Avenged Sevenfold
Hara Arena
March 7th, 2008
Dayton, Ohio

by Chris A.
Staff Writer

Comments: “Shhhh! Be quiet you might piss somebody off ...” urged Avenged Sevenfold as they greeted the nearly sold out crowd with the song “Critical Acclaim”! It was a Friday night in Dayton, Ohio and despite the fact that a blizzard was pounding the region, thousands braved the weather to attend the “Taste of Chaos” tour featuring headliner Avenged Sevenfold.

In the world of metal, Avenged Sevenfold might just be the best of the “new” metal bands and they are setting a very high standard. This band just gets better and better. One simply need to spin their first disc, Sounding the Seventh Trumpet and compare it to their newest release, Avenged Sevenfold to hear the maturity and confidence in the music they produce.

In an age of inaudible “grunters” masquerading as vocalists, M Shadows did an exemplary job of putting in just enough growl to keep it metal yet never failing to articulate the lyrics.

With the exception of The Rev’s drum kit and elevated platforms and ramps, the A7X stage was surprisingly bare. No mountains of amps or gadget props but the same can’t be said for “pyro” as the band punctuated musical crescendos with blasts flames and spark-filled explosions.

Guitarists Synyster Gates, Zacky Vengence, and bassist Johnny Christ kept the intensity level high with creative guitar licks and rock star bravado through errie clouds of dry ice and “scary” backlighting. Yeah, it was a good show and these guys worked the venue hard.

Without a doubt, A7X fans got a great bang for their buck. It was also refreshing to see they appear to be quite proud of their country and unabashed supporters of the United States armed forces. The bottom line is easy; great show, lots of fun, loud guitars, and darn good tunes based on very strong musical compositions. These guys seem destined for even bigger and better things. Go see them.

Photos provided by Chris A.