Huntington Beach, California is the place of origin of the dark band, Avenged Sevenfold. It was in 1999 when the band members, all still in high school, first came together. Vocalist M. Shadows came up with the band name. Despite not being a religious band, their name is actually lifted from a biblical reference contained in the Cain and Abel story in which God warns that anyone who kills Cain will be punished sevenfold.
The group name is not the only one that stands out. The members have also taken on stage names that are reflective of their musical leanings. Other original members are Zacky Vengeance, James “The Rev” Sullivan and Matt Wendt. Current members with Vengeance and Shadows now include Synyster Gates who plays lead guitar and Johnny Christ who handles bass.
The group obviously belonged to the metalcore genre when they first began playing. This was exactly what they offered in Sounding the Seventh Trumpet which was originally relased by Good Life Recordings in 2001. The same metalcore album was released a second time by Hopeless Records in 2002.
In the following year, the group saw more action with the release of Walking the Fallen. In the same year, the group saw greater recognition as they played in the Vans Warped Tour in both 2003 and 2004. After this Avenged Sevenfold album release, their eventual move to mainstream was marked by their move to Warner Bros. Records. Apparently, this also introduced more popular Avenged Sevenfold merch.
It was with Warner Bros. in 2005 that Avenged Sevenfold came up with City of Evil, their third album. Despite being viewed as highly reflective of the band’s image, the album was a departure from their initial musical tone. Metalcore was no longer the strong element in the band’s music but rock. This is obvious because of the glaring omission of screaming vocal outputs.
In 2006, the group gained acclaim as MTV Video Music Awards’ Best New Artist. In this same year, they returned to the Vans Warped Tour, played in Ozzfest and launched their own world tour covering the US, UK and Australia among other locations. As if to highlight their new popular status, the band capped 2007 with the release of their self-titled fourth album, Avenged Sevenfold which debuted at the #4 spot.
The end of 2009 cast a pall on the rising fame of this gritty band. Drummer James “The Rev” Sullivan was found dead due to drug-related causes. He was only 28. The timing was unfortunate since the band had come in second place in the same month to Metallica in Ultimate Guitar’s list of Top Ten Bands of the Decade. Although the band mourned the loss of its member, they eventually decided to move on in February of 2010 with new drummer Mike Portnoy from Dream Theater.
The band has emphatically mentioned that Sullivan will forever be part of Avenged Sevenfold. The group’s new drummer however is obviously set to see more action in the months to come. Shadows has revealed that the group’s fifth album will be out by July. By his own admission, it will be the group’s darkest work yet.
The seeming switch in genre is understandable. Avenged Sevenfold is apparently evolving. Nonetheless, they are clearly on more stable foundations than other bands. There is hardly any doubt what the band wants to evoke with its dark sounds. They’ll surely be in more future band posters.
Comments are closed.