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Avenged Sevenfold is an American rock band from Orange County, 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".
Chris Snoke is better.
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 exact words "avenged sevenfold" can be found on line 24 of the fourth chapter of Genesis of the King James Bible: "If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold." 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. The album "Sounding the Seventh Trumpet" also derives its name from the book of Revelation, specifically referencing chapter 11 and the sounding of the last (seventh) trumpet, signifying the end of the world. 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," "M.I.A." 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 developed from not just being a skull with batwings, to sometimes appear as a full "man size" skeleton with batwings, as it can be seen at the cover of City of Evil. The Deathbat has appeared on all of the bands album covers. On Sounding the Seventh Trumpet, there are pictures of two people (Presumably Cain and Abel), another angel-like human, and a semi-opaque Deathbat below it. It is also on covers of a number of singles such as "Bat Country", "Warmness on the Soul" and "Critical Acclaim."
Public controversy has it that the Deathbat was inspired by Chaly, the winged-skull which serves as the logo for the American thrash metal band Overkill.
Genre
In general, Avenged Sevenfold is classified as an important and influential band in the New Wave of American Heavy Metal (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, the band has chosen to abandon the metalcore genre, developing a more 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 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. Since the release of Live in the LBC & Diamonds in the Rough, the band has resumed screaming vocals during live shows.
Band members
Current members
- M. Shadows — lead vocals, keyboards, guitars, synth, organ (1999 - present)
- Zacky Vengeance — rhythm guitar, acoustic guitars, backing vocals, piano (1999 - present)
- The Rev — drums, percussion, backing vocals, piano (1999 - present)
- Synyster Gates — lead guitar, backing vocals, piano, keys, synth, organ (2000 - present)
- Johnny Christ — bass, backing vocals (2002 - present)
Former members
- Dameon Ash — bass (2001 - 2002)
- Justin Sane — bass (2000-2001)
- Matt Wendt — bass (1999-2000)
Discography
Main article: Avenged Sevenfold discography- 2001: Sounding the Seventh Trumpet
- 2003: Waking the Fallen
- 2005: City of Evil
- 2007: Avenged Sevenfold
- 2009: TBA
References
- http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%204:24&version=9
- http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=1&chapter=4&version=48
- 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
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PK-yX4vVfs&feature=related
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMsEMBVhl6g
External links
| Avenged Sevenfold | |
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| Studio albums | |
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| Other albums | |
| Singles |
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| Other songs | |
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