"City of Evil" is a major step in A7X's transference from the screaming (almost emo) amateur band of "Sounding the Seventh Trumpet" into the big worldwide hit of "Avenged Sevenfold".
What started out as Metalcore/Hardcore band with only one calm song (ironically their calmest- "Warmness on the Soul"), with songs like "Darkness Surrounding”, evolved into a more mature, half screaming in "Waking the Fallen", with songs such as "Unholy Confessions" and "Chapter Four" which feature both screams and singing, and later into "City of Evil" with almost no screaming, only on very few songs for a little (such as "Beast and the Harlot", which features a long growl in the intro), allegedly because of a broken blood-vessel in lead-singer Matt Shadow's neck, which affected the quality of his singing.
"Beast and the Harlot", the first and arguably the most famous track in "City of Evil", is no doubt a varying and exciting extension of "Waking the Fallen". Featuring a straight-to-the-point intro, a heavy riff and a catchy chorus, not to mention the gut-spilling solo, there's no question of why it was chosen to feature in "Guitar-Hero II". With the bonus attribution of joining the next track, "Burn it Down" it is considered by many to be their best.
"Burn it Down" though, takes the album into a different direction, with drummer The Rev leading the song when lead guitarist Synyster Gates and rhythm Zacky Vengeance have stopped harmonizing or soloing.
"Blinded in Chains" (Track 3) and "Trashed and Scattered" (Track 5) feature the same content as most of Avenged Sevenfold's songs up to this album, only missing the screaming and growling featured in earlier songs. They're not very special.
"Bat Country" (Track 4) features a quote of Dr Johnson: "He who makes a beast out of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man". The lyrics focus on Hunter S. Thompson's "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" accompanied by a shredding guitar riff and ripping solo with a guitar duel at the end.
"Seize the Day" (Track 6), A7X's most famous ballad, inspired (both in the music and the video) by Guns N' Roses, is one of their calmest songs, with only soft distortion in the chorus and after the solo, and perhaps their only song not using the Dropped-D tuning. The solo, inspired by Guns N' Roses lead guitarist Slash, features (in the video) Synyster elevating out of a coffin with his electric guitar in hand.
"Sidewinder" (Track 7), is my favorite song by A7X. With a catchy riff/chorus, and ever changing verses, it features the most of Avenged. Including a lead part filled in by Synyster's dad, Brian Haner, and a solo in the end played by him (right before Synyster's solo), it has heavy riffs, catchy riffs, clean parts, solos, sweeps and harmonizing. A7X's best.
With verses similar to Beast and the Harlot's, "The Wicked End" (Track 8) is perhaps the weirdest of Avenged Sevenfold's songs (not including "Avenged Sevenfold" or any future albums). It starts out with an intimidating siren sound accompanied with a paranoid bass riff and then continues with the verses, strange chorus and wicked solo, followed by the weirdest, almost "Lord of the Rings" bridge, with a keyboard choir, tinkling guitar, and a legato cello. Then it returns to the main riff.
Songs like "Strength of the World" (Track 9) and "M.I.A" (Track 11) introduce a new sound (although already suggested in songs such as "And All Things Must End") to Avenged's songs, with clean intros and outros and heavy riffs and bring up the old subject of classic music in Metal, as seen in songs such as Metallica's "Master of Puppets" (first solo), with "Strength of the World" featuring an orchestra.
"Betrayed" (Track 10) is supposedly a song about Pantera guitarist Dimebag's murder. With a very nice intro riff, cool verse guitar part, weird harmonizing chords in the chorus, and a Latino bridge, it is definitely worth a listening, except for the singing (which I have to admit, sounds a bit gay).
Lyrics and Singing: A lot of the lyrics in the album, like a big part of their songs, have to do with faith and the Bible, and some political views are pointed out, and there's a love song, so the lyrics are varied throughout the album. The lyrics and the singing go very well with the music (except on "Betrayed"), especially in "Sidewinder" and "Bat Country", which are very awesome. Although a bit harmed after the blood-vessel incident, Shadow's voice is still very recognizable and quite good, although not as good as once. I, for one, think that his Screaming was much better in songs like "Unholy Confessions". You decide.
Impression: Personally, I think this album is their best up to now (July 2008), because of it being a type of crossing between the amateur hardcore band and the over-mature, if not a bit pompous band in "Avenged Sevenfold". The best in the album, I think, is "Sidewinder", followed by runner ups "Strength of the World" and "Bat Country", and bronze medal "Burn it Down" and "M.I.A.".
