In a day and age where most heavy bands seem content to only draw upon the past five years for musical inspiration, Avenged Sevenfold stand out as a glaring anomaly. At any given moment "Waking The Fallen" can take on a different influence or direction and utterly enthrall the listener with just how well it is executed and integrated into the bands once primarily metalcore foundation. From classic late 80's metal styled rockers, to grungey moments; Misfits inspired punk sing-along's; Blistering guitar solos and progressions that bring to mind the once heralded 'new wave of British heavy metal'; Plus a healthy slab of ruthless modern metalcore punishment, this album has a little something for everyone with the bands true passion for playing and love of metal in it's many incarnations clearly shining through again and again.

Admittedly, at face value the band may be written off as a mere nostalgia/novelty act, and with an image that looks like they are fighting with Davey Havok for Glenn Danzig's hand-me-downs, not to mention stage names like M. Shadows, Zacky Vengeance and Synyster Gates, it's not hard to see why. The current metal scene seems overly cynical and this could be an easy excuse for many to write the band off. Fortunately though, the music on hand here should instantly quell any doubts about this quintet as they expertly juxtapose melodic and death metal styled vocals over their proverbial metal time machine, letting songs rip and tear with a surprisingly strong grasp on instrumentation and experimentation. The production of a big name producer like Mudrock (Godsmack, Powerman 5000) is also an unexpected addition to this release and gives the tracks a worthy amount of polish and clarity to ensure nothing is left missing in the mix.

Ambitious is definitely one way to describe "Waking The Fallen", and while expectations are generally exceeded, the age old problem of a band trying to accomplish too much in too little time does tend to rear it's ugly head. With such a broad palette of influences being utilized, it's quite possible that some listeners may enjoy one song and then be completely turned off by the next. This kind of schizophrenic approach also takes a distinct toll on the overall tempo and feel of the record and will likely make it feel too disjointed to those not inclined to traditional metal. Sadly, there are also a few songs that seemingly fall flat and lack any real staying power when compared to the albums finer moments. Still, for all its growing pains and snags, "Waking The Fallen" still stands as an impressive offering that will surely raise more than a few eyebrows and awaken many trad-metal fans from the slumber induced by a barrage of all too similar sounding acts. Bands like Shadows Fall, Killswitch Engage, Chimaira and Lamb Of God are currently spearheading the 'new wave of American heavy metal', and having listening to this disc, it's safe to say that Avenged Sevenfold are more than worthy to be uttered in the same breath.