Avenged Sevenfold
Avenged Sevenfold, or commonly called A7X by us fans, is probably one of the best American bands to have ever been created. That’s right, I’m putting it up there with Nirvana and AC/DC(although I don’t think I should, and I’ll probably be hated for it….maybe 
). So here’s some information on them for the malinformed:
The band was formed in 1999 in Huntington Beach, California with original members M Shadows, Zacky Vengeance, The Rev. and Matt Wendt. Avenged Sevenfold’s first 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. After lead guitarist Synyster Gates joined the band, the introductory track “To End The Rapture” was re-recorded with the removal of the piano track. The album was subsequently re-released on Hopeless Records in 2002. Having settled on their fourth bassist (Johnny Christ), a follow-up album, entitled Waking the Fallen was released on the same label in 2003. Shortly after its release, Avenged Sevenfold was signed to Warner Bros. Records.
City of Evil, the band’s third album, was released on June 7, 2005. Propelled by the success of the first single “Bat Country” and its accompanying music video, the album sold well and became Avenged Sevenfold’s first gold record. City of Evil strayed away from the band’s previous metalcore sound and M. Shadows chose to abandon the screaming vocals from the first two albums. Although Shadows acknowledges that he sustained throat and vocal cord damage after Waking the Fallen and later required surgery to help correct the problem, he states that the change in vocal style was not a result of this issue. In their 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 since been able to scream even better than before the surgery and training with vocal coach Ron Anderson.[1]
Avenged Sevenfold’s mainstream success got them an invitation to 2006′s 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. That same year they also 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.[2] 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 July 17, 2007. All Excess debuted as the #1 DVD in the USA which included 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.[3] 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 internet in December 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 recently headlined the Taste of Chaos tour with Atreyu, Bullet for My Valentine, Blessthefall and Idiot Pilot.[4]
Guitarist Zacky Vengeance confirmed in an interview that the band had recently entered the studio to record two new cover songs from metal giants Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath.
On July 16 (Issue 1219), Kerrang! released a free CD, Maiden Heaven: A Tribute to Iron Maiden as a tribute album to heavy metal band, Iron Maiden. It features Avenged Sevenfold covering the song “Flash of the Blade”. “Maiden are by far the best live band in the world and their music is timeless,” quoted by vocalist M Shadows. “This also gives us a chance to expose this great song to some of our younger fans who maybe aren’t as familiar with Iron Maiden.” [5]
Avenged Sevenfold was awarded “Album of the Year” at the Kerrang! Awards. M. Shadows said this to the fans:
“Receiving such an honor in the United Kingdom means so much to us because England has become like a second home. This summer has been the best of our career. We’ve seen so many of you in so many countries and you’ve all touched us. We’re so proud of how much love our fans in the US have always shown us. And now it means the world to us to know how many of you around the globe have been touched by our music. Thanks you from the bottom of our hearts.”[cite this quote]
During a recent festival performance in Leeds & Reading, UK, of which was sold out, the band were forced to shorten the Leeds performance and canceled the Reading performance altogether due to M. Shadows being told by his doctors in Los Angeles and the UK to rest his voice due to vocal strain.[6] A few days later, the band was forced to announce the cancellation of the remaining September shows, with the tour set to resume again on October 15.[7]
Avenged Sevenfold’s most recent release, Live in the LBC & Diamonds in the Rough, a two-disc B-sides CD and live DVD, was released on September 16, 2008.
The Dear God video is now available for purchasing on itunes, it was released on 28th October, 2008.
This heavy metal band will rock your socks for all the songs you listen off of them (well, most of them anyway). When you decide to actually look at this band, look at Bat Country and A Little Piece of Heaven. Those two are my favorites, and I am certain you guys would love them too. ^_^
-Amorías
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