Posted by Now I wasn’t expecting a new Avenged Sevenfold album when Diamonds in the Rough dropped a few months ago, but it was a pleasant surprise that I thoroughly enjoyed listening to. And even though I kind of fell away from frequently listening to Avenged Sevenfold, Diamonds in the Rough is a great reminder to me of how good of a band they are (they were the headliners at my first concert after all). So without further ado, here are my thoughts on the first half of Diamonds in the Rough.
“Demons” is a good song that starts the album out quite strong. The song features great vocals and instrumentals, as per usual, and I also especially like the themes. The song is more or less about mental health, and it’s done pretty well. Overall, “Demons” is a wonderful start to a solid album filled with some pretty good songs. This song was also a great reminder for me of Avenged Sevenfold’s typical musical style, and it allowed me to see why I originally started listening to these guys a few years ago.
“Girl I Know” is probably my least favorite song on the album. I’m honestly not a huge fans of songs about sex, and this song is no exception. Besides, it frankly just doesn’t sound nearly as good as a lot of the other songs on the album, so I’d recommend just skipping this one.
“Crossroads” is a good song, and it reminds me a bit of “Afterlife,” both in sound and in themes. As the name somewhat implies, the song is about wandering from place to place, guided only by yourself. And as expected, the song sounds great, and I definitely plan on listening to it more in the future. It’s also interesting to note that this song was originally released in 2008, assuming Spotify isn’t lying to me, but this is the first album where it’s really appearing.
“Flash of the Blade” is definitely a departure from the previous few songs in sound, and I’m not sure how I feel about it. I really like the verses and the instrumentals, but I’m not huge on the chorus. Then again, this is a cover of an Iron Maiden song, and frankly I haven’t listened to much, if any, music by Iron Maiden, so I don’t think that I’m the most qualified to criticize the song. Still, the song is pretty good and catchy, even if it’s not my favorite song on the album.
“Until the End” is also a departure from the previous songs in that it’s a bit softer and more emotional than its predecessors. I like this song a lot, since as I’ve mentioned before, I love songs with very emotional vocals. “Until the End” also features some great instrumentals that really build off of and complement the vocals, resulting in a really good song.
“Tension” is another great song that I really like. “Tension” returns to the heavier, but still incredibly melodic, style of the earlier songs like “Demons,” and I really like it a lot. The song is also incredibly relatable as it discusses the stresses of life. And like the other songs, the instrumentals are on point, and it’s very easy to appreciate them during the various solos sprinkled throughout the song.
I’m really not a very big fan of “Walk.” I probably dislike this song as much as, if not more than “Girl I Know.” And again, this song is a cover, though this time it’s one of a Pantera song. Frankly, I just haven’t listened to any Pantera and I don’t really have any interest to do so, so it’s not that much of a surprise that I’m not crazy about this cover. Now that’s not to say that “Walk” is bad, I’m just not a big fan of it. And like a handful of other songs on this album, Avenged Sevenfold originally covered “Walk” back in 2007, but this is its first album appearance.
Unlike a lot of the other albums that I’ve reviewed in recent weeks, Diamonds in the Rough is a pretty long album with a lot of songs. That’s why I’ve decided to divide this review in half, or roughly in half, so I’ll be covering the rest of the album next week. But so far, Diamonds in the Rough features a lot of really good songs, even if I’m not a huge fan of the cover songs.
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