Avenged Sevenfold
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| Avenged Sevenfold | |
|---|---|
 A7X in Bangkok, Thailand, 2007
(L-R: M. Shadows, Zacky Vengeance, Synyster Gates, The Rev, and Johnny Christ) |
|
| Background information | |
| Also known as | A7X |
| Origin | Huntington Beach, California, USA |
| Genre(s) | Metalcore[1] Heavy metal Hard rock |
| Years active | 1999 - present |
| Label(s) | Good Life Recordings (2001-2002) Hopeless Records (2002-2004) Warner Bros. Records (2004-present) |
| Associated acts | Pinkly Smooth Suburban Legends Unnamed Sideproject |
| Website | AvengedSevenfold.com |
| Members | |
| M. Shadows Zacky Vengeance The Rev Synyster Gates Johnny Christ |
|
| Former members | |
| Deamon Ash Justin Sane Matt Wendt |
|
Avenged Sevenfold is an American rock band from Huntington Beach, California.
Contents |
Biography
Early years
The band was formed in 1999. Avenged Sevenfold's first album, Sounding the Seventh Trumpet, was recorded when the band members were eighteen years old. It was originally released on their first label, Good Life Recordings. After lead guitarist Synyster Gates joined the band, 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, Avenged Sevenfold were signed to Warner Bros. Records.
Mainstream success
City of Evil, the third album which was released on 7 June 2005, strayed from metalcore, and M. Shadows chose to abandon the screaming from the first two albums. Although Shadows acknowledges throat and vocal cord damage, and the following 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's second and third albums, said 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. Shadows maintains that he's able to scream even better than before since the surgery and training with vocal coach Ron Anderson, who worked with various artists, from Axl Rose, to Kylie Minogue, and Chris Cornell.[2]
Recent events
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 they were planning their fourth studio album, a self-titled album. M. Shadows has stated that it would not be 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.[3] They played their first tour dates of 2007 on an Asian tour with stops in Indonesia, Singapore, and Japan. 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.
The self titled album was released out on October 30, 2007 to early success, debuting at #4 on the Billboard 200 with approximately 94,000 copies sold.[4] Two singles, "Critical Acclaim" and "Almost Easy" along with its music video, were released prior to the album. An animated video was made for "A Little Piece of Heaven" and was going to be included on the MVI, but due to the song's subject matter (i.e. necrophilia), Warner Brothers released it to registered MVI users over the age of 18 in December of 2007. The third single, "Afterlife" and its video was released in January 2008. Avenged Sevenfold has confirmed that their fourth single is the country rock style song "Dear God".
They are currently headlining the Taste of Chaos tour with Atreyu, Bullet for My Valentine, Blessthefall and Idiot Pilot. On the tour, they have recorded a live DVD, which will also have some unreleased studio songs from the most recent album.[5]
Musical characteristics
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 suffer "vengeance seven times over" (KJV). The title of Avenged Sevenfold's song "Chapter Four" references the fourth chapter of Genesis, 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 this song, several times it is said "dust the apple off, savor each bite, and deep inside you know Adam was right." making reference to Adam 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."[6] The band has a few songs that are somewhat political in nature like "Critical Acclaim" and "Blinded In Chains".
Genre
Avenged Sevenfold's material ranges across many genres, often leaving the concept of genres altogether (especially in their most recent album). For example, Avenged Sevenfold's debut Sounding the Seventh Trumpet consisted almost entirely of a metalcore sound, however consisted of several deviations to this genre, most notably in "Streets" which adopts a Punk style, and "Warmness on the Soul", which consists of mainly piano, and could be considered soft rock. Avenged Sevenfold's self-titled album, again, consists of several deviations to less consistent genres and styles, most notably in "Dear God", which adopts a country style, and "A Little Piece of Heaven", which includes 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. The band 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
- M. Shadows - lead vocals (1999 - present)
- Synyster Gates - lead guitars, piano, backing vocals (2000 - present)
- Zacky Vengeance - rhythm guitars, backing vocals (1999 - present)
- Johnny Christ - bass, backing vocals (2002 - present)
- The Rev (The Reverend Tholomew Plague) - drums, percussion, vocals, piano (1999 - present)
Discography
Studio Albums
- 2001: Sounding the Seventh Trumpet (re-released in 2002)
- 2003: Waking the Fallen
- 2005: City of Evil (Gold)
- 2007: Avenged Sevenfold
EPs
- 2001: Warmness on the Soul
DVDs
- 2007: All Excess
- 2008: Road To Realization
Demo Recordings
For information, see Early Avenged Sevenfold releases.
Singles
| Year | Title | Chart Positions | Album | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Hot 100 | US Mainstream Rock | US Modern Rock | UK Singles Chart | UK Rock Chart | |||
| 2001 | "Warmness on the Soul" | - | - | - | - | - | Sounding the Seventh Trumpet |
| 2004 | "Unholy Confessions" | - | - | - | - | - | Waking the Fallen |
| 2005 | "Burn It Down" | - | - | - | 92 | 22 | City of Evil |
| "Bat Country" | 60 | 2 | 6 | 84 | 12 | ||
| 2006 | "Beast and the Harlot" | - | 19 | 40 | 44 | 33 | |
| "Seize the Day" | - | 17 | - | - | - | ||
| 2007 | "Critical Acclaim" | - | - | - | - | - | Avenged Sevenfold |
| "Almost Easy" | 106 | 3 | 6 | 67 | 1 | ||
| 2008 | "Afterlife" | - | 14 | 27 | 197 | 3 | |
| "Dear God" | - | - | - | - | - | ||
Videography
| Date | Title | Notes | Link |
| March 2001 | Warmness on the Soul | Official music video directed by Broken Robot & Militont | (Video) |
| March 6, 2004 | Unholy Confessions | Official music video directed by Greg Kaplan | (Video) |
| June 2005 | Burn It Down | Official music video (live) directed by Splinter Films UK | (Video) |
| July 28, 2005 | Bat Country" | Official music video directed by Marc Klasfeld | (Video) |
| February 6, 2006 | Beast and the Harlot | Official music video directed by Tony Petrossian | (Video) |
| June 30, 2006 | Seize the Day | Official music video directed by Wayne Isham | (Video) |
| July 17, 2007 | All Excess | DVD featuring a documentary, live performances, music videos, and outtakes. |
(Trailer) |
| October 2007 | Almost Easy | Official music video directed by P.R. Brown | (Video) |
| January 2008 | A Little Piece of Heaven | Official music video directed by Rafa Alcantra | (Video) |
| February 2008 | Afterlife | Official music video directed by Wayne Isham | (Video) |
| June 2008 | Dear God | Official music video directed by Rafa Alcantra |
Compilations
| Date | Title | Label | Songs |
| 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 | Headbanger's Ball: The Revenge | Roadrunner Records | "Burn It Down" |
| 2005 | Masters of Horror Soundtrack | "Beast and the Harlot" (live) | |
| 2006 | Kerrang! - High Voltage: A Brief History of Rock[1] | "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" | |
| 2006 | Saw III Soundtrack | "Burn It Down" | |
| 2007 | Saw IV Soundtrack | "Eternal Rest" |
Guest features in other artist's songs
- "Savior, Saint, Salvation" - Bleeding Through featuring M. Shadows
- "The River" - Good Charlotte featuring M. Shadows and Synyster Gates
- "Buffalo Stampede" - Cowboy Troy featuring M. Shadows
- "Falling Away from Me" (Live) - Korn featuring M. Shadows who temporarily replaced Jonathan Davis (due to medical attention)
- "Like Always" - A Permanent Holiday featuring M. Shadows
- "Dirty Little Girl" - Burn Halo featuring Synyster Gates
External links
References
- ^ http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&searchlink=AVENGED|SEVENFOLD&sql=11:knfqxqekldae~T0 allmusic page
- ^ Rolling Stone article
- ^ MTV article
- ^ "Eagles Fly Past Britney to Debut at No. 1", Billboard.com, November 7, 2007. Last accessed November 7, 2007
- ^ Zacky Vengeance: Avenged Sevenfold Would've 'Scared the Emo Kids' on Warped Tour
- ^ ultimate-guitar.com article
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