Avenged Sevenfold Avenged Sevenfold

On their fourth album, Avenged Sevenfold go beyond pulverizing hard rock and embrace orchestral influences. Arcs of piano soar through the prog metal of "Unbound (The Wild Ride)" and ghoulish strings add zest to the '80s stomp of "Brompton Cocktail"; meanwhile, "A Little Piece of Heaven" boasts vaudevillian displays of woodwinds, horns, and cello. There are still trademark A7X riff explosions, of course—the double-barreled guitar attack of "Lost" or the old-school thrash of "Almost Easy," for example—all of which benefit from the band's ruthless experimentation.