The Cauldron

Avenged Sevenfold

Avenged Sevenfold
Avenged Sevenfold
Warner Brothers/Elektra/Atlantic
3 out of 5
By: Dan Hollowell

Okay, so it's no Waking the Fallen. Get over it, folks, bands change. Sometimes changes are for the better, and sometimes they turn all of your loyal fans against you. The latter seems to be the case for Avenged Sevenfold in recent years. The dark, metal-core days of WTF, Sounding the Seventh Trumpet, and their debut EP Warmness on the Soul are over folks, and the sooner you face that fact, the sooner you can come to enjoy what has become of this band. City of Evil and now, the self-titled album, both have some quality rock 'n' roll tunes. Singer M Shadows' insists that the changes in his sound from WTF to City of Evil are by choice rather than a result of vocal surgery he had between the two, but one cannot help but feel like that Shadows is trying too hard to replicate, and perhaps "bring back," the vocal style of Axl Rose. I guess you can't blame him. After all, Zachy Vengeance and Synyster Gates have no trouble cranking out some Slash-like riffs throughout this album. To be honest, when one puts aside any expectations of A7X magically returning to their "old" sound, this CD has some definite upsides. Although I felt Critical Acclaim carries a little too much political baggage, songs like "Scream" and lead single "Almost Easy" aren't exactly hard on the ears.

Mike Uva and Hook Boy
Static Songs
Collectible Escalators
4 out of 5
By Virginia Konchan

Unafraid of bold, asynchronous intersections between the old and the new, Static Songs marshals everything from tape loops to bittersweet ballads to achieve their unique sound. A testament to the anything-but-banal music currently being produced in Cleveland, these are songs are about (a far from definitive list) control, escapism, violence, disconnected-ness, dark dreams, and sexy dancing. Weaker moments on this band's first studio album are far outweighed by robust, experimental tracks such as "Starlight". This short interlude, lasting just over a minute, opens a contemplative space between two of the album's heavier numbers that is too soon abandoned for the steadily rockin' but too-often-unnuanced numbers that follow.

Hook Boy fortunately circumvents this trend with the emotive subtlety swirling through closing tracks "Flip me Over" and "Reunion", and at the end of the listen, any music lover will leave the turntable, boom box, CD player (or the IPOD or laptop, as is more often the case), if not a better person, then certainly a happier one, and that much prouder to call Cleveland-laying claim to not only the Rock Hall but a legion of fine local musicians as Uva and crew-home. Check out www. collectibleescalators.com for more info.