Avenged Sevenfold's comeback single is part departure / part Synyster Gates fully embracing guitar hero status

Avenged Sevenfold
(Image credit: Brian Catelle)

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. 

Rob Laing
Guitars Editor, MusicRadar

I'm the Guitars Editor for MusicRadar, handling news, reviews, features, tuition, advice for the strings side of the site and everything in between. Before MusicRadar I worked on guitar magazines for 15 years, including Editor of Total Guitar in the UK. When I'm not rejigging pedalboards I'm usually thinking about rejigging pedalboards.