some changes, added Statica review

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+date = '2026-08-01T20:03:13Z'
+title = 'Reviews'
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+Opinions on albums, mostly. Maybe we'll branch out to other things.
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+date = '2026-08-01T20:06:17Z'
+title = 'Statica EP - Avenged Sevenfold'
+draft = false
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+
+## The band
+
+Avenged Sevenfold – a critically acclaimed rock/metal outfit from California. Their first couple albums lent more of a hardcore sound, finding their way with tracks like “Second Heartbeat” and “Unholy Confessions” from the second record “Waking the Fallen”. What followed with City of Evil was a commercial success with songs like “Bat Country” and “Seize the Day” finding their way onto the radio. After which they put out another commercially successful self-titled offering. “Almost Easy” and “Afterlife” offering more radio play while “Little Piece of Heaven” was an absolutely GENIUS shock-rock piece allowing them to stretch their legs creatively.
+
+Despite losing their absolute creative force of a drummer – Jimmy “The Rev” Sullivan - in 2009, they still managed to knock it out of the park with “Nightmare” in 2010. Mike Portnoy from Dream Theater offered his talents to finish and tour the record.
+
+## Context
+
+In the late 2000s to mid 2010s, I was finding my tastes as a burgeoning musician in middle/high school. We were given MacBooks to daily drive for assignments… and I absolutely abused the hell out of that thing. Ripped many a CD with the kids in class, anything we could get our hands on. I was listening to a lot of Green Day, Weezer, Rush, Metallica – as well as finding my way into EDM with the likes of deadmau5, Skrillex, Excision, Bassnectar (I would also find the masterpiece that is Enter the Haggis around this time, but that’s a story for a different day). I wanted it all. I was hungry.
+
+There was one kid I ended up jiving with. His music taste was as weird as mine, just in WAY different directions. He’d made it down a few more rabbit holes than I had. He preferred bands like Sleeping with Sirens, Pierce the Veil, Black Veil Brides… There were exceptions to the rule like “King for a Day” (I heard it BEFORE TikTok made it cool!), but not many… until he showed me Avenged Sevenfold.
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+They wore the makeup and had the aesthetic same as those bands, but I saw something… different about them. They didn’t sound like the others. I had to know why. That kid gave me his copy of the self titled record to borrow - I copied it in class that day, gave him the CD back, and proceeded to have my mind blown for the next hour.
+
+Since then I’ve been there through the ups and downs, the ins and outs. The Call of Duty collabs (which were actually GREAT tunes), the non-actionable Guns & Roses/Metallica ripoffs when they wouldn’t let the new drummer show off at all, what we thought was gonna be one instance of a Daft Punk impression… I was there. I liked them and continue to. And now I get to be there for more Daft Punk impressions.
+
+## Contents
+
+I say that, but this project was at least a bit different than the stuff on Life is But a Dream. 
+
+LIGHTS was shocking for an intro, though it served its purpose as the intro – it really kinda let us know what we’re in for. The first few seconds are almost Stage-coded, and I was settling in for “This is gonna take a couple listens”. Then the vocoder kicks in. “Oh, this is gonna take a couple MORE listens.”
+
+Then we have the title track STATICA. Overall, I don’t think this is a bad tune. It sounds like them, it drives, it’s ALMOST there. The commont theme for this project though, is the cardinal sin of too much fuckin’ vocoder – the vocal performance is good! If they insist on having it, leave it on the chorus, fine, it fit the vibe there – maybe even on the outro sequence. The verse could’ve used the punch of the clean vocal, in my opinion.
+
+Next up is REJOICE. Another solid tune overall, the melancholy drone with an odd time – I’m here for it. The vocoder is still there, but not as egregious through the entire thing. This one didn’t hit me as hard on the first listen like the last two did. I was vibing through the entire thing – unfortunately up til the synth at the end. There’s a few spots in the project where it really lends itself well, to the point that going forward I can see some synth integration in the older stuff. I’m for a weird noise. There’s just this feeling of “Zack got a synth at a garage sale and hasn’t quite figured it out yet”. Not unwelcome, just not crazy about the performance.
+
+ASHES to close out the project. I remember on first listen that the chorus hit my ear a bit weird, something about the distortion wasn’t sitting right - but after listens 3 and 4 it has eased up on me. The feeling persists of Zacky not completely familiar with his instrument yet (if that’s even him). This one doesn’t sound as outlandish – they’ve always had a sense of theatrics, especially more present since The Stage – and that theatric sense is still there. 
+
+## Conclusion
+
+Okay. Overall, yeah it’s weird. It’s a bold choice to do a bunch of acid and switch your rock band to a pseudo-techo-RnB project. It’s a bold choice to smother your new project in so much vocoder that we need a protocol droid to translate it. I can see that from the fan’s side. 
+
+At the same time, I’m all for a group doing new things. LIBAD wasn’t for everybody, this one won’t be either. If the production wasn't so all over the place these songs could be stellar. The drums weren’t punching the same way, and the synth proficiency could use a little work if they’re gonna continue to put it on record.
+
+AND LESS FKN VOCODER
+
+This is all coming from a fan with nothing but love. I like what they're going for, but the execution could use a spit-polish... 
+
+...and marginally less psychedelics.