On Music I Don’t Like…

Episode I: The Phantomime Menace

So I wanted to talk about Metal music today. I would’ve liked to cover three albums today, but the post was already long, so I cut it down to two. At least I thought it was long (maybe you think it could’ve been longer).

So today I’ll be looking at an album and an EP, both of which came out within the past thirty days. They are: Life Is But a Dream…, by Avenged Sevenfold; and Phantomime – EP, by Ghost.

If you couldn’t tell…

So I’ll start with Avenged Sevenfold.

I first started listening to AS about fifteen years ago. The first song I heard by them was either “Bat Country” or “Beast and the Harlot” (I don’t remember which). But what I always loved about AS was their relentless high-octane heaviness and Synyster Gates’ ability to absolutely shred.

Synyster Gates is probably one of the best Metal lead guitar players alive today.

Now Avenged Sevenfold has been going through a cycle of albums where they seem to be trying new sounds and experimenting with what AS is as a band. Fans of AS haven’t been the most open to these changes in style. First came Hail To The King in 2013, which was criticized for sounding more like Metalica. Then came The Stage in 2016, which was more in line with other AS albums with some elements of experimentation.

I like the majority of both Hail To The King and The Stage. I have no inherent problem with a band experimenting with their sound, and Avenged Sevenfold has a history with creating one-off whacky songs.

Looking over Avenged Sevenfold’s discography, they’ve consistently released a new album every two to three years. Life Is But a Dream… is the first album to have a six year gap between it and their previous album. Now I may be reading into things, but I think the backlash from fans has something to do with that.

But on to Life Is But a Dream…, which came out June 2nd, 2023.

The first major problem with this album is… what is going on with this cover? No really. Is this child’s art pulled off the fridge of one of the band members? Comparing this to any of Avenged Sevenfold’s previous album covers will reveal this one as inferior.

Yes I’m judging an album by its cover.

Ok so the album has a crap cover. But is the music any good?

The opening track, “Game Over”, starts off with a Spanish-sounding acoustic guitar serenade, which quickly transitions into a Punk-Rock verse where lyrics are flying like bullets from a gunslinger. I’m good with all of it.

The chorus offers some dissonance (I believe this is what it’s called) vocals, which I don’t mind and enjoy from other songs. But this becomes a problem with later songs.

Overall Game Over offers an interesting start to the album.

The following tracks, “Mattel” and “Nobody”, are really good. I like them both. No need to dig into them.

Then there’s “We Love You”, which tries to be weird for the sake of weirdness. This is the kind of experimentation that I’m not into. I can maybe see myself coming around to this song, but as of now it’s too grating.

The one thing that’s really missing from all of the above songs is some supreme shredding from Synyster Gates. Most of the guitar work doesn’t seem all that advanced.

“Cosmic” offers the first real shredding moment on the album. This in song five. Of a Metal band. But when the song isn’t going above and beyond with a guitar solo, it also has a lot of experimental elements, and they all work for me.

“Beautiful Morning” has a solid opening, though it’s ruined by the middle two minutes, which is a strange soft portion. This song could work if vocalist, M. Shadows, was a better singer, which isn’t a diss toward him–he’s just no Myles Kennedy.

Easier gives a space blaster battle mid-song, so I guess if that’s your thing… not so much mine though.

Then there’s the next three songs. “G”, “(O)rdinary”, and “(D)eath”. These songs are obviously spelling out God, and they’re really one long song cut into three, which is why I’m putting them together. I have the most problems with these songs.

“G” features more dissonant vocals from both lead singer and a backup singer–it is not good. They employ Jazz portions as well.

“(O)rdinary” is far from ordinary. It continues the Jazz feel, as well as having a Funk sound, which all ends in an obnoxious swell of feedback, leading into…

“(D)eath” starts like a ballroom dance song, where M. Shadows comes in singing like he thinks he’s Frank Sinatra. He’s not. The song does have an epic sounding transition between verses, which is the only good aspect of the song.

The last song is “Life Is But a Dream…”, which is more like a nightmare for an Avenged Sevenfold fan. The song is entirely a piano instrumental… what? This song is named after the album and it’s… this? It’s actually a really good and pleasant piece of music, but… um… yeah.

I think the biggest problem with Life Is But a Dream… (the album) is subverted expectations. Nothing like this album has ever come from Avenged Sevenfold. It leaves me wondering what were they thinking? Maybe they’re trying to rebrand as experimental Rock? Or maybe Progressive Metal? In theory, AS could branch out into those genres, but not with the poor execution they’ve displayed on this album.

Ok, that was rough. Now on to roast another Metal band that I like.

My history with Ghost is much less rich than Avenged Sevenfold. And why would it be? Ghost’s first album came out in 2010. So they are definitely new to the scene.

Their last album, Impera, came out in 2022, and I didn’t like it nearly as much as their previous two.

Part of my inspiration for writing Intersection came from hearing “Rats” by Ghost playing while I drove to work. And one of the central characters in Intersection, Aiden Reeves, has inner dialogue about how Ghost will be remembered as being better than the Beatles. Oh how Aiden would be embarrassed if he heard Impera or…

Phantomime – EP, which was released May 16th, 2023.

Now to be fair to Ghost, this EP is solely cover songs, which is not what I expected going into it. So maybe my dislike of it is my own fault.

But the style the five songs are played in match that of Ghost’s previous album, Impera, which was a departure from the rest of their work. I don’t think I would’ve minded their covers if it was in the same style as I’ve come to expect from them. In fact I didn’t know any of the songs off the EP to begin with, so I likely wouldn’t have even found out they weren’t original.

I don’t want to do a detailed look at each song. The songs sound good. I don’t have a problem with them other than the fact that they aren’t as Ghost-y as I would like them to be. Because of this, I’m really bummed, and I don’t feel the desire to listen to this EP at all.

I’d much rather play one of the two albums I really like from Ghost, Prequelle and Meliora.

Well this was a long one. If you’re reading this far down, I commend you. Let me know what you thought of Free for all Friday. I didn’t post anything last weekend, and I think I’ll continue giving myself the weekends off.

Monday I’ll go further into my editing process.

Until then, I hope you have a wonderful day,

Colin J Switalski

*This was originally posted on my old blog on June 9th, 2023.