Like them or not, they're talented!

My little brother has succeeded in corrupting me further when he introduced me to Avenged Sevenfold. The first I heard from these young men was Bat Country from their City of Evil album that was released back in 2005. My first impression was that it was a pretty catchy tune, but I didn't expect to hear much more from these guys in the future.

When my little brother decided to pursue playing the guitar around the same time, he was doing really well and had been learning Avenged Sevenfold songs to show off when I came home from college. On our Denver trip earlier this year, him and I decided to play the listening-to-each-others-cd game and he, of course, chose their self-titled album which had come out last year. The point of this story is...

I really like them.

Not everyone will feel the same way, I realize this. But the thing you have to admit, at least, is that they are pretty talented. Synyster Gates (the lead guitarist) has turned out to be quite the powerhouse when it comes to his creative and fast moving solos. M. Shadows is a pretty talented singer, and aside from the occasional screaming in their music, he has some great range and does things with his voice that I didn't expect with this type of band. They are all pretty talented, and I'm just ... impressed.

Now, album music is all fine and good, Felicia. But do you expect us to believe that these guys can actually play live and sound good? Good question. I was sceptical myself. They are pretty darn good live, people. I mean, singing is hard. Especially if you have to sing loud like these guys. Shadows belts it like there's no tomorrow, to be completely honest. And the other guys sing too, so that means there are beautiful harmonies on the album and live. If you know me, you know I love harmonies. They make my heart happy and give me warm fuzzies.

Moral of this story is: like them (the type of music they play, them personally, etc.) or not, these boys are talented! Period. And I just want to thank my little brother for keeping his older sister up-to-date with what the kiddies are listening to these days. Keep in mind, he is 6 years younger than me. I would highly recommend going to youtube and listening to this band, especially Almost Easy, which has a really cool harmony in the bridge.

Tchussy!