Il 2023 sta per concludersi ed e è tempo di classifiche.
Questa volta, nel catalogare i migliori album dell’ anno, la redazione di Metal Hammer ha raddoppiato rilasciandone ben 2 diverse. Naturalmente, tra i vari dischi scelti non poteva mancare l’eclettico e variegato Life Is But A Dream… degli Avenged Sevenfold.

La prima classifica è quella dei lettori della rivista, decretata tramite un sondaggio, che posiziona LIBAD al settimo posto fra i 50 album selezionati

With seven years’ worth of build-up, it’s fair to say expectations were high for Avenged Sevenfold’s eighth album. What nobody could have predicted was just how out there it was, a prog-laced odyssey through psychedelia, thrash, trad metal and so much more, sometimes all within the span of a single song. Dave Everley assessed “Avenged Sevenfold have scaled the mountain and looked out over all that surrounds them, then plunged headfirst into the void, not knowing where, when or even if they’ll land. What kind of madness is this? The very best kind.” And we can honestly say we can’t wait to see how this material will be tackled live.

La seconda invece è stata scelta dalla redazione di MH, che posiziona il disco ancora più in alto, per la precisione al secondo posto sempre su 50 candidature

Inspired by a profound existential crisis and its DMT-fuelled aftermath, Avenged Sevenfold’s eighth album was one of the weirdest records ever made by a huge, mainstream band. A decade ago, they were riding high with Hail To The King’s on-the-nose homages to Metallica and Guns N’ Roses. In stark and wondrous contrast, Life Is But A Dream… had more in common with Disco Volante-era Mr. Bungle and the multigenre madness of hyperpop icons 100 gecs than any conventional metal band.

From opener Game Over’s scattershot circus thrash and the lurching, industrial grind of Nothing, to (O)rdinary’s beatific funk-pop and the title track’s florid piano epilogue, it unfolded as a single, 53-minute blizzard of joyous, liberated creativity. The dream lives.

Mario