Avenged Sevenfold - The sound man isn't king!

June 27th 2014

Dessel, Graspop Festival, Belgium

***1/2

They are not legends of Metal, yet!!!!

Graspop Metal Meeting

Avenged Sevenfold ***1/2 (Main Stage 1) are trying to push themselves into the big league and have the goal to be up their with bands like Metallica and Iron Maiden. Today they make their return to the fields of Dessel and after the brilliant performance last time they played here... it really is their chance to shine and this time as the headliners on the Friday of the Graspop Metal Meeting the same festival in Belgium.

Opening off their main stage 1 performance with 'Shepherd of Fire' the first track off 'Hail to the King' the bands new No.1 album. This track opens with a wall of flames and fire and shows that Avenged Sevenfold mean business... but one thing no body has told the sound man. Yes their sound is very low in the mix unlike Sabaton that follows them on main stage 2 to close the evening. also they seem to be sabotaged in a different way to, because an advert for Sabaton's newly announced concerts pops up in one of their other songs on the back screen. Someone looking after the technical aspects of the show seems to love Sabaton a little too much. This is a real shame because 'Shepherd of Fire' is a great opener that should have made an even bigger impact, and I feel the band where a little sabotaged by the bad low sound that goes on throughout their performance.

They also continue the set with a killer following track 'Critical Acclaim' which came off the bands self titled album and should have been the other track to launch Avenged Sevenfold into the minds of everyone in attendance tonight. I like the fact they have the vocals of The Rev on the backing track that makes you feel that he is still with us today and gives a really nice feel to the set. It's nice he lives past his passing in the bands performance every night, and I think as well as the band the fans really appreciated this too.

'Bat Country' sounds great and is a stand out track in the bands set and when M.Shadows kicks in with his killer vocals you realise how good this track actually is, like the Iron Maiden Esq. new song and title track of the new album 'Hail to the King' sounds very much like a classic Iron Maiden song and I do feel at times Avenged Sevenfold take too much influence from legends in the game and this shows on their new record. This is really shown on the Velvet Revolver Esq. new song 'Doing Time' which shows the band mixing this sound with their own distinctive style.

The band then get emotional about losing their friend and drummer The Rev with the beautiful song 'So far Away' which sounds really great and is the perfect song to pay homage to one of the best sticksmen to grace the drum kit and a great lead on to the first single since his death 'Nightmare' off the album of the same name. The title track was of the best songs off this record and always sounds amazing live so you can tell why it's always a highlight of the set.

The 'Beast and the Harlot' sounds better than it has ever done before with Synyster Gates and Zacky Vengeance looking great as they battle for guitar supremacy. I don't think that Synyster Gates is todays winner because he does a guitar solo section that isn't that impressive, which is a real shame because we all know he can do so much more. So Zacky is today's winner and as they break into 'Afterlife' he shows it's his day to shine.

'This means War' Sound a little too much like a certain song by Metallica like the intro of 'Almost Easy' does with Cradle of Filth, but to be honest they are still great live tracks and show off certain aspects of the band. The later of these two songs is a really good one to end the main set with because of it's screeching guitars and awesome melodies.

Coming back on to 'A little piece of Heaven' for the encore a song which is a little crazy and has so many loops and bends and weird surprises. This song has become a favourite among fans so their is a mass cheer when they break into it. They end the set in the right way with the song that first got them noticed 'Unholy Confessions' this is also a song that the fans really love and you can hear everyone in the audience singing it, so is a very nice moment in the bands set.

Avenged Sevenfold - Setlist
--------------------------------------------
Shepherd of Fire
Critical Acclaim
Bat Country
Hail to the King
Doing Time
Buried Alive
So far Away
Nightmare
Beast and the Harlot
Synyster Gates (Guitar Solo)
Afterlife
This means War
Almost Easy
-------------------
A Little piece of Heaven
Unholy Confessions