AVENGED SEVENFOLD

HISTORY

Avenged Sevenfold is an American rock band from Huntington Beach, California, formed in 1999. The band has achieved mainstream success with their 2005 album City of Evil, which included singles such as "Burn It Down", "Bat Country," "Beast and the Harlot" and "Seize the Day." The band's success followed with their self-titled album, with singles such as "Critical Acclaim", "Almost Easy", "Afterlife", "Scream" and "Dear God".

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, although it is not a religious band.Upon its formation, each member of the band also took on a pseudonym which were already nicknames of theirs from high school.Before release 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,[clarification needed] Good Life Recordings in 2001. 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.Having settled on their fourth bassist, Johnny Christ, they released Waking the Fallen on Hopeless Records in August 2003. The band received profiles in Billboard and The Boston Globe, and played in the Vans Warped Tour.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.[8] Shortly after the release of Waking the Fallen, Avenged Sevenfold left Hopeless Records and were signed to Warner Bros. Records.

GENRE
In general, Avenged Sevenfold is classified as an important and influential band in Heavy Metal. Their material spans multiple genres and has evolved over the band's ten year career. Initially, Avenged Sevenfold's debut 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.On Waking The Fallen, the band displayed a more refined and fluent metalcore album that was able to harness the rawness of the first album and add 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 punk metal/thrash style. Also, the drumming on both these albums is played in a more thrash-influenced alternative metal 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 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 changed considerably since its first album, which since then they have been characterized as a heavy band with screams and growls combined with clean vocals that one can expect from the metalcore genre.

BAND NAME AND LYRICAL CONTENT

The band's name is a reference to the Book of Genesis in the Bible - specifically Genesis 4:24, where Cain is sentenced to life 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 abbreviation "A7X" for their band name was the idea of guitarist Zacky Vengeance. The title of Avenged Sevenfold's song "Chapter Four" refers to 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 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."The band has a few songs that are somewhat political in nature like "Critical Acclaim", "Gunslinger" and "Blinded In Chains". The song "Betrayed" off of their album "City of Evil" was written about "Dimebag" Darrel's, of Pantera and Damageplan, death.

BAND MEMBER

M. Shadows lead vocals, keyboards, guitars, synth, organ (since 1999) Synyster Gates lead guitar, backing vocals, piano, keys, synth, organ (since 2000) Zacky Vengeance rhythm guitar, backing vocals, acoustic guitars, piano (since 1999) Johnny Christ bass, backing vocals (since 2002) The Rev drums, percussion, backing vocals, piano (since 1999)

The death of The Rev
Main article: The Rev
On December 28, 2009, drummer James "The Rev" Sullivan was found dead at his home at the age of 28, leaving behind a wife.[38] In a statement by the band, they expressed their grief over the passing of The Rev and asked that his family's privacy to be respected:

It is with great sadness and heavy hearts that we tell you of the passing today of Jimmy “The Rev” Sullivan. Jimmy was not only one of the world's best drummers, but more importantly he was our best friend and brother. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Jimmy's family and we hope that you will respect their privacy during this difficult time.[39]

Shown on Avenged Sevenfold's official website was a message from Sullivan's family which expressed their gratitude to his fans for their support:

"We would like to thank all of Jimmy's fans for the heartfelt comments that have been posted – it is comforting to know that his genius and antics were appreciated and that he was loved so much. Our hearts are broken – he was much too young to fall. Óg agus saor go deo (forever young and free)"[40]

In addition to comments made about the death of Sullivan, the band's manager Larry Jacobson expressed how Sullivan was a kind figure to all. Jacobson stated within the interview that;

He was expressive. He'd tell you how he felt about you -- you didn't wonder because he'd put his arm around you," he said. "He knew how to tell his friends he loved them." [41]

In addition to Jacobson, over 50 musical artists have commented upon the death of Sullivan.[42]

On January 5, 2010 a private funeral was held for The Rev. In attendance were friends of the band, such as the Lostprophets and Brian Haner Sr.. On January 6, 2010, the body of James Sullivan was laid to rest in an undisclosed location.[43]

The January 13, 2010 edition of Kerrang! featured an article about the death of The Rev, in which fans and stars paid tribute to him.[44] Simultaneously, Zack Vengeance expressed his own feelings about the passing, stating that "Jimmy will always be with me in everything I do. Except sitting at home being sad, so today Im going to try to start living again/wiki/Sounding_the_Seventh_Trumpet">Sounorg/wiki/Avenged_Sevenfold_(album)"