Hail to the King: Reviews

Feel free to post your reviews of the new single here. ALL opinions are welcome! Discussion is good, but don't get mean. Anyone who gets out of hand will have their comment deleted. Keep it nice, guys; not everyone is going to like the song.

Here's my take:

I was expecting a lot more out of the drums. But then again, Jimmy has "time-keeping" songs, too, so there's bound to be better drumming on the album itself. In my opinion, Jimmy did a lot of "time-keeping" on CoE. BATH is an exception, as is Blinded in Chains, but over all, I think Jimmy's drumming is far better and more creative on S/T. Prior to that, with the exception of a few songs, he was a time keeper on the first three records.

But overall, I really, really like HTTK. I see some of you think it harkens back to the 80s/90s...and that's the metal I was listening to growing up. Megadeth in the late 80s/early 90s is the Megadeth I LOVE. I'm not wild about their newer stuff, but their old stuff is fantastic. And I was really into Metallica and other metal/hair bands of that era. I can hear a little Maiden/Sabbath in this, too. I love classic metal so this is right up my alley. I have a rock show I do at the student radio station where I study broadcasting and when I'm not playin A7X, I'm playing Maiden, Sabbath, Megadeth and other such bands.

I love Syn's solo...it's clean and simple, but it fits. Matt's voice sounds great, though he's still doing that irritating thing where he doesn't finish his words. Are we kneeling to the crow? the crown? The ground? My chorus teacher in college would strangle him, lol!

I don't like how ZV and Johnny are barely audible on this track. But that might go with the underwhelming drums, too. Perhaps this song isn't meant to be filled with everyone and over-the-top drums. The more I listen to it, the more I like it. But I do wish we'd get more of everyone and that Arin had been more creative. It's his first full-length with these guys, so maybe he's taking it easy. But we know from Carry On that he can kill it on the drums. We know he can play Jimmy's stuff. So I hope they didn't quash his abilities on this album.

But overall, while not the explosive track I was expecting based on the preview, I still love it. Nothing against those of you who don't . I see this being a real fist pumper in concert and you can almost bet there's a shit-ton of fire associated with it on stage. I'll be buying this and it's pumped me up even more for the release of the full album!

Agreed. I think that they made a mistake of introducing Arin's first album featuring Meg-White-leveled drumming ( that's literally the best I can describe it). Complexity isn't needed, but I expect something to stand out from a song. Something I can point at and say "wow, that's cool/ that really makes the song great to listen to". Be it lyrics, a riff, awesome vocals, or a drum fill, it wasn't present in this song. For Carry On at the vey least I was able to say that the vocals were amazing, and what gave the song some life.

Based on one single listen (cos I've been stuck at work and only managed to sneak that in between customers) I have to say it felt kind of flat. Across the board there was nothing that stood out, I have the "Hail to the King..." lyric in my head, but it's been there since the teaser really, nothing else.

I just feel that if a band is going to come back after a fairly long hiatus and name the album and it's lead track "Hail to the King" then the salivating fans should be left slack-jawed in awe rather than left in a state of "uh, was that it?"

Aightball I kinda agree about Jimmy having time-keeping songs, but for me they were much less frequent than the ones where he actually showed a bit of flair. As you well know I love my drummers but there has to be some musicality to what they are playing in order to keep me listening. Sure if the vocals are killer and the riffs elsewhere are awesome then I can let a bit of average rhythm making go, but this song doesn't have any of that.

Usedbandage I think you may have nailed it with that Meg White comment.

I really hope that this isn't what's to come from the rest of the album as everything I have read in the run up suggests otherwise. I guess I'm gonna have to keep chewing my fingernails till the end of August and hope it's a killer.

Right, I'm gonna go attack the replay button on youtube for the rest of the night and hope it's a grower!

I'm a grower, not a shower, as well.

In short... My review... *yawn*

CiaraCobb wrote: Aightball I kinda agree about Jimmy having time-keeping songs, but for me they were much less frequent than the ones where he actually showed a bit of flair. As you well know I love my drummers but there has to be some musicality to what they are playing in order to keep me listening. Sure if the vocals are killer and the riffs elsewhere are awesome then I can let a bit of average rhythm making go, but this song doesn't have any of that.

I think Jimmy did a LOT of time keeping on the first three albums. I was listening to CoE earlier today and with the exception of a couple of songs, he did a lot of time keeping on that one. I LOVE Jimmy (he's part of the reason I got into A7X) don't get me wrong, but he did more time keeping in the beginning than people think.

I'm seeing a lot of people come down on the drumming. The thing is that it fits the song. This song, the way it sounds to me, doesn't require flashy drumming. I bet the rest of the record does, though. If what I've read in interviews is correct, there's going to be a lot of flare coming from Arin. This song really seems to be a "Mat and Brian" song, from listening to it today. In that case, it's natural that the others would be more subdued in their performance.

At first listen it sounded bland. It's a pretty simple song with a simple structure and form. It has very simple riffs, drum parts, and chord changes. But it's a grower. I've listened to it about ten times. It went from a 6/10 to about a 7.5/10. I don't absolutely love it, but it's catchy and it'll be great live. Still stoked for the rest of the album (especially Shepard of Fire, Requiem, and Acid Rain)!

O-H wrote:At first listen it sounded bland. It's a pretty simple song with a simple structure and form. It has very simple riffs, drum parts, and chord changes. But it's a grower. I've listened to it about ten times. It went from a 6/10 to about a 7.5/10. I don't absolutely love it, but it's catchy and it'll be great live. Still stoked for the rest of the album (especially Shepard of Fire, Requiem, and Acid Rain)!

I will agree with you on the catchy part. I have a feeling this one will have us all now kind of feeling "eh" as I've seen expressed around the 'net, then kick our asses live. I foresee lots of fire and fists in the air on this one.

And I agree that it's a grower: the more I listen to it, the more i like it.

Okay yeah, my initial review seemed to come down on the drumming, but the more I listen to it the more I think it's an across the board "meh" rather than just the drumming. Nothing has really stuck with me from this track other than some very awkward lyrics.

I'll keep giving it a go a couple of times a day and see if my opinion changes, but for now it's a definite hmmmm

I have a feeling this is just the radio friendly track, as others have said. Someone pointed out on DBN that picking singles is all about marketing. While the guys do their best to avoid such things, WBR, on the other hand, is all about marketing. They know this single is radio friendly, simple, no swear words, etc. It's also around five minutes...anything longer gets axed down for radio. So, they give us this because it's a safe single, the fans that just want new stuff are going to like to it, the rest of us will just be glad to have something, talk about it, review it, etc., but life will go on. They hit the stage tomorrow, I think, for the first time back. At that point, we'll no doubt be on YouTube getting more new songs so we'll know what's to come. Hopefully they don't play just this one for the first run of dates. Now that *would* be a let down. And when the album drops, they'll probably be like "Yeah, so, that single in July? That was nothing. Here's what we can *really* do!" and we'll all be sitting here with our jaws on the floor.

I hope. =)

Think it is a song that is going to be better live than on a cd, like Critical Acclaim (imo that is a pretty meh song on but live it is something else)

Really enjoy the song overall, Gates delivers yet again with the solo goods and is similar to Buried Alive in that you can't help but tap your foot and nod your head along with it..

Plus the lyrics made me want to rewatch all of Game of Thrones, so that is a bonus

Has gotten me very excited about the album

wp_rathead wrote:

Plus the lyrics made me want to rewatch all of Game of Thrones, so that is a bonus

You shouldn't need a song for that man, get watching!!!

I feel like Avenged should write a song called "Red Wedding". Make it sound kinda like A Little Piece of Heaven. That would make my life.

I've listened to it quite a bit and I like it but I'd be lying if I said I loved it. It makes me intrigued to hear the rest of this album that's for sure.

Justin wrote:I've listened to it quite a bit and I like it but I'd be lying if I said I loved it. It makes me intrigued to hear the rest of this album that's for sure.

It's a grower. I listened to it with my good headphones on and wow did that make a difference. There's BASS! It's still a very simple song, a very classic metal song, but if you can get bass, do it =). But I will agree that it intrigues me for the rest of the album. Esp. that bonus track St. James.

Here's my take:

1. I wouldn't have picked it as a single myself, it doesn't shout memorable track to me
2. However, it's definitely radio friendly, not too long and not too heavy
3. It has an ACDC vibe to it.
4. The subject matter makes me think of vampires.
5. Definitely grow on me and will definitely be one I will add to my ever growing playlist of songs I like.

O-H wrote:I feel like Avenged should write a song called "Red Wedding". Make it sound kinda like A Little Piece of Heaven. That would make my life.

Nah, would need to be way darker than ALPOH if it was for The Red Wedding. Besides, I kinda love The National's version of The Rains of Castermere too much to associate anything else with that particular occurrence.


Rathead - dude, I love Dany so much, that gif is awesome!