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Avenged Sevenfold

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For the self-titled album, see Avenged Sevenfold (album).
Avenged Sevenfold

Avenged Sevenfold (A7X) is an American heavy metal and metalcore band from Huntington Beach, California.

Biography

Early years: 1999-2004

The band was formed in 1999. Avenged Sevenfold's first album, Sounding the Seventh Trumpet was originally released on their first label, Good Life Recordings. After lead guitarist Synyster Gates joined the band (right after Sounding the Seventh Trumpet was recorded in 2000), the introductory track "To End The Rapture" was re-recorded with Gates playing, and the album was re-released on Hopeless Records. Their follow-up album, entitled Waking the Fallen, was also released on Hopeless Records and was awarded a positive rating in Rolling Stone magazine. Shortly after its release, A7X was signed to Warner Bros. Records.

Mainstream success with City of Evil: 2005

The third album, City of Evil, which was released on 7 June 2005, strayed away from the earlier albums, and M. Shadows chose to abandon the screaming from the first two albums. Although Shadows acknowledges throat and vocal cord damage, and having surgery to help correct the issues, he says that the change in vocal style was not a result. In their new DVD "All Excess", Mudrock, producer of Avenged sevenfold's second and third albums, said that prior to Waking the Fallen, Shadows had stated that he wanted a CD with half-screaming, then one with no screaming, which was achieved in City of Evil. But he maintains that he is able to scream even better since the surgery and training with vocal coach Ron Anderson, who worked with various artists including Axl Rose, Kylie Minogue and Chris Cornell.[1]

All Excess and Avenged Sevenfold: 2006-2007

In 2006, A7X completed a worldwide tour, including the US, England, Europe, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. After canceling fall and winter 2006 tour dates, the band announced that it was planning its fourth studio album, a self-titled album, initially scheduled for release on October 16, but was delayed for two weeks to complete the bonus features. M. Shadows had stated that it is not a City of Evil Part 2 or Waking the Fallen Part 2, but he says it will attract fans of both original albums while still being a surprise.[2]

To "tide fans over" until the release of the new album, Avenged Sevenfold released their first DVD, All Excess, on 17 July 2007. The DVD includes a documentary and live footage dating back to 1999 along with music videos and the making of the Seize The Day music video. It is a region-free DVD and is approximately 156 minutes long. Before the actual release of the DVD, there were several theatrical premiers around the United States on 16 July 2007.

The album was released on October 30 to early success, debuting at #4 on the Billboard 200 with approximately 94,000 copies sold.[3] Two singles, "Critical Acclaim" and "Almost Easy" along with its music video, were released prior to the album. Another single, "Scream", was also released prior to the album. The fourth single, "Afterlife" and its video will be released in early 2008. A third music video was made for "A Little Piece of Heaven." It is currently available exclusively to Avenged Sevenfold MVI owners.

Recent Events: 2008-Present

The band has been announced as the headliners for the American and Canadian 2008 Taste of Chaos which will take place through February and March. Joining them are bands such as Atreyu, Bullet For My Valentine and Blessthefall.

On January 16, the band announced that they would be releasing an unreleased B-side track "Crossroads" to F.A.N. memebers using the Avenged Sevenfold MVI on January 17.

Band name and lyrical content

The band's name is a reference to the Book of Genesis in the Bible where Cain is sentenced to live in exile for murdering his brother. God marked him so that none would kill him on account of his sin; the man who dared to kill Cain would have "vengeance taken upon him sevenfold." The title of Avenged Sevenfold's song "Chapter Four" references Genesis 4:15, 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 only it is written in the first person and refers to the punishment of Babylon the Great, world empire and seat of false religion. Another biblical reference occurs in the song "The Wicked End". In the song, several times it is said "dust the apple off, savor each bite, and deep inside you know Adam was right." making reference to Eve eating the forbidden fruit. Although the band's title and members' stage names make references to religion, Shadows stated in an interview that they are not a religious band. "Anyone that reads the lyrics and really knew anything about us, they would know we're not promoting either," he said. "That's one thing about this band that I love is that we never really shove any kind of, like, political or religious beliefs on people. We just, the music's there to entertain and maybe thought-provoking on both sides, but we don't try to, like, really shove anything down anyone's throat. There's too many bands that do that nowadays, I think."[4] The band has since decided to include political lyrics on the song Critical Acclaim.

Genre

While often categorized as metal or hard rock, Avenged Sevenfold's material ranges across many genres, often leaving the concept of genres altogether (especially in their most recent album). For example, in their first album, which was almost completely metalcore, they deviated from that genre in the song "Streets", which is more of skate punk than anything else. Also, in their newest album, the song "Dear God" is a country song and "A Little Piece of Heaven" on the same album has some elements of broadway show tunes, using primarily brass instruments and stringed orchestra to take over most of the role of the lead and rhythm guitar. Avenged Sevenfold does not restrict itself to a certain specific genre. It has, though, changed considerably since its first album, which was characterized as very heavy, to being more of a hard rock type band.

Band members

Current members

Former members

  • Justin Sane - Bass Guitar, Piano (2000-2002), not to be confused with Justin Sane of Anti-Flag)
  • Dameon Ash - Bass Guitar (2000
  • Matt Wendt - Bass Guitar (1999-2000)

Discography

Studio albums

EPs

Demo Recordings

For information, see Early Avenged Sevenfold releases.

Singles

Year Title Chart Positions Album
US Hot 200 US Mainstream Rock US Modern Rock UK Singles Chart UK Rock Chart
2001 "Warmness On The Soul" - - - - - Sounding the Seventh Trumpet
2003 "Unholy Confessions" - - - - - Waking the Fallen
2005 "Burn It Down" - - - #92 #22 City of Evil
2005 "Bat Country" #60 #2 #6 #84 #24 City of Evil
2006 "Beast and the Harlot" - #19 #40 #44 - City of Evil
2006 "Seize the Day" - #17 - - - City of Evil
2007 "Critical Acclaim" #18 - - - - Avenged Sevenfold
2007 "Almost Easy" #106 #3 #7 #67 #1 Avenged Sevenfold
2008 "Afterlife" #200 - - - - Avenged Sevenfold

Videography

Date Title Notes Link
March 2001 Warmness on the Soul Professional video (Video)
March 6, 2004 Unholy Confessions Live video with dubbed music (Video)
June 2005 Burn it Down Live video with dubbed music
July 28, 2005 Bat Country Professional video directed by Marc Klasfeld (video from Bedlam Society)
February 6, 2006 Beast and the Harlot Professional video directed by Tony Petrossian
June 30, 2006 Seize the Day Professional video directed by Wayne Isham
July 17, 2007 All Excess DVD featuring a documentary, live performances,
music videos, and outtakes.
September 25, 2007 Almost Easy Professional video directed by P.R. Brown (video from MTV2)
January 7, 2008 A Little Piece of Heaven Animated Music Video ([1] A7X Myspace)
February 4, 2008 Afterlife Professional video directed by Wayne Isham

Compilations

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

Guest Features in other artist's songs

Trivia

  • Their longest album is City of Evil (1:14:25) and shortest is Sounding the Seventh Trumpet (52:22).
  • Their albums had a descending number of tracks, -the album Sounding the Seventh Trumpet has 13 tracks -Waking the Fallen has 12 tracks -City of Evil has 11 tracks -And their self-titled, Avenged Sevenfold has 10 tracks.
  • Their albums have been released two years apart.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Avenged Sevenfold.
  1. ^ Rolling Stone article
  2. ^ MTV article
  3. ^ Katie Hasty. "Eagles Fly Past Britney To Debut At No. 1", Billboard.com, November 7 2007. Last accessed November 7 2007
  4. ^ ultimate-guitar.com article
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