Avenged Sevenfold (often abbreviated
A7X) is an American
heavy metal band from
Huntington Beach, California. Formed in 1999, the group consists of
M. Shadows (vocalist),
Synyster Gates (lead guitarist),
Zacky Vengeance (rhythm guitarist), &
Johnny Christ (bassist).
They are known for their diverse
rock sound, dramatic imagery in album covers and t-shirts.
[1][2][3][4] Avenged Sevenfold emerged with a
metalcore sound on their debut
Sounding the Seventh Trumpet but their style had evolved by their third album and first major label release,
City of Evil into a
hard rock/heavy metal sound. The band continued to explore new sounds with their
self-titled release and enjoyed continued mainstream success before their drummer,
James "The Rev" Sullivan, died in 2009. Despite his death, the band continued on with help of now-former
Dream Theater drummer
Mike Portnoy and released and toured in support of their fifth album
Nightmare in 2010 which debuted on the top spot of the
Billboard 200, their first number one debut.
[5]
To date, Avenged Sevenfold has released five studio albums, one live album/
compilation/DVD, and eighteen singles and sold more than four million albums worldwide.
[6] The band has received much credit for their worldwide mainstream success and were featured as second place on
Ultimate Guitar's Top Ten Bands of the Decade.
History
Formation and early years (1999–2002)
The band was formed in 1999 in
Huntington Beach, California with original members
M. Shadows,
Zacky Vengeance,
The Rev and Matt Wendt. M Shadows came up with the name as a reference to the story of
Cain and Abel from
The Bible, which can be found in Genesis 4:24, although they are not a religious band.
[7] Upon its formation, each member of the band also took on a pseudonym which were already nicknames of theirs from high school.
[8]
Before the release of their debut album, the band recorded two
demos in 1999 and 2000. Avenged Sevenfold's debut album,
Sounding the Seventh Trumpet,
was recorded when the band members were just eighteen years old and in
high school. It was originally released on their first label,
Good Life Recordings in 2001.
[9] After lead guitarist
Synyster Gates
joined the band, at the end of 1999 when he was 18 at the introductory
track "To End the Rapture" was re-recorded featuring a full band
element. The album was subsequently re-released on
Hopeless Records in 2002. The band started to receive recognition, performing with bands such as
Mushroomhead and
Shadows Fall and playing on the
Take Action Tour.
[10][11]
Line-up stability and chart success (2003–2006)
Having settled on their fourth bassist,
Johnny Christ, they released
Waking the Fallen
on Hopeless Records in August 2003. The album featured a more refined
and mature sound production in comparison to their previous album. The
band received profiles in
Billboard and
The Boston Globe, and played in the
Vans Warped Tour.
[12][13] In 2004, Avenged Sevenfold toured again on the Vans Warped Tour and recorded a video for their song "
Unholy Confessions" which went into rotation on
MTV2's
Headbanger's Ball.
[14] Shortly after the release of
Waking the Fallen, Avenged Sevenfold left Hopeless Records and were signed to
Warner Bros. Records.
City of Evil, the band's third album and
major label debut, was released on June 7, 2005 and debuted at No.30 on the
Billboard 200 chart, selling over 30,000 copies in its first week of release.
[15][16] It utilized a more classic metal sound than Avenged Sevenfold's previous albums, which had been grouped into the
metalcore genre.
[17][18] The album is also notable for the absence of
screamed and growled vocals; M. Shadows worked with vocal coach Ron Anderson—whose clients have included
Axl Rose and
Chris Cornell—for months before the album's release to achieve a sound that had "grit while still having the tone".
[17][19]
The album received steller reviews from several magazines and websites
and is credited for propelling the band into international popularity.
After playing Ozzfest in 2006, Avenged Sevenfold memorably beat out R&B Singers
Rihanna and
Chris Brown,
Panic! at the Disco,
Angels & Airwaves and
James Blunt for the title of Best New Artist at the MTV Video Music Awards, thanks in part to their
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas-inspired song “
Bat Country.”
[20]
They returned to the Vans Warped Tour, this time headlining and then continued on their own "Cities of Evil Tour."
[21] In addition, their lead single "
Bat Country"
reached No.2 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Charts, No.6 on Billboard's
Modern Rock Charts and the accompanying video made it to No.1 on MTV's
Total Request Live.
[22] Propelled by this success, the album sold well and became Avenged Sevenfold's first
gold record.
[23] It was later certified platinum in August 2009.
Self-titled album and death of "The Rev" (2007–2009)
Avenged Sevenfold's was invited to join
Ozzfest tour on the main stage, alongside other well known
hard rock and
heavy metal acts
DragonForce,
Lacuna Coil,
Hatebreed,
Disturbed and
System of a Down for the first time in 2006.
[24] That same year they also completed a worldwide tour, including the US,
The United Kingdom (as well as mainland Europe), Japan, Australia and New Zealand. After a sixteen month promotion of
City of Evil, the band announced that they were cancelling their Fall 2006 tour to record new music.
[25] In the interim, the band released their first DVD titled
All Excess on July 17, 2007.
[26] All Excess,
which debuted as the No.1 DVD in the USA, included live performances
and backstage footage that spanned the band's eight year career. Two
tribute albums,
Strung Out on Avenged Sevenfold: Bat Wings and Broken Strings and
Strung Out on Avenged Sevenfold: The String Tribute were also released in October 2007.
Avenged Sevenfold, the band's fourth album, was released on October 30, 2007, debuting at No.4 on the
Billboard 200 with over 90,000 copies sold.
[27] Two singles, "
Critical Acclaim" and "
Almost Easy" were released prior to the album's debut. In December 2007, an animated video was made for "
A Little Piece of Heaven." Due to the song's controversial subject matter, however, Warner Brothers only released it to registered
MVI users over the internet. The third single, "
Afterlife"
and its video was released in January 2008. Their fourth single, "Dear
God", was released on June 15, 2008. Although critical reception was
generally mixed the self-titled album went on to sell over 500,000
copies and was awarded "Album of the Year" at the
Kerrang! Awards.
[28]
Avenged Sevenfold headlined the 2008
Taste of Chaos tour with
Atreyu,
Bullet for My Valentine,
Blessthefall and
Idiot Pilot.
[29] They used the footage from their last show in
Long Beach for
Live in the LBC & Diamonds in the Rough, a two-disc B-sides CD and live DVD which was released on September 16, 2008. They also recorded numerous covers, including
Pantera's "
Walk",
Iron Maiden's "Flash of the Blade" and
Black Sabbath's "
Paranoid".
[29][30][31]
In January 2009, M. Shadows confirmed that the band was writing the follow-up to their
self-titled fourth album within the upcoming months.
[32] They also announced that they will be playing at
Rock on the Range, from May 16–17, 2009.
[33] On April 16, they performed a version of
Guns N' Roses' "
It's So Easy" onstage with
Slash, at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles.
[34] On December 28, 2009, drummer
James "The Rev" Sullivan was found dead at his home at the age of 28.
[35] Autopsy results were inconclusive,
[36]
but on June 9, 2010, the cause of death was revealed to have been an
"acute polydrug intoxication due to combined effects of Oxycodone,
Oxymorphone, Diazepam/Nordiazepam and ethanol".
[37]
In a statement by the band, they expressed their grief over the passing
of The Rev and later posted a message from Sullivan's family which
expressed their gratitude to his fans for their support.
[38][39]
Nightmare and recent events (2010–present)
Zacky Vengeance and Synyster Gates live in 2011
The band members admitted in a number of interviews that they
considered disbanding at this point of time. However, on February 17,
2010, Avenged Sevenfold stated that they had entered the studio, along
with now-former
Dream Theater drummer
Mike Portnoy, to drum for the record, in place of the Rev.
[40]
The single "
Nightmare" was digitally released on May 18, 2010.
[41][42] A preview for the song was released on May 6, 2010 on
Amazon.com, but was removed soon after for unknown reasons.
[42][43] Mixing for the album had been completed in New York City, and
Nightmare was finally released worldwide on July 27, 2010.
[44] It met with mixed to positive reviews from music critics but was well received by the fans.
Nightmare beat sales projections easily, debuting at number one on the
Billboard 200 with sales of 163,000 units in its first week.
[45]
After finishing recording, in December, Portnoy and the band posted
simultaneous statements on their websites stating that he will not be
their replacement for The Rev. However, Portnoy did travel with the band
overseas in December 2010 for three shows in Iraq and Kuwait sponsored
by the
USO. They played for US Soldiers at
Camp Adder,
Camp Beuhring, and
Balad Air Base.
[46] On January 20, 2011, Avenged Sevenfold announced via Facebook that former
Confide drummer
Arin Ilejay
will tour with them starting this year. Whether or not he will be
joining the band on a permanent basis has not been decided yet.
[47][48]
Avenged Sevenfold performed at the
Rock am Ring and
Rock im Park festivals on June 3–5, 2011 alongside other bands such as
Alter Bridge,
System of a Down, and
In Flames.
[49] On April 2011, the band headlined the Golden God Awards held by
Metal Hammer. The same night the band won three awards for "Best Vocalist" (
M. Shadows), "Epiphone Best Guitarist(s)" (
Synyster Gates and
Zacky Vengeance) and "Affliction’s Album of The Year: " for
Nightmare, while
Mike Portnoy won the award for "Drum Workshop’s Best Drummer" for his work on the album.
In May 2011, it was confirmed that the band had written a new song to be included in the Escalation DLC pack for
Call of Duty: Black Ops.
[50] The song is the first time developers
Treyarch have commissioned an outside band to contribute a song since the franchise began.
[51] The song, titled "
Not Ready to Die", was released on iTunes on May 2, 2011.
In August 2011, vocalist M. Shadows stated the band would finish the
Uproar Festival then go home to take a break for six to seven months before starting a new record.
[52]
He also roughly stated that Arin Ilejay and the band are getting along
great, but that they have to make sure he's comfortable writing music
with them, but also that he hopes everything works out.
Avenged Sevenfold headlined the 2011
Uproar Festival with supporting acts
Three Days Grace,
Seether,
Bullet For My Valentine,
Escape The Fate, among others.
[citation needed]
The band will be touring in November and December on their "Buried Alive" tour with supporting acts
Hollywood Undead,
Asking Alexandria, and
Black Veil Brides.
[citation needed]
Style and influences
The band has cited bands such as
Bad Religion,
Guns N' Roses,
Iron Maiden,
Pantera,
Dream Theater,
Metallica,
NOFX,
Alice in Chains,
Black Flag,
Corrosion of Conformity,
The Misfits,
Slayer,
The Vandals,
Rage Against the Machine,
Korn,
Deftones and
AFI as their artistic influences.
[53]
Avenged Sevenfold's material spans multiple genres and has evolved
over the band's entire career. Initially, the band's debut album
Sounding the Seventh Trumpet consisted almost entirely of
metalcore sound; however, there were several deviations to this genre, most notably in "Streets" which adopts a
punk style and "
Warmness on the Soul," which is a piano-oriented
ballad.
[54] On
Waking the Fallen,
the band displayed the contemporary metalcore style once more, but
added more clean vocals as well as more mature and intricate musical
elements. In the band's DVD
All Excess, producer
Andrew Mudrock explained this transition: "When I met the band after
Sounding the Seventh Trumpet had come out before they had recorded
Waking the Fallen,
M. Shadows said to me 'This record is screaming. The record we want to
make is going to be half-screaming half-singing. I don't want to scream
anymore. And the record after that is going to be all singing.'"
On
City of Evil, Avenged Sevenfold's third album, the band chose to abandon the metalcore genre, developing a more
hard rock
style. Avenged Sevenfold's self-titled album, again, consists of
several deviations to less consistent genres and styles from the album's
main hard rock and
heavy metal songs, most notably in "
Dear God", which adopts a
country
style and "A Little Piece of Heaven", which is circled within the
influence of Broadway show tunes, using primarily brass instruments and
stringed orchestra to take over most of the role of the lead and rhythm
guitar.
Nightmare
contains further deviations, including a piano ballad called "Fiction"
and a brief return to their metalcore roots on "God Hates Us". The band
has changed considerably since their first album, in which during that
time they have been characterized as a heavy band with a
screamed and
growled vocal style combined with clean vocals, chugging guitar riffs and
breakdowns that one can expect from the metalcore genre.
Accolades
| Year |
Nominated work |
Award |
Result |
| 2011 |
Mike Portnoy on Nightmare |
Golden God Awards: Best Drummer[55] |
Won |
| Synyster Gates & Zacky Vengeance on Nightmare |
Golden God Awards: Best Guitarists[55] |
Won |
| M. Shadows on Nightmare |
Golden God Awards: Best Vocalist[55] |
Won |
| Nightmare |
Golden God Awards: Album of the Year[55] |
Won |
| "Buried Alive" |
Revolver Magazine's Song of the Year 2011[56] |
Nominated |
Band members
The band members occasionally play instruments other than their primary instruments listed below.
- Current members
|
- Former members
- The Rev – drums, piano, backing vocals (1999–2009)
- Matt Wendt – bass (1999–2000)
- Justin Sane – bass (2000–2002)
- Dameon Ash – bass (2002–2003)
|
- Session and touring members
Timeline
Discography
- Studio albums
