Avenged Sevenfold are not a band for repeating themselves and the slow grind of comeback single Nobody, on first listen at least, will leave some fans confused.
Which is of course part of the appeal; a band with the power to call the shots on their own terms, Avenged are in it for the long haul and it usually pays dividends.
Guitar-wise, there's no heroics here at first; the main six-string work from guitarists Synyster Gates and Zacky Vengeance is a simple industrial buzzsaw hook (and later what sounds like keyboard-based brass) before spiralling sweep picking rears up in the second bridge and chorus.
After an orchestrated respite Gates launches with his Schecter into a stunning starry neo classical sky on an extended solo that will give bedroom shredders plenty to digest.
Nobody is the first taste of the album Life Is But a Dream... released 2 June, and the band's first since 2016's The Stage.
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"There was water dripping onto the gear and we got interrupted by a cave diver": How Mandy, Indiana recorded their debut album in caves, crypts and shopping malls
“It didn’t even represent what we were doing. Even the guitar solo has no business being in that song”: Gwen Stefani on the No Doubt song that “changed everything” after it became their biggest hit
"There was water dripping onto the gear and we got interrupted by a cave diver": How Mandy, Indiana recorded their debut album in caves, crypts and shopping malls
