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Avenged Sevenfold is an American hard rock band formed in Huntington Beach, California. 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, Avenged Sevenfold with singles such as "Critical Acclaim" "Almost Easy", " Afterlife", "Dear God", and "Scream".
Musical characteristics
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 for Avenged Sevenfold came from Zacky Vengeance as A7X. 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.
The Deathbat
The band sports a logo known as the "Deathbat". It was originally designed by an artistic high school friend of Avenged Sevenfold, Micah Montague, as seen on the bands first DVD, All Excess, though Cameron Rackam has done many more pieces for the band's albums. The Deathbat has appeared on all of the band album covers including their new CD/DVD Live in the LBC & Diamonds in the Rough and is on the inner part of the cover with City of Evil being the exception. It is also on covers of a number of singles such as "Bat Country", "Almost Easy" and "Critical Acclaim."
Genre
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In general, Avenged Sevenfold is classified as an important and even influential band in the NWOAHM. Their material ranges across many genres - including several crossover genres - often leaving the concept of genres altogether (especially in their most recent albums). For example, Avenged Sevenfold's debut Sounding the Seventh Trumpet consisted almost entirely of 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. On Waking The Fallen, the band displayed a much 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. On City of Evil, Avenged Sevenfold's third album, their post-hardcore influences remain intact (while abandoning the metalcore genre), they have also developed a punk metal/thrash style, very much like bands such as Bullet for My Valentine and Trivium. Also, the drumming on both these albums is played in a more thrash-influenced alternative metal style, similar to that of Slipknot. 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 was characterized as a heavy band with the screams, growls, and lyrics one can expect from the metalcore genre, to being more of a fusion between punk rock, hard rock, and heavy metal.
Band members
Current members
- M. Shadows - lead vocals, piano (1999–present)
- Synyster Gates - lead guitar, keyboards, backing vocals (1999–present)
- Zacky Vengeance - rhythm guitar, acoustic guitar, backing vocals (1999–present)
- Johnny Christ - bass, backing vocals (2002–present)
- The Rev - drums, percussion, backing vocals (1999–present)
Former members
- Justin Meacham - Bass (1999–2001)
- Daemon Ash - Bass (2001–2002)
Discography
Main article: Avenged Sevenfold discography- Sounding the Seventh Trumpet (2001)
- Waking the Fallen (2003)
- City of Evil (2005) US #30
- Avenged Sevenfold (2007) US #4
- Diamonds in the Rough (2008) US #24
Singles
Main article: Avenged Sevenfold discography- Warmness on the Soul (2001)
- Unholy Confessions (2003)
- Bat Country (2005)
- Beast and the Harlot (2006)
- Burn It Down (A7X song) (2006)
- Seize the Day (song) (2006)
- Critical Acclaim (2007)
- Almost Easy (2007)
- Crossroads (Avenged Sevenfold song) (2007)
- A Little Piece of Heaven (2008)
- Afterlife (Avenged Sevenfold song) (2008)
- Dear God (Avenged Sevenfold song) (2008)
- Scream (Avenged Sevenfold song) (2008)
References
- http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%204:24&version=9
- ultimate-guitar.com article
- http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=44955
- http://www.globaldomination.se/reviews/avenged-sevenfold-sounding-the-seventh-trumpet
External links
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