Concert Review: Avenged Sevenfold — Beyond Death and Borne on the Wind

Fishnets and black hoodies were out in full force Tuesday night to celebrate the return of M. Shadows and crew to Indianapolis, as it has been a decade since they were last in town. 

Their first new album in nearly 7 years, “Life is But a Dream” is a departure from their metalside that they have come to be known and loved for, instead opting for more prog-forward sound. 

Gainbridge was absolutely buzzing with fans, mostly elder millennials and up, although I did see a few smaller kiddos in the crowd, throwing up the horns sign and rocking out with their parents. 

The show opened up with Sullivan King, a DJ/entertainer, who dabbles in a wide array of music genres, from dubstep to screamo to death metal. He ruled from atop his high platform, which in turn was on the already exceedingly high stage. King alternated between that and coming down to rock out on electric guitar; I will definitely give him kudos for a unique stylistic performance! 

I’m Breathing to Keep My Intellect Sharp

Poppy was the second opener and I honestly was unsure what to expect from her; YouTuber Nicki Swift says it best “Nobody has the same answer to the question ‘Who is Poppy?’…She makes a sport out of mystery”. This girl can rock out with the best of them, however, and her hour long set absolutely flew by. 

The stage itself was very simplistic, no excess props or risers, and everything was very monochromatic. She had a guitarist and a drummer backing her, but also personally utilized a sampler during several of her songs and even brought out her own electric guitar to play during “Hard”. 

A great majority of her songs were from 2020’s I Disagree, which is the album in which she transitioned to a harder and darker sound, very reminiscent of BabyMetal. “Church Outfit”, from. 2023’s Zig, was probably my favorite track of hers that she performed, along with her solo rendition of “V.A.N”, a track she released in January 2024 with Bad Omens (who are on the same label as her, Sumerian Records). 

You’re One in a Million and You Know it Shows

Avenged Sevenfold puts on a great show. Full stop. Having been used to gimmicks such as pyro, excessive lights, props, etc. it took a minute for me to fully realize both their prowess and well as how unnecessary those things are when determining a good performance. Do not get me wrong, I love theatrics, but this performance really helped highlight just how tight this band is and how great they are at performing. 

Lead singer M. Shadows started off the set in a black leather chair placed front and center of the stage, sporting a black knit balaclava. The covering was subsequently removed during the chaotic opening number “Game Over”, which was a metal clone of “We Didn’t Start the Fire”. 

“Mattel”, also from A7X’s newest album Life is But a Dream, did utilize some fun imagery on the screen behind the band. What started out as a Barbie-inspired dreamhouse quickly deteriorated into a haunted mansion and ultimately ended in a house in flames-mirroring the hopeless and helpless lyrics.  

One of my favorite moments of the night was between songs—a girl had a poster that read “I heart Hot Dads” and M. Shadows called her out, saying something along the lines of “Ya know young lady, back in my day, we were 19 and going on Warped Tour”. Fun fact—Synyster Gates and M. Shadows are married to twin sisters and are legally brothers-in-law, along with their hot dad status. 

A7X played a good selection from all of their albums, but one of my favorites from Life is But a Dream is the dystopian track “We Love You”. The words to the chorus flashed up on the background screens, and thank goodness, because the delivery was frantic and a little hard to catch at points. Or maybe I’m just hopelessly reliant on subtitles. 

The band played one of my favorite nostalgia tracks, “Bat Country”, with M. Shadows delivering the iconic opening line in a solo spotlight. I am biased but I wish that they would have played “A Little Piece of Heaven”, subject matter aside. 

There was no encore, and you could tell that these guys have done this tons of times before. Even with banter, they were still able to keep their set tight and moving along. 

There were several good solo opportunities for both Synyster Gates and Brooks Wackermanthroughout the show—Gates is one of the best metal guitarists alive in my opinion and he truly leaves it all on the stage. 

The Good

-Fun to see the dark and angry side of Poppy, and she sounded very good.

-A7X is a well oiled machine who are exceptionally good at what they do; but they do not phone in their performance at all.

The Not as Good

-Would have liked to see Poppy give some recognition to her backing musicians. I know that she has her stage persona, however they worked hard and performed well and she seemed to go through the motions like she was contractually obliged to be there.