City of Evil

City of Evil is Avenged Sevenfold's third full-length album. It was released on June 7, 2005 by Warner Brothers. This album is somewhat of a departure from the band's previous metalcore style, most notably in that lead vocalist M. Shadows has largely departed from screamed vocals. The guitar work in the songs is also more technical and in a more metal style. Much like Judas Priest's Turbo album, this new style has created controversy between older fans; some labeling the band as sell-outs due to their new, more mainstream sound. On the other hand, the album has earned the band many newer fans that they could not have had with their older sound. It has been rumored that true reason behind the change of vocal style had to do with M. Shadows blowing out his vocal box, though the band currently denies this (yet M. Shadows does not sing in their previous style when performing older songs live). The album was certified gold in January 2006 and ranked number 63 on the October 2006 issue of Guitar World magazine's list of the 100 greatest guitar albums of all time.