City of Evil

City of Evil
Studio album by
Avenged Sevenfold
ReleasedJune 6, 2005 (2005-06-06)
RecordedJanuary 1 – April 18, 2005[1][2]
Studio
  • The Hobby Shop (Los Angeles)
  • Ocean Way (Hollywood)
Genre
Length72:43
Label
ProducerMudrock
Avenged Sevenfold chronology
Waking the Fallen
(2003) 		City of Evil
(2005) 		Avenged Sevenfold
(2007)
Singles from City of Evil
  1. "Burn It Down"
    Released: June 5, 2005[3]
  2. "Bat Country"
    Released: August 9, 2005[4]
  3. "Beast and the Harlot"
    Released: February 28, 2006[4]
  4. "Seize the Day"
    Released: July 11, 2006[4]

City of Evil is the third studio album by American heavy metal band Avenged Sevenfold, released on June 6, 2005,[5] through Warner Bros. and Hopeless Records. Co-produced by Andrew Murdock, City of Evil contains a more traditional heavy metal and hard rock sound than Avenged Sevenfold's previous two albums, which showcased a predominantly metalcore sound. The album title is derived from a lyric in the song, "Beast and the Harlot". The album is notable for the absence of fry vocals. M. Shadows worked for months before the album's release with vocal coach Ron Anderson, whose clients have included Axl Rose and Chris Cornell, to achieve a sound that had "grit while still having the tone". In order to increase stamina and strength on the pedals, The Rev would sit for hours practicing until he could get up to 210 beats per minute.[6]

The album contains some of Avenged Sevenfold's most popular and famous songs, including "Bat Country", which is arguably their most successful to date, being one of their two singles certified gold by the RIAA. City of Evil was very successful after its release, debuting at number 30 on the Billboard 200 chart and has been certified platinum by the RIAA in the United States and gold in both Canada and the United Kingdom. It went on to sell over 1,500,000 copies in the United States, and 2,500,000 total worldwide, making it the best-selling album out of Avenged Sevenfold's discography as of 2020. "Burn It Down", "Bat Country", "Beast and the Harlot" and "Seize the Day" were also released as music videos, directed by Marc Klasfeld, Tony Petrossian, and Wayne Isham, respectively. "Blinded in Chains" was featured in the video game Need for Speed: Most Wanted, and is the promo of the Japanese-Canadian anime Bakugan Battle Brawlers on TV3.

The album was ranked No. 63 on Guitar World magazine's "100 Greatest Guitar Albums of All Time". City of Evil also appears in Kerrang!'s "666 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die" and "50 Albums You Need to Hear Before You Die".[7] The album was ranked No. 35 in Kerrang's list of "50 Greatest Metal Albums Ever" in 2016.[8] Rolling Stone listed the album at No. 100 on its list of The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time.[9]

  1. ^ "Avenged Sevenfold website". December 30, 2004. Archived from the original on December 30, 2004. Retrieved September 16, 2021.
  2. ^ "News". Avenged Sevenfold.com. April 18, 2005. Archived from the original on April 25, 2005. Retrieved April 26, 2023.
  3. ^ Burn It Down – Single by Avenged Sevenfold on iTunes, retrieved July 12, 2019
  4. ^ a b c "FMQB Airplay Archive: Modern Rock". Friday Morning Quarterback Album Report, Incorporated. Archived from the original on March 22, 2013. Retrieved July 7, 2021.
  5. ^ Avenged Sevenfold site Archived September 1, 2017, at the Wayback Machine Official release. Retrieved March 2012
  6. ^ Epstein, Dan (June 2010). "AVENGED SEVENFOLD LOOK BACK ON 'CITY OF EVIL': INSPIRATION, BACKLASH, BREAKTHROUGH". Revolver. Retrieved February 28, 2023.
  7. ^ "50 Albums You Need To Hear Before You Die – Kerrang!". www.kerrang.com. Archived from the original on February 6, 2015.
  8. ^ "Kerrang!'s 50 Greatest Metal Albums Ever. – Avenged Sevenfold". February 3, 2016. Archived from the original on February 9, 2016. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  9. ^ "The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. June 21, 2017. Retrieved January 18, 2018.