| Avenged Sevenfold's fourth full-length is little more than a workaday hard rock record replete with songs tailored for the innards of hockey rinks and basketball arenas. The nu-metal bellowing and angst-filled posturing quickly wear thin, rendering tracks such as "Scream" and "Afterlife," and the opening "Critical Acclaim," nearly interminable. Sure, "Gunslinger," "A Little Piece of Heaven," and "Dear God" offer some variation and each holds a few interesting ideas but there's nothing here that hasn't already been tried by My Chemical Romance, Nightwish, Buckcherry, or Bon Jovi. A credible but ultimately failed effort. --Jedd Beaudoin |
