California metallers Avenged Sevenfold have gone three years without new material, if you count bonuses from the deluxe version of The Stage. In this time, the band had a scare, with vocalist M. Shadows being put on doctor-ordered vocal rest in the middle of their 2018 tour. Now, the band has an updated version of their B-sides collection, Diamonds in the Rough, hitting streaming services and vinyl on February 7th.
The first updated track is “Set Me Free,” a previously unheard track which the band recorded during the sessions for their 2013 disc Hail to the King. Unlike most of that album’s material, which reveled in heaviness and riffing, this track is a ballad, albeit one with plenty of solos and lead breaks from guitarist Synyster Gates. The opening dual guitar solo is classic A7X, with Gates and co-guitarist Zacky Vengeance soaring over the clean-toned intro passage.
Diamonds in the Rough was originally released in 2008, alongside the band’s Live in the LBC concert film. On the disc was the band’s cover of Pantera’s “Walk,” Iron Maiden’s “Flash of the Blade,” alternate versions of “Almost Easy” and “Afterlife,” and several B-sides from the band’s catalog. This remastered version is said to have a handful of Black Sabbath covers, including “Paranoid,” which the band recorded for the Warner Bros. Records compilation Covered: A Revolution in Sound.
Hear “Set Me Free” below!