Hail to the King

Personnel: M. Shadows (vocals); Synyster Gates, Zacky Vengeance (guitar); Arin Ilejay (drums).Audio Mixer: Andy Wallace.Recording information: Can Am, Tarzana, CA; Capitol Studios, Hollywood, CA.Editor: Ryan Peterson.Illustrator: D.A. Frizell.Following the release of "Carry On" for the Call of Duty Arms: Black Ops II video game, Avenged Sevenfold returned to the studio with new drummer, Arin Ilejay of Confide, to record 2013's Hail to the King. In a press announcement, vocalist M. Shadows announced they would be attempting to go back to their Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin roots, and at the surface, the idea of dumbing down their music to sturdy classic rock grooves made a lot of sense, since many of the compositions on their last two albums had become overwrought with studio overdubbing. Unfortunately, once they tried to take inspiration from other bands, they mimicked them so well that they lost their sense of identity in the process. "Doing Time" came straight out of the Guns N' Ros