a piano, orchestra, Daft punk style vocals, even sounds like Frank Sinatra in places; put that all in a blender and you have something which takes you on a real journey. Sure, individual artists have come before Avenged and clearly Avenged have been influenced by them. But they haven't done things the way Avenged has done it here.
But is it a good thing? Has it worked? I have mixed feelings on this. When I listen to an album, obviously you don't really want to listen to the same type of songs 10 times. But in this case, it kind of goes to the other extreme and although the flow of the songs does fit together, there is such a mix of sounds and genres, I'm not always in the mood to be so open minded. Which is what you need to fully appreciate this album. There are times I really like this album, but other times I find myself skipping over tracks.
Overall though I do really admire what they have tried to do here. I think it's a big tick for pushing boundaries and experimenting. They have also really focused on other things as well like the Deathbat’s club and the attention to detail in their videos mean it must have taken ages to make. Far from my album of the year but I do appreciate the attempt and would be amazing to see them live.
