Avenged Sevenfold are on a bit of a run at the moment releasing song after song in the last few weeks. The latest single is called Dose, a new song that was originally down to be part of late 2016’s The Stage.
First they released their cover of a Mexican folk song called Malagueña Salerosa. They followed that up with their cover of Mr Bungle’s Retrovertigo and now we have Dose. You can read our reviews of The Stage and Retrovertigo by clicking the links.
I am not always too kind to Avenged Sevenfold but I do want to give them credit for doing things differently. They are currently out touring, doing some dates with Metallica but also have their own headline tour plans. Having just released a new album, you wouldn’t normally expect to hear too much from the band so to have released 3 songs that vary so much in that time is pretty cool for fans. Adding to the “doing things differently” this time, Dose was premiered through a video game.
Avenged Sevenfold teamed up with the Mobile Game Developer, Gameloft. Gameloft are behind some of the biggest selling, and most downloaded mobile games out there like Disney’s Magic Kingdoms, Ice Age Adventures, Despicable Me Minion Rush and Uno and Friends. They are also the developer of the newer, Dungeon Hunter 5. It is in Dungeon Hunter 5 that Dose was premiered as a special level with the song playing and a boss inspired by Avenged Sevenfold’s The Stage.
Dose is possibly the sort of track that works really well within the game. I don’t know as I haven’t played it. As a standalone song, I’m not so sure. It starts interestingly enough with a rapid drum beat that moves into an ascending crescendo of guitar squeals. It sounds like we are about to let rip but instead it drops into Shadows clean singing. Each line of the verse ends with a heavier bar of drums, bass and guitars then back to cleans. As the intensity grows into the chorus, Shadows voice sounds strained to me. I get this is his style, occasionally it works for me but not here. Personal taste I guess. The same pattern occurs for the second verse/chorus before we move into a solo.
The solo is decent – a kind of mid tempo rhythm with loads of squeals and slides which eventually turns into a gentle melody with some odd vocal effects. The melody starts to change as thunderous drums join in. The same melody plays but with more oomph now alongside the fast drumming, though we still have the annoying vocal effects in the background. The second to last section of the song is enjoyable with a nice speedy rhythm and vocal section before it heads back into the chorus I just don’t really like. Musically there is quite an ominous feel to the song which is cool and there is a lot of great guitar, bass and drum work going on but I just don’t enjoy the vocals which are key.
Fans of Shadows singing will probably love this song though as there is a lot to like. As a band they do seem to have really matured and their song structure and writing is as strong as it has ever been. I just don’t know what it is with M Shadows vocals. See, I can actually list a load of songs I think he has a great voice on. I can also list a load of songs I don’t like his voice on and for me, this is one of them.
Singer M. Shadows had the following to say about Dose – “Musically, ‘Dose’ was supposed to be a Part 2 to “Roman Sky” and had a very cinematic feel, but we turned it into more of a tripped-out metal song. The lyrics were inspired by an unsolved mystery that dates back to the 1950s about an airline traveller who, if you believe the story, supposedly fell into our dimension from another. According to reports, he showed up in a Tokyo airport with a passport from a country that didn’t exist anywhere on a map. He was detained for questioning but mysteriously vanished from a room guarded by immigration officials, taking with him all evidence of his existence. It ties into the theory that there are infinite possibilities of our lives being played out across space and time. Don’t know if the story is true, but I’m fascinated by that kind of stuff and thought it’d be a fun idea for a song.”
Check out Dose for yourself here. Dungeon Hunter 5 is available on the Apple store or from Gameloft here. You can also pick up Dose and more from Avenged Sevenfold at the links below. You can check out Avenged Sevenfold at their website, Facebook and Twitter too.
Owner/Editor/Writer/YouTuber - Heavy Metal and reading, two things I have always loved so they are the two areas you will find most of my reviews. Post apocalyptic is my jam and I always have a book on the go and have for decades now. From a metal perspective, age has softened my inadequacies and I now operate with an open mind, loving many bands from many sub genres but having a particular admiration for the UK underground scene. In my other time, when not focused on Dad duties and work, I try to support the craft beer movement by drinking as much of it as I can and you will also find me out on the streets, walking. I love walking, I love exploring new places and snapping nature photos as I go.
