Review of Hail to the King

There is a saying , which was very often in old fanzines and magazines area hardcore / metal / punk in the late eighties and early nineties. It was used in reviews and articles on various bands that were easily approachable to other existing groups , for sound , inspiration and genres ... they said "they wear Their influences on Their Sleeves " - literally "have their influences printed on the sleeves " that sounds more or less as " they immediately understand where they came from ."
Here it is: with " Hail to the king" Avenged Sevenfold do exactly that .
Almost totally abandoned by at least two suggestions metalcore album, the band with this new work in the studio seems to have completed its metamorphosis , becoming a heavy metal band to 100%. And with heavy metal means just that, without subtext or contamination of sub-genres , talk about heavy metal in its most natural and primal .
" Hail to the king" is , therefore , a sort of giant fighting for the holy faith dell'heavy , with plenty of riffs , solos and epic constructions of the songs that recall the tradition of the past four decades - at least since 1970 . It is undeniable : the inspiration of these passages is attributable to tutelary deities which are now in the DNA of anyone who hears the metal: a touch of Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath shades , but especially generous doses of Iron Maiden , Metallica and - why not - Guns n'Roses of the golden age . Often all these souls are made live ( rather bizarre affair , at least on paper, but effective in practice ) in the same song.




In more than one juncture seems to listen to the disc that Metallica could have / should have published after the " Black Album " , not to sink into the abyss of the nineties that we all know , which is, net of considerations on some riffs too much Hetfieldiani ("This means war" seems to be the demo of an early version of " Sad but true " ... I wonder what he thinks jealous Lars Ulrich) , is synonymous with a mature record and potentially explosive. And what about a song like " Doing Time" ? Three and a half minutes of the late eighties revival , which probably Axl Rose right now pay gold to have them included in the hypothetical result of "Chinese Democracy " .
Let's say " Hail to the King " is the final attack that pack a powerful Avenged Sevenfold to the contemporary metal scene , to win a seat among the big names , those destined to immortality - or nearly so. If we succeed only the future will tell , but meanwhile we have in hand a disc that can not leave us indifferent.
For once the recovery and philology do not know of old and recycled , but remember how we can still enhance - in spite of his years - for certain sounds .

TRACKLIST
" Shepherd of fire"
" Hail to the King "
"Doing time"
"This means war"
" Requiem "
" Crimson day"
" Heretic "
" Coming home "
" Planets "
"Acid rain"