VR concert "Looking Inside" review: Heavy metal up close with Avenged Sevenfold
Avenged Sevenfold's VR concert lets you experience the American metal band from a whole new perspective. Find out if it's worth it here.
Avenged Sevenfold's VR concert "Looking Inside" was released on February 29, 2024 via the AmazeVR app in the Apple App Store and Meta Store for $12.99. Together with the American metal band, AmazeVR created a special concert experience for fans of metal music.
In addition to 'Hail to the King' and 'Nightmare', two of the band's most popular songs, you can also experience 'Nobody', 'Mattel' and '(D)eath' from the latest album.
To coincide with the release of the VR concert, Avenged Sevenfold also kicked off their "Life Is But A Dream" North American tour on March 6th. VIP pass holders will have the opportunity to watch the song "Mattel" from the VR concert in a separate VIP lounge. But is it worth it?
Looking Inside: VR concert review in a nutshell
Despite the lack of interaction, which makes the VR concert feel more like a 180-degree video, the quality of the experience is certainly worthwhile. Experiencing Hail to the King in an environment that looks like a mixture of the Mines of Moria and a dark throne room is definitely worth a look.
“Looking Inside” is worthwhile for you if you ...
- want to experience the American metal band from an entirely different perspective.
- are excited by spectacular effects in genre-appropriate locations.
- would like to experience Avenged Sevenfold at home on your own couch.
“Looking Inside” is not worthwhile for you if you ...
- expect an interactive concert experience.
- have problems in dark environments and with flickering lights and flashes.
- don't like the rather loud and hard music of Avenged Sevenfold.
Powerful staging and stunning visual effects
Apart from the first class performance of Avenged Sevenfold and the excellent sound, the concert also has a lot to offer visually. There are two large main stages for the different songs.
For the first half of the concert, the band plays in a huge throne room, the likes of which can only be found in old dwarven mines. Various effects such as lightning and fire, as well as statues that appear occasionally, provide a splendid backdrop for the first songs.
As a transition to the second part, the concert leads through several doors and dark corridors to a plateau in a large ravine. The huge Batskull that adorns the band's logo is also staged here. As the plateau floats higher and higher up the gorge and the giant Batskull flies above me, the band plays their second to last song.
The finale takes place at the highest point above the gorge. Amidst flying pillars, a whirlwind in which all sorts of things from the previous stages can be seen, and other influences from what has been experienced so far, Avenged Sevenfold perform one last big show before the concert ends.
The first location of Avenged Sevenfold's VR concert resembles a dwarf mine. | Image: AmazeVR
Looking Inside: Minor weaknesses spoil the VR concert experience
Whilst I was impressed by all the different visual and acoustic impressions, especially during the beautiful stage transitions, on closer inspection, Looking Inside unfortunately also has some less beautiful moments.
Although the overall quality is good, the faces quickly lose detail as soon as M.Shadows and the other band members move away from me. In one scene, the singer comes back into the picture on the left behind the drums and looks like he is wearing a mask.
I can move my hands during the concert, and depending on which song is being played, they also burn in red or blue flames, but apart from a few gestures there is no way of interacting.
For example, in the transition between the two large stages, parts of a skull float through the corridors (see screenshot below). I can pick them up, but I would have liked to be able to put them together piece by piece. Disappointingly, there is no such option, and the skull reassembles itself in the last corridor. A missed opportunity for me.
Overall, the concert feels more like an excellent 180-degree video showing me one of my favorite bands from a new perspective than an experience in which I can actively participate.
Here you can see the different parts of the skull. I honestly wish I could have put it together myself. | Image: AmazeVR
My verdict on the Looking Inside VR concert by Avenged Sevenfold
The VR concert, which lasts around half an hour, is generally entertaining. The picture quality is good for the most part, even if it does suffer from a little blurriness here and there. The sound, on the other hand, has no shortcomings. Due to the fixed position chosen, the stereo sound works perfectly.
As usual, Avenged Sevenfold delivers a top-notch performance, making the VR concert a worthwhile experience. Especially as a fan of the band, it was exciting to be so close to the musicians and experience them performing some great songs.
However, I would like to see more interaction from VR concerts like this in the future. Active perspective changes or the ability to directly influence the experience in some way would be a big plus for me, to take concerts in VR to another level and set them apart from classic 180-degree videos.
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