Avenged Sevenfold - AVENGED SEVENFOLD

Four albums into what's been a steadily building career, Avenged Sevenfold steps up to make its Artistic Statement. "Scream" mixes drum machine rhythms with jagged guitar chords to industrial-strength effect, while strings weave in and out of "Afterlife." "Gunslinger" kicks off with acoustic guitar and deftly blends the melodic and metallic, arpeggiating piano and operatic backing vocals mark the goth-flavored "Unbound (The Wild Ride)" and pedal steel brings a cowboy-from-hell vibe to "Dear God," which ends with a guitar duel that's equal parts "Hotel California" and "Freebird." "A Little Piece of Heaven," meanwhile, is a wildly theatrical piece—the band's "Bohemian Rhapsody," if you will—that incorporates Eastern European melodies, keyboards and horns. Such tracks as "Critical Acclaim," "Almost Easy" and "Lost" keep the crank factor high—but as part of a bolder, broader and more engaging soundscape.—Gary Graff