Let’s face it, most bands tick over the 20-year mark in their career and take their foot off the accelerator creatively. Usually by the time a band is two decades in, it’s fairly common for them to rest on the strength of the catalogue that has afforded them their career and just coast along.
It’s incredibly common in the metal world, where we see so many bands opting to play anniversary tours for their seminal records rather than trying to create their next magnum opus. After all, their fans are the reason they’ve been going for so long. Surely, it’s best to play it safe and stay away from challenging them, right?
Where that might be the case with a plethora of bands these days, it most certainly isn’t the case with Avenged Sevenfold. Every chapter in the A7X catalogue has seen the band grow, with their dynamic breadth getting wider and the arrangements getting grander with every step along the way. Life Is But A Dream… is the latest addition to this epic catalogue (our review here) and with their eight full length album, the band has gone off the rails in the best possible way.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=921V66WykF8
From the first seconds of album opener ‘Game Over’, where delicate classical guitar quickly gives way to thrashy riffs and blistering drum fills, it’s immediately clear that the bands love for the theatrical has been taken up on a notch this time around. Speaking with bassist Johnny Christ, it’s clear that the band are very much still driven to push themselves and their fans with every addition to their discography.
“We were very intentional with this record. We were having fun and we wanted to write a record that was challenging to us. It’s hard to write these records that we’ve been doing for almost 25 years now because we like to challenge ourselves as well as challenging our listeners and fans. It’s who we are, we want to keep moving forward and not doing the same thing we were doing yesterday.”
As you make your way through Life Is But A Dream…, the album certainly delivers a fair share of sharp left turns but while they might be affronting on first or second listen, as you dive deeper, the left turns quickly become the most exciting aspects of the record. Where ‘We Love You’ was easily the most challenging song I had ever heard from the band when it came on for the first time, I found myself returning to it more and more as the days went on.
The track feels like a true testament to the band’s career, really showing that with every album, they’ve become more and more unafraid to embrace the weird and mess things up a bit. While the band has certainly had pressure to deliver, Christ says that it always comes from the band themselves over anyone else.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-NHVWecj2U
“I think we still put the same amount of pressure on ourselves that we always do, and that’s where our pressure has always come from. We’ve never felt pressure from labels, friends, family or even our fanbase, who we love dearly.
They have given us more confidence over the years because they’ve been around since the early days, they get what we’re doing and continually love seeing the journey that we want to take everyone on. Each time they follow us to the next journey, it gives us confidence that we’re still doing the right thing.”
Life Is But A Dream… marks the second album to feature seasoned drummer, Brooks Wackerman (Bad Religion, Korn, blink-182), behind the kit. It’s no secret that Avenged Sevenfold’s music is incredibly demanding on the drummer and stepping into the role is no easy feat but it’s clear when you listen to the album that Wackerman has cemented his place in the band with gusto and confidence. Christ says this was the case from the moment he joined the band.
“Every time you listen or watch Brooks Wackerman play drums, how do you not have confidence that that’s your guy. He’s an incredible musician. Since day one, we’ve been fans of Brooks and we never dreamed that he’d join our band. When we heard he might be interested in joining the band, we were through the roof. We knew his drumming was going to be great because we’re fans of his, but we wanted to get dinner with him to see if his personality was going to work out and it worked out great.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjrRTY2UDjw
Getting an excellent musician in your band is one thing, but having that personal connection and camaraderie is vital when bringing a new face into a band of people who’ve been making music together for decades. Having grown up together and all faced the loss of founding drummer The Rev together, bringing a new member into the fold is daunting and a lot more than just getting the best player for the job.
While stepping into a group with such a tight bond might be a lot for a newcomer, that bond is what has kept the band going for decades now and it’s an enormous reason why the band has kept going, Christ admits.
“Our mentality has always been family first. We love what we do and if we weren’t having fun doing it anymore, then we would just shut it down and it would be that simple. A lot of people might find that shocking but that’s just the way we operate. If we’re not having fun out there doing our thing, then we’re not doing it at all.
I always say this and I’m sure it gets a bit monotonous for the listeners, but this band is a family. I know every band can say that, but I mean it in a different way. After losing Rev and all growing up together in Huntington Beach, and we all still live here in Huntington Beach. I can literally walk 10 minutes from my house and be at Synster’s house for a beer. It’s incredible, the true, loving friendships we have.”
Interview by Nicholas Simonsen @blackechomusic
Life Is But A Dream… is out now via Warner Music. Pick up your copy here.
Avenged Sevenfold – Life Is But A Dream… tracklisting:
1. Game Over
2. Mattel
3. Nobody
4. We Love You
5. Cosmic
6. Beautiful Morning
7. Easier
8. G
9. (O)rdinary
10. (D)eath
11. Life is But a Dream
