Remenissions by Avenged Sevenfold

Avenged Sevenfold have been my favorite band for quite some time now, ever since the release of their 2003 album Waking the Fallen (which is still to this day their best effort, except maybe for 2010's Nightmare). I still listen to their early material, even from their debut album, and a lot of the songs still hold-up to their later stuff. But today I am going to talk about one song in particular, a hard-hitting metalcore track. Give it a listen first:

Remenissions

Like most of A7X's early material, it doesn't follow the rigid structure that most of their singles follow, being the intro-verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-guitar solo-chorus format that they more-or-less typically adhere to (see Afterlife, Almost Easy, Nightmare, or Hail to the King). Remenissions instead takes us on a wild ride. It opens with a thunderous barrage of rolling drums and twisting guitar riffs accompanied by a trailing growl into a fist-pounding drum roll before we hit the first verse. The first two verses come up before any kind of chorus, and they consist of some of vocalist M. Shadows's best screams against a powerful thrash metal backdrop. After these two hard-hitting stanzas we break into a mellow reflection on memory and time that builds into an awe-inspiring warning to "keep away from me" that smoothly transitions back into metalcore territory with an insane drum solo. After the heavy breakdown we get a beautiful harmony from the guitars, then returning to the reflection on memory with more distortion this time (acting like a chorus but it isn't really), and then a thrashy finale fades out into silence.

Clearly, this is different than the mainstream A7X that most people have heard, not only for the harshness of their metalcore style, but notably for the odd song structure. It flows nicely but doesn't return to any of the previous melodies, except for the "chorus", which is unlike traditional rock songs. The track still keeps true to itself in terms of sonic quality and tone, and also with theme. I have to mention that this song has some of the best drumming The Rev ever laid down (may his soul rest in peace).

This also has some of the band's most philosophical lyrics, reaching into existentialist territory, and really shows off the angst they were feeling back in their younger punk years.

We may have created the beginning, mentally
We may have created the beginning, physically
To the end of our human existence

Certainly a question of who we are and where we come from. They touch on the question of God (not being afraid to explore religious ideas has A7X been), exploring ideas of morality.

If they didn't have One how would they act?
If we didn't have hope how would we behave?
Would they still feel remorse if they slaughtered innocent beings?
Or is hope the only thing that keeps you sane?

They end the poem on a final note claiming that no one really knows anything, most especially the songwriter. This could almost be a reference to Plato or Socrates.

I don't know the answers but neither do you

I've heard that Avenged Sevenfold have been performing Remenissions live again, but I have yet to see it myself (or any good quality versions on Youtube). Hopefully, it will be featured on an upcoming DVD in the future - I can only hope.