Avenged Sevenfold's War Drags On a Bit Too Long

Epic metal songs are as much a part of the genre as long blonde tresses or skin tight jeans. When performed right they take you inside the molten center of a band. Think "Enter Sandman" or "Nothing Else Matters" from Metallica's "Black" album. How could you not get chills down the neck from "Sandman"? Sure it helped that the video was lousy with the various landscapes people explore in a dream world such as snakes and falling but the song was so eerie that the video was a mere cherry on the psychotic sundae. In contrast "Nothing" was massively inspired because you got an up close and personal sense of the band's esprit de corps. They combined their trademark power licks with about as gentle a touch as you're likely to ever hear in a Metallica song. What I'm driving at is there are some bands whose image lends itself well to long, Citizen Kane saga material. Avenged Sevenfold isn't exactly in that league. Their current rock chart climber "This Means War" could've been edited by a few minutes and still lost no octane. Instead vocalist M. Shadows and his posse lead us through the trenches as it were. Not a whit of angst is spared. In most metal circles that's not a bad thing. Here it veers into the arena of posturing, high drama short on the climactic payoff that would make repeated listening the only logical next step. Synyster Gates is given plenty of room to work his guitar god wonders whether as the backbone of the song or the wise guy laying waste to a solo that had to have been chemically enhanced on some level. Arin Ilejay drums with an iron fist. His is an exercise in conserved energy. He'll only contribute at the pressure points where it's needed. Johnny Christ's snarling bass lets you know you're not exactly experiencing friendly fire. "This Means War" is lifted from the foursome's "Hail To The King" album. After the sessions for this song what's left defies the needed economic jolt that comes with knowing we got value for the money. Avenged Sevenfold has its fangs armed for bear but there isn't enough blood to fit the context. M. Shadows lives up to his last name this go 'round. What he communicates leaves he and us standing in the shadows. It's not easy to watch a man slowly but surely come unglued. Mr. Shadows is unraveling and we'd be more likely to offer condolences if he and his band didn't keep their collective foot off the gas so much. M.'s wounds are ever fresh, always in need of a cathartic mix to lessen the reliably nagging sting. He salutes his ugly side rather nicely. The surrounding dialogue tells us to what degree the psychological scars equate to a grenade going off in the solider's head. No way you can mistake the unrelenting cruelty of "mental holocaust". Essentially says survivors are nowhere to be found. Another sobering admitting of defeat comes with "I left me long ago". How truly devastating it is when you look in the mirror and the guy staring back at you appears unrecognizable. As warranted as empathy is in each nook and cranny of "This Means War" the content doesn't compensate for the instruments and their insistence on a grinding, churning out way too much for so little reward pace. "Enter Sandman" left you begging for the victimized dreamer to wake up so he could be reminded his skull was playing tricks on him, a set of optical illusions in a very minor key. "This Means War" only makes you want to nag M. Shadows to either take a pill, log some couch time, or man up. Action decides direction. Unmasked mewls of pain only get you so far. His pain is vivid. If only the dam were allowed to burst behind him. "This Means War" shouldn't be regarded as anything other than a minor rock skirmish. The whites of their eyes flat out don't grab much attention.