Avenged Sevenfold by Zep



History
The band formed when the members were in high school. Their first album was titled Sounding the Seventh Trumpet, and was recorded when the band members were eighteen years old. Their follow-up album was entitled Waking the Fallen, which received a positive rating in Rolling Stone magazine.

City of Evil, released on June 7, 2005, strays from metalcore, and adds a more "pop rock" sound with obvious influences ranging from various bands. Although the band have been labeled metal, metalcore and hard rock in many publications, the band themselves claim that they are a "metal" band and have no musical similarities to metalcore in any way although this is heavily debated by their peers. During the recording of City of Evil, M. Shadows' vocal stylings have changed more to focus on melodic singing than on hardcore screaming, because the band decided to pursue a different musical career, and leave a genre that they said was "dying". The proof that this movement was right is the award for Best New Artist in a Video at the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards, as the underdog of a group that included bands such as Panic! at the Disco and James Blunt.

The band's name is an alleged reference to the book of Genesis in the Bible and the story of Cain and Abel, where Cain is punished to live in exile, alone and miserable. Anyone who relieved Cain of his misery by killing him would be "avenged in sevenfold," or punished in a way that is seven times worse than Cain's punishment. The title of Avenged Sevenfold's song "Chapter Four" references Genesis IV, the chapter of the Bible in which the story of Cain and Abel takes place. The song's subject also appears to be this story. Beast and the Harlot, yet another song derived from the Bible, comes from the book of Revelation and refers to the punishment of Babylon and the destruction of Pagan nations. Although the band's title and members' stage names make obvious references to religion, Shadows stated in an interview that they are "not really religious at all."

Their song "Blinded in Chains" was used in the soundtrack for the video game Need for Speed: Most Wanted. Another song, "Bat Country," was used in the soundtracks for SSX on Tour, NHL 06 and Madden 06, following in the footsteps of "Chapter Four" which had also been on the soundtrack for NHL 2004, Madden 2004 and NASCAR Thunder 2004. The song "Beast and the Harlot" was in the soundtrack for Burnout Revenge. All the above games, not coincidentally, are produced by various divisions of Electronic Arts.

During recent tours (Coheed and Cambria spring 2006 tour and Ozzfest 2006), Avenged Sevenfold have been performing the song "Walk", originally by Pantera, as part of a tribute to the late "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott.

Recently at the MTV Video Music Awards, Avenged Sevenfold received the award for best new artist. They took the award over several other artists including; Angels and Airwaves, Panic at the Disco, Rihanna, and James Blunt.

Although Avenged Sevenfold have claimed that they are trying to get away from the metalcore movement, they will be touring with metalcore act Bleeding Through this fall.[1]


Band members
M. Shadows (1999-Present) (Matthew Charles Sanders) — Lead Vocals
Synyster Gates (2001-Present) (Brian Elwin Haner, Jr.) — Lead Guitars, Back up Vocals
Zacky Vengeance (1999-Present) (Zachary Johnathan Baker) — Rhythm Guitars, Back up Vocals
Johnny Christ (2002-Present) (Johnathan Lewis Seward) — Bass (not to be confused with John Christ of Danzig)
The Rev "The Reverend Tholomew Plague" (1999-Present) (Jimmy Owen Sullivan) — Drums, Back up Vocals

Former band members
Justin Sane (1999-2001) — Bass guitar (not to be confused with Justin Sane of Anti-Flag)
Daemon Ash (2001-2002) — Bass guitar

Equipment

Synyster Gates
Uses Schecter guitars:
Schecter Syn Custom
Schecter C-1 FR (white with dot inlays)
C-1 FR Hellraiser Avenger
Syn Custom Avenger Models
Bogner Uberscall head and 4x12 cab...but are moving to Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifiers because of issues with Bogner
Ernie Ball Slinky Top Heavy Bottom Strings

Zacky Vengeance
Uses Schecter guitars:
S-1 Elite
S-1 Regular
S-1 Blackjack
Vengeance Custom S-1 Models
Both Zacky and Syn have been seen using PT and Banshee models on special occasions


Johnny Christ
Uses Ernie Ball basses
Musicman Sterling

The Rev
Uses DW drums
8 piece drum kit including two bass drums
Uses Sabian AA Metal-X cymbals.
Also uses Pro-Mark 5BN Drumsticks and Evans drum heads.


Discography

Demo Recordings
For information, see Early Avenged Sevenfold releases.


Albums
Date of release Title Label U.S. Billboard peak U.S. sales
July 24, 2001 Sounding the Seventh Trumpet Goodlife Recording
August 8, 2001 Warmness on the Soul EP Goodlife Recording
March 19, 2002 Sounding the Seventh Trumpet Re-Release Hopeless Records
August 26, 2003 Waking the Fallen Hopeless Records 12 (Independent Album Chart) 175,000
June 7, 2005 City of Evil Warner Bros. Records 30 697,000

Singles
Date of release Title Label Other Info
September 19, 2005 Bat Country Warner Bros.
February 6, 2006 Beast and the Harlot Warner Bros.
June 12, 2006 Burn It Down Warner Bros. CD/Vinyl Release only. No video/radio play.
July 10, 2006 Seize the Day Warner Bros. Currently not available as a CD or vinyl.

Videography
March 2001 - Warmness on the Soul (professional video) - Sounding the Seventh Trumpet -(Video)
March 6, 2004 - Unholy Confessions (live video with dubbed music) - Waking the Fallen - (Video)
July 28, 2005 - Bat Country - (professional video directed by Marc Klasfeld) - City of Evil (video from Bedlam Society)
February 6, 2006 - Beast and the Harlot - (professional video directed by Tony Petrossian) - City of Evil (Video from YouTube)
June 30, 2006 - Seize the Day - (professional video directed by Wayne Isham) - City of Evil (Video From YouTube)
Burn It Down (live video with dubbed music)

Compilations
Plea for Peace/Take Action! Vol. 2 (2002) (Subcity Records)
"Turn the Other Way"
Take Action! Vol. 3 (2003) (Subcity Records)
"Chapter Four"
Metal=Life CD/DVD (2003) (Subcity Records)
"Unholy Confessions" & Video
Operation: Punk Rock Freedom (2003) (Hopeless Records/Subcity Records)
"Chapter Four" & "Darkness Surrounding"
Hopelessly Devoted to You Vol. 4 (2004) (Hopeless Records/Subcity Records)
"Second Heartbeat" & "Darkness Surrounding"
Hopelessly Devoted to You Vol. 5 (2005) (Hopeless Records/Subcity Records)
"Chapter Four" & "Eternal Rest (Live)" (feat. "Unholy Confessions" video on Enhanced CD)
Masters of Horror Soundtrack (2005)
"Beast and the Harlot" (live)
Kerrang! - High Voltage: A Brief History of Rock (2006) [1]
"Walk" (Pantera cover)
Hopelessly Devoted to You Vol. 6 (2006) (Hopeless Records/Subcity Records)
"Darkness Surrounding" & "Unholy Confessions" (feat. "Unholy Confessions" video and "We Come Out at Night" live at Warped Tour 2003 video on included DVD)
Kerrang! - Kerrang! Awards 2006 (2006)
"Beast And The Harlot"

Miscellaneous
Zacky Vengeance owns his own clothing line, called "Zacky V. Presents..." It features the popular "Vengeance University" line, featuring shirts and belt buckles. [2].
Synyster Gates also has a clothing line due out, tentatively titled "Syn."
The Rev and Synyster were both members of the band Pinkly Smooth, formed with members of the now-extinct band Ballistico. The Rev sang and also recorded drums. Former Avenged Sevenfold bassist, Justin Sane, was also in the band.
Zacky Vengeance was a baseball player in high school and has said that if he were not in a band, he would have pursued a professional career.
The group won "Best New Artist" at the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards despite being a band since 1999.