Juxtaposing the careers and fortunes of Avenged Sevenfold and Metallica showcases a multitude of similarities. Both had early releases (Sounding The Seventh Trumpet/Waking The Fallen vs Kill ‘em All) that, while their respective genres (metalcore and thrash) were in their formative years, set the template for others to follow. These were followed by seminal recordings that took each band beyond the movements they’d previously been attached to (City of Evil and Avenged Sevenfold vs Ride The Lightning and Master of Puppets) by creating anthems and developing their distinctive sounds and styles, nodding to the scenes that had spawned them, while moving (way) beyond them. Both bands suffered tragedies by losing much-loved and respected band members and responded with dark albums, littered with lengthy complex songs (Nightmare vs …And Justice For All).

And then Metallica released Metallica (aka The Black Album) which, for those who don’t know the story, established its protagonists as the most popular metal band on the planet, bar none, and far outsold any other metal album. By millions. At the same stage of their career, 22 years later, Avenged Sevenfold may have released The Black Album II.

Taking the same approach that Hetfield and Co did on their eponymous album, Hail To The King sees A7X simplifying their songwriting and focus on massive, straight-forward big riffs, powerful choruses, cavernous 4/4 drumming and producing great Rock/Metal songs. Much has been said of the way Hail To The King wears its influences on its sleeves, and much of what has been said is fair, but to write off Hail To The King as a covers album, or to undermine what A7X have done here, is missing the point. This is an incredibly strong album.

In an age where fillers populate mainstream metal albums that are structured like pop releases around a couple of singles, there are no weak moments amongst the 10 songs, with tracks as deep as #8, the Clairvoyant-esque ‘Coming Home’, a highlight with its melodic headbanging guitar refrains inducing the involuntary Claw as it builds to crescendo. Then track 9, ‘Planets’, wades in, dark and crushing. Hail To The King is littered with anthems at every turn, from the fist-pumping, stadium-filling title-track, the GNR sleaze of ‘Doing Time’, the black crunching slabs of the sinister ‘Requiem’, the riff every new bedroom guitarist will learn first, ‘Shepherd of Fire’ and the saccharine tones of the piano and strings led radio-hit-in-waiting ‘Crimson Day’.

Synyster Gates and Zacky Vengeance pull off that oh-so-elusive feat of meting out leads and solos that are both memorable and enhance the song, in a way Mustaine and Friedman did in their prime, while M Shadows convinces, dominating the album like Axl Rose or Sebastian Bach used to, putting in the strongest, most genuine performance of his career.

There are more than clear nods to Metallica (‘This Means War’ is a re-write of Sad But True), Guns N’Roses (‘Doing Time’), Countdown To Extinction-era Megadeth (‘Heretic’) and Iron Maiden – there are full on headbangs in their directions – but through it all, this is undeniably an A7X album.

Until now, I’ve never been much of an A7X fan, but credit is more than due, it’s been earned. They set out to write a classic metal record and they’ve not only succeeded in doing that, they’ve written the classic metal album of their generation. Underground and extreme this isn’t. Big, mainstream and filled with metal anthems for a new breed of the wretched and divine, this most certainly is.

Avenged Sevenfold on Facebook

8.5/10

Steve Tovey