It might have been different if I had a little warning. But I heard there was a new Avenged album, got excited, listened to it, and was completely caught off guard by the complete musical shift.
I applaud them for making the music that they want and not the music the fans want, but it's just not for me. I'm not a metal head, either, I listen to a lot of different music. I'll give it a few more listens because I've initially 'disliked' a number of albums that I ended up loving.
They had a lot of warning, but unless your terminally stuck to the band in anticipation, like me that's such a shock. I almost wish that I could have been blindsided just to see how I'd react. I listen to some very ecclectic and odd music as well, so that probably made it an easy transition for me.
Something that made the album really click for me was sitting down and following along to the lyrics. It almost plays out like a theatrical play to me. It was beautiful and I almost feel like I missed the point of the album until then.
Even if I hated it, I'm just glad to see artists make art they actually like.