Why "City Of Evil" was a masterpiece (Avenged Sevenfold)
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- Опубликовано: 11 сен 2024
- M Shadows of Avenged Sevenfold joins to talk about "City Of Evil."
Full interview: • AVENGED SEVENFOLD on R...
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When you have songs like Bat country, Beast and the harlot, Seize the day, sidewinder, strength of the world, etc. of course it’ll be considered a master piece.
Burn it down is my favorite off the album!
whole album is 10/10 from start to finish
So many more in there as well Wicked End is also another beautiful one
dont forget blinded in chains!
M.I.A is the perfect one for the closing ceremony
He is right on the youtube thing. I watched a guy break down an A7X song not to long ago, and he kept going on and on about Matt using auto tune. If you have ever listened to Matt talk about their songs, or break them down, he literally is layering his own voice on top of itself to create new and different sounds. Its crazy what people who don't know jack shit say outload on a platform where anyone can say whatever the hell they want with no repercussion.
I never watch those types of videos for that reason. Also “reaction videos”
Who's that guy?
But to be fair, they did use autotune for some effect on their older song. I can't remember what it was, there is behind the scene of the recording sesion somewhere on youtube.
Lost
I assume that audio sampling (not sure if that's the correct term, if not, apologies) is a bit like video editing. There are tons of different methods that let you reach the video, or in this case sound, you truly want. It might sound like autotune but it's just an audio effect or just layered audio.
Lost was so obviously and intentionally autotune that its not really appropriate to criticize the song for having it tbh
I love that Matt is so fucking grounded on this. I’ve been with Avenged since Southing the Seventh and at the time I could never really put into words the reason they sounded so different but this explains soo much.
Me too. I just wish their new songs were good instead of bad.
@@djjazzyjeff1232 Your opinion. Avenged has never created a bad song. Their music has evolved with them as they have grown as people. The Stage was a master piece and nobody has incredible layers to it. Just as Matt says in this interview, if you want old Avenged go listen to old Avenged.
Southing the Seventh, eh?
@@WatchSoup That's what I do. When they put out that god-awful new song, Nobody I had to go listen to Set me Free as a pallet cleanser.
@@djjazzyjeff1232 Set Me Free as a palate cleanser? for avenged? i think youre listening to the wrong band if that is what sound youre after
City of Evil is one of the best metal albums of that decade. Every track is so inspired, I've never heard a record that long where I was also never bored.
Also the courage in a band starting to gain so much popularity saying "f that, we are going to release an album full of 5 to 8 minute songs" xD love it!
If I can only live to listen to one album, it must be City of Evil.
Holy cow he just described my entire thesis on modern music i cant believe he actually knows about all these aspects that people have been corrupted on. Korn did this on their latest album. Had it turned all the way up
He is a die hard musician and has been making music for longer than some people in these comments have been alive. So of course he knows the ins and outs of music it's his passion. Part of the reason they are as good as they are is because they appreciate music in any form and respect the craft.
He’s been in the music industry for like 20 years, how could he not know these things?😂
@@KevinQ25 that’s what I’m saying 😂
@@WatchSoup well dudes. Korn has been in the music industry for 30 years. And for some reason they chose the messy path by filling up those soundbars. I guess alot of bands who know alot about music still choose to do that and remove the indiviuality from the instruments
@@profound369 It’s the same reason Avenged gets hated for their new music. They could go with what everyone else is doing but they chose to just music they enjoy making.
City of Evil was one of the first metal albums that caught my ear. I listened to it non-stop when I was a young kid and I still do. The album is always fresh and fun no matter how many times I listen to it. A true masterpiece!
100% agree. The songs are so fucking powerful and melodic at the same time. Every single song on that album is brilliant.
After over almost 20 years of listening to COE is still never gets old. I still catch things in the songs I never realized before
This explains his vocals on Nobody, thank you.
City of Evil to this day remains one of my top albums of all-time. Songs like Betrayed and Trashed and Scattered were replayed so many times my ears bled but I never got sick of them. They truly tapped into something special back then.
Fax
The wicked end as well, fuck every single song on that album is brilliant. Burn it down, blinded in chains, all had their own story and feel. Never felt this way about another album in my life.
Exactly the same, I think is the album with most "longevity" ever..and even some self titled album songs
Been an A7X fan since ‘04 and city of evil is still my favorite album. The Stage is a close second. The feel of city of evil cannot be replicated.
I'm pretty sure I know exactly what you mean
How do you feel about the new album?
I remember listening to isolated guitar tracks from City of Evil years ago and wondering why it sounded so different from most instrumentals. I sort of thought it sounded too close to what the tracks from my high school band sounded like when we ran it through GarageBand. Now i know why. These mad men literally just used the raw recordings and minimal editing.
mate if your stuff on garageband sounded like A7X you should have done music production for a career
@@xxx_daftsmackhead_xxx lmao these days any 16 year old can sound better than the upper echelon of the industry sounded 20 years ago. The tech does all the heavy lifting if youre just putting out recordings
@@TheLastAbacus then why havent they?
lets hear ur old garage band shit then, link or it didnt happen
City of evil is considered the best album ever buy the fans. 😃
I've grown to consider The Stage as my favorite
So different and unique
But City of Evil is definitely amazing
My favourite is nightmare. But the self titled album is fuckin good too. Then again these guys have never made a bad song IMO
@@deathbat8738 That's how you know a band is amazing, when the fanbase can't come to a consensus on what the best album is because there are so many great ones, though I do agree the City of Evil seems to be the most commonly listed as the fan favorite. My personal favorite though is The Stage, give me all the proggie existential weirdness!
@@animal1439 very true. And yeah I agree I think most of the fan base would lean toward city of evil. But I lost my best friend the same year nightmare came out and we both loved their music. So I think there’s other influences for peoples decisions other than just the songs on the album
That 3 album run from COE to nightmare was awesome!
I love Waking the Fallen and City of Evil sounds different but I feel that City of Evil musically is far superior than anything they've done before it and after it. Guitars were top tier and the Rev's drumming and writing were top notch. City of Evil was just written perfectly to what they wanted their sound to be.
I got my dad into Avenged Sevenfold with City of Evil! I peaked his curiosity with their band name and album concept. We even got to see them live a couple of times together it was great! Their music is always incredible and entertaining. 💯💯
The City of Evil will always be my favorite album, no matter what. Literally changed the way I think of music. Phenomenal record :)
Self titled, city, and nightmare really are the peak Trifecta imo
THANK YOU Matt for speaking on loudness wars. Few things are as satisfying as hearing a true to sound album. Dynamics are so under utilized in modern music that I am becoming an old timer in my 30's because I tend to also struggle listening to tracks that are indistinguishable from one another production wise.
Waking the fallen was the first great work that let us know “ok they have a chance” and when City of Evil came out that’s when they became the world to everyone.
A7X baby!!! This album is high school for me, great memories.
Definitely a classic which raised A7X status as a full fledged rock band.
City of evil is my favorite album of all time
This man, has spoke my mind about modern mixes and metal records so clearly it makes me extremely happy to know that I'm not alone in this train of thought. What Matt talks about here is 100% why a lot of A7X, and other metal bands older metal albums like BTBAM Colors/ Great Misdirect have a completely timeless sound and mix
people complain about the mixing of City of Evil? I always thought the mix on that album sounded fuckign awesome
What i most like about City of evil is the AMAIZING mix… cause even in a shitty cellphone speake i can clearly hear every instrumen, even Bass its so clear ‼️👌🏼
I always liked them but what turned me into a full blown addict was downloading the song Chapter Four from Waking the Fallen. Its about Cane killing his brother Able and God Telling Cane afterwards What have you done?! But City of Evil from, Trashed and Scattered, M.I.A, Sidewinder, The Wicked End, that album was such a masterpiece that to this day City of Evil , Iowa, and Dying is your latest Fashion are 3 albums i would consider perfect from front to back. Heard theyre on tour with Ronnie so thats gonna be fucking insane.
R.I.P REV
All the great bands stand out. Have a pingy snare. A scooped guitar. A clanky bass. A vocal that sounds like a human!
The Stage is brilliant.
Every aspect of it is brilliant..
Strength of the World will always be one of my favorite songs! It’s like hearing a western.
In my opinion the self titled album is the greatest thing I’ve ever heard, It and City of Evil are the albums that made me love metal
I would love to see Matt get interviewed by Rick Beato
Avenged staying true to themselves and not pleasing the fans is so refreshing. Just be you and be authentic and watch the life unfold
Greatest album of all time
City of evil, i remember the day that album came out.
Golden info!
but still... After saying all of that A7X still chose to tour with Falling in Reverse? FiR is all about fake electronic sampling or whatever. Makes zero sense now
The fact that I dont like the sound of the newer mixes these guys put out is not gonna change them being my favorite band over all. I don't care that I didn't like "Nobody", these guys are trying something new, and I respect and aprove of that.
Keeping it real. Sidewinder's solo is my favorite in A7X's catalogue.
He makes some great points here, I definitely agree, like he said we are getting served up fake music, artificial music, that is lifeless
That one part about the drums in the garage reminds me of when I was a teenager and wanted to put drums into a song I was writing but I can't play the drums so I hooked the mic up, set it up and played each part on a different track lmao
Shadows never left his garage and i love it
City of Evil
1. Beast and the harlot
2. Burn it down
3. Blinded in chains
4. Bat country
5. Trashed and scattered
6. Seize the day
7. Sidewinder
8. The wicked end
9. Strength of the world
10. Betrayed
11. M.I.A
I write this without seeing google 😅❤
Blood, it's a masterpiece because every song was a banger. How is this a question? Sidewinder, anybody?
Betrayed underrated af
@@swimmin1 the lyrics were too sad, man
@@swimmin1 true
I'm don't have Beato's ear or even these guys but I'm 100% on preferring a real, raw, imperfect sound over a sanitized one. There is something magical about an underproduced debut album where passion, art, energy, and having something to say carry the project - not studio tricks and post production.
I think M Shadows was referencing Mike the music snob when talking about mixing and thinking the instruments had samples thrown on top of them.
To be fair, Mike the music snob has a lot of bad takes.
Curious how his vocals will hold up live playing the old stuff
Pork Pie snares are my favorite, hands down....
Very insightful and appreciated clip
Funny he says that, since the Hail To The King album has Steven Slate drum samples (Black kick and Black snare) pretty present in the mix. Watch Andy Wallace Mix With The Masters.
It sounds like a blend if you ask me, which is much different than just pure sampling. Blending helps so that you have the real resonance of the drums but still get the attack that the sample gives. Also that’s not a great example either way because clearly after HTTK that was not the sound they wanted…
Waking the fallen has samples
City of evil has kick snare and Tom samples
Self titled has samples
Nightmare has kick and 2 snare samples (Steven slate and “Andy’s custom”)
Httk has Steven slate samples
The stage has samples on it
Even Matt said it in the “studio session higher” video (sampled sidestick)
@@AA-fi8bz lmao we have a Internet expert 🤣 if they did use samples for depth/layers it would have been organic that they did em self's not pre made ones
@@jaygopinath1694 nope, in the mix with the masters series Andy did you can clearly see and hear the samples are bought from sample packs
@@jaygopinath1694 hell Andy even mentioned he used his own sample for the nightmare album
That gunshot sample is his, not avengeds sample
Love what M is saying of course hes correct. When a human plays music its never perfect but thats what makes it human and emotional and listeners will invest themselves in that music As opposed to oversampled processed music quantized music which is just consumed and doesnt elicit any emotion and is consumed like Big Macs
Hey not wrong. i am in straya yeah bloody mind blowing 🤯am still listening im 2024.
matt is really really smart avenged sevenfold was my favorite band growing up still one of my favorite, his so right everything sounds the same now but a7x stands out
The stage is good 👍..
Waking the Fallen is a masterpiece
A7X back to trailblazing and I’m all for it
He is right, I can't differentiate bands in playlists anymore. Everyone has the same tones and vocal exercises and then people call us angry boomers because we prefer the 80s and 90s productions, where you simply knew when Scott Burns, Terry Date or Ross Robinson touched the mix table without looking at the back of the cd
What Matt is talking about, I call Memphis May Fire production. It has its place, and I'm not saying it's bad, but it sounds *too* clean for my tastes.
Brilliant M Shadows 👏
i miss Avenged Sevenfold old albums. Unique band as hell!
New album unique af with some of the best songs to date to be fair
You could never recognize him if you know him like me (city of evil) era. good on him. Just doing what he wants
Same Matt, same.
I dont think i have ever heard a single metalhead bash city of evil, its undeniably good.
I respect the hell out of this, I just don’t have a drummer lol. Once I get one tho I’ll retire the samples 😬
my man, what is that final cut??? at least cut at the end of the sentence...
“I like loud”
“Well turn it the fuck up then”
This needs to be on a shirt
100% agree with everything said here.
Great clip
I play guitar and I write my own music, I agree that the fake stuff just sounds terrible. I don't have a band at all, so when I write my music I use samples or MIDIS, and it sounds terrible
100% facts
City of Evil is a fantastic album but I'll always be a Waking the Fallen enjoyer
Prince liked it when mistakes were in the recorded track. He did not like over produced music either.
There's no imperfections anymore.
He is preaching. My ears, although not as experienced as his, do the same thing with drum mixes and mods. Autotuning, averaging and recycling samples BY DEFINITION erase the artistic and human qualities from a track. Please get raw again, music.
He's so right about Stairway and Rhapsody and Tool. Maynard always just wanted to be an instrument, so the end result is that every member shines and the sound is heavier because there's no all-too-common phoniness of the vocalist dampening his band's work.
I don't think streaming was the catalyst, I think MTV and radio was the cause of the loudness war. Songs back to back competing
t they don't want to use samples but the mixing could definitely be WAAAAAYYYY better like the mixing and mastering for the self-titled and nightmare were freaking AMAZING!!!!! and after that it feels like the production has just been going down hill. the stage album and definitely the "Nobody" Single sounds like a demo and Nobody there is a section where the kick actually clips... like come on guys... thats just sad
Oh man you think just sample replacing is annoying? Ever seen the Get Good Drums ads? Misha has every metal kid out there convinced that producing drums involves someone sitting at a desk programming the beat in midi. A great number of rock and metal records these days don't have even ONE SINGLE PIECE of drumming that is live or was actually played by their drummer. It's all programmed.
it's also why all of Djent-y meets EDM stuff starts to sound the same, because it is. Ok in small doses, but it all starts to run together.
I bet he’s was talking about Glenn Fricker when he mentioned the “expert”
It' seems his opinions on recording and where modern music production is today aligns with Glenn's.
@@borafett3005 I agree. I just thought maybe he was referring to Glenn when he talked about the expert saying he knows exactly what sample library they used.
It’s such a shame to think that they went from COE to fucking HTTK.
You missed his entire point bro
THIS is why most newer metal allll sounds the same. Nothing will beat real drums.
Doesn’t mention City Of Evil once
Nightmare is their best album and is not even close .
lol it is not 😂
@@sventenful name any other album with the songwriting quality that nightmare has & any other song with the complexity of tracks like Save me . I’ll wait . closest thing is prob mia in city but other than that , nothing comes even close .
@@davidpascual9571 self titled and city of evil
both have complex and fun songs on there, btw nightmare is a great album and save me is a great song, and nightmare was their las good album imo, we'll see what bew a7x brings
Can we get back to having great albums like city of evil please A7X? I have a feeling this new album is gonna be not my taste just like the Stage. Loved all their songs and albums up until the stage and the new song that just released is giving me anxiety that we're gonna have to listen to another mediocre album.
Waking the fallen and self titled were miles better than city of evil
i agree with him 100% about generic-sounding bands and electronic feel, but their new song does have some of that "electronic weirdness" as well. Like that trap hihat sequence that goes on for almost the whole duration of the song??
A7x is definetly in my top 5 favorite bands the stage and libad I hate it’s not for me
it completely depends on the context of the music. Its not as simply as old = better. Lets take skrillex as an extreme example.. Lets say he made his latest album completely "organically". I can tell you now, it would sound completely wrong and out of place. Just like if you took "stairway to heaven" and made it completely modern. What older people don't understand is that it works both ways
shadows is a great interview
4:04 very hard disagree. the vocals being that low in the mix on nobody makes it so i can barely even understand what he's singing most of the time. the message of the song is lost. the drums don't crack at all and the cymbals sound more like samples than anything they've ever put out.
do you listen to what he is saying? if u add one more db in that vocal, then everything would get muddy and overriden. listen with a good quality headphones and turn it tf up. cymbals sounding like samples are exactly what he is talking about here, it purposefully made to sound like samples but knowing that it is organic defeats the whole point.
@@haazelnut4403 It would not ruin anything... if you have a GOOD mixing engineer and knows what he is doing it will not change a thing. as someone who mixes songs that is absolute bull. to prove my point listen to the white album or the Nightmare album... the vocals are mixed and forward. drums are compressed but not to much where everything sounds like a gun or a canon. guitars and bass are EQ'd and positioned perfectly in the mix while background ambients such as orchestral, piano etc. are there and fit perfectly without over taking the other instruments all without SAMPLES. so the fact their older albums had a raw, human yet still a polish finish to them that sounds like an actual real record and we are now getting what sounds like demo mixes for "finished Records" is obsoletely bull... they are Avenged motherf***ing Fold!!! Megadeaths new album Mix is Beautiful with ZERO samples... so why not avenged? no excuse.
@@michellszarko61 THEY DID NOT USE SAMPLES LMAO. the trap cymbals is done separately than everything else, listen to the podcasts. yes Nightmare or Self titled sounds good but because M Shadows was at his prime but he isnt anymore, not to mention they're a whole different genre. if that vocal is any louder it would def ruin the whole vibe of the song.. as to the drums, they are miles away in terms of tones in nightmare and nobody, if you use same mix it would not sound as good. The mix of nobody has been quality in my headphones. drums are perfectly heard, the bass is loud, the riff is echoing my ears with the sub bass, the orchestra as well, the chorus part where everytthing was going on at the same time but still audible, the acapella, string etc. if you're a mixer then you gotta be a shit one
@@haazelnut4403 first of all I never said they used samples... second of all through my speakers and flat accurate headphones I can hear frequencies poke out from the guitar, vocals and drums... the orchestra and bass are actually bad and love the tone I can respect that, and I completely enjoy the song and the vibe... but in the song just before the cool leads for the guitar comes in for the second chorus the 2 kicks that happen fuckin clipped and you can hear it... sticks out like a sore thumb bro. And about Matt's vocals... his performance is amazing 👌 but the EQ and compression on it was terrible mostly the eq. They did not highpass it enough (clean up the low end) hence it sounds muddy and people in the comments are struggling to hear him because other frequencies are fighting his vocal... vocal pitch wise I love what they did. Very naturally and human witch is the whole vibe of the song... this where you need to understand. I never once said it needs to sound absolutely perfect. I love the fact they are going against that but The difference is There are other bands like Megadeth who Do not use samples just like Avenged Sevenfold but with Megadeath they go about the write way tracking with real instruments just like A7X but have the mixer bring out the best for all Performances just enough where it's clean and tight with a little imperfection that still sounds human and real. The fact the A7X's are godly at there instruments and don't want the mixers to bring there performances out like they did in the self titled or nightmare (witch was still done naturally without over editing and that have some of there most emotional and impactful songs) it's bull 100%.
@@michellszarko61 ur earlier comments suggested that they used samples. i still stand my point, matt is not at his prime era anymore, if the vocal was louder, the song would sound very very nasaly. I agree this is a very different mix than usual, but still good nonetheless. even with low db matt sounds quite nasaly, now imagine if it was louder
There’s a reason avenged sound amazing live. Over produced shit sounds terrible live because they didn’t do it organically.
I gotta disagree with boomer matt here. If its quantized or organic, it doesnt matter to me, if it hits me it hit me, its just music at the end of the day.
They may have original mixing but that doesn’t make it good. The old stuff sounded good but their new album physically hurt me to listen to. I heard Metallica say the same thing when they made st anger. Being original doesn’t mean good. I respect them for trying but I couldnt make it through one song off the new album.
Wait, what?! You thought their 2016 album sucked?! Da fuk is wrong with you lol that shit was a MASTERPIECE.
Just because you don't like it doesn't make it not good either. Use your own logic man
Andy Wallace is hands down one of, if not THE best, mixing engineers of all time. It's ok to be wrong.
@@karterestill I’m not saying he’s not talented but what they ended up with is rough. Seems like that came from their input.
💯 correct. I cant believe ppl are so mixed on this…….i saw in a diff video little piece of heaven being compared to hail to the king……you should be able to tell what’s the better product, fan or not fan
Waking the fallen is a million times better
Hot take
Lol no 😂
I mean that’s a great album but COE is miles ahead.
Waking the Fallen is amazing. I think musically, COE is better. But the songs on Waking the Fallen are really well done.
@@jeffreydean5112 I fucking love waking the fallen, every song is amazing. But COE is their best work ever.
Hmmm ... I agree that raw and organic can sound amazing and full of personality, but as Fin said, not everyone is famous, rich and has access to toptier gear and studios. "I rather listen to a garage drum kit" ... most fans (thankfully) don't share that taste in drum sounds. When big musicians forget that most people making music aren't rich (and ironically forgetting where they started) it comes out sounding like a spoiled kid complaining their favorite ice-cream flavor isn't everyone else's. Mr Shadow, we love you, but you sound like old man yelling at clouds. You're entitled to your opinion, as we all are, but remember not to s**t on people who aren't rich and can only bedroom record.
... yes, I'm one of those not so rich ones who program and record on e-kits. If that's your sound check me out ...
He's talking about modern pop music being a commodity and how easily it can be made by using samples and how it takes the soul out of a song. He's shitting on high profile artists taking that route more than throwing shade at bedroom musicians who in this case use samples to bring a song to life. He's suggesting that use samples only when required.
try listening to a amateur metal band record vs a professionally recorded one and then a professionally mixed and mastered with all the tech you can, the same riff will feel totally different, to a certain extent he is right, it takes some of the personality of bands, specially with overly tuned vocals and quantized drums, but specially for metal it is very important to have a tight mix
I don't think that's what he meant at all. He's talking about over production to the point where the music has no character.
@@Ottoni174 Simone clearly doesn't listen to more raw sounding metal and it shows
are you kidding me? Brooks sounds like he plays an ekit everything is so triggered and processed.
every single song on that album was mint.
VERY LITTLE compares to the acoustic beauty of Sidewinder ending - metal needs more of that feeling in the scene!
I’m probs in a minority but I thought Waking the Fallen and Nightmare are the best albums. But that’s my personal taste.
There’s no right or wrong answer
Waking the Fallen and The Stage are my favorites
I'm with you 100%
I tend to put Waking the Fallen at #1 but I'm sure that has more to do with nostalgia
@@ericbriggs7383 for me it’s because those albums are heavier and darker. I’m more into the heavier stuff so that’s why Waking and Nightmare for me
There are wrong answers , anything after nightmare was trash. So youre correct in saying what you said
@@Allothersweretakenn music is subjective and individual experience - there are never any right or wrong answers. What’s good to me might be trash to you and vice versa.