Avenged Sevenfold Research

Eddie Gough

Avenged Sevenfold is an American band that was formed in 1999. The band members are M. Shadows as the lead vocalist, Zacky Vengeance as backing vocalist and rhythm guitarist, Synyster Gates as lead guitarist and backing vocalist, Johnny Christ as bass guitarist and Arin Ilejay as drummer. The band was named after the story of Cain and Abel even though the band is not religious.They are known for their artistic CD’s, t-shirts and merchandise. They were originally a metalcore band but changed through time to become the heavy rock band that they are today. They have released 5 albums so far selling over 8 million copies all together so far. The band have mentioned that their major influences have been Metallica, Guns N’ Roses and Iron Maiden. All of which are metal or heavy rock bands. It is obvious where they gained their influence as it is reflected within their music as the style and rhythms used.

Sounding The Seventh Trumpet and Waking The Fallen (2001-2004)

Their first album “Sounding The Seventh Trumpet” was released in 2001 with Good Life Recordings. One of the songs was then re-recorded to show a full band feature when the lead guitarist first joined. It was the re-released by Hopeless Recordings in 2002. They then went on the Take Action Tour after which brought them a lot of attention. They then released another album “Waking The Fallen” when their bassist, Johnny Christ joined the band. This was released with Hopeless Records after which they then went on the Vans Warped Tour. Shortly after the release of Waking The Fallen they signed to Warner Bros. Records.

City of Evil (2005-2006)

City of Evil being the bands third album and first with a major recording company was a big deal and sold over thirty thousand copies in the first week of sales. The album had great reviews from many magazines and was what gave the band a push into major popularity. In 2006 the band was nominated and won MTV Music Video Awards “Best New Artist” for their song “Bat Country”. They then returned to headline the Vans Warped Tour and their own Cities Of Evil Tour. Their single Bat Country was their first to reach gold and then later reached platinum in 2009.

Avenged Sevenfold (2007-2009)

After performing at Ozzfest, the band did their first world wide tour including the US, United Kingdom and many more. They then released a DVD showing the backstage of the band while on tour. They then released the self titled album with over ninety thousand sold. With a more and more fans everyday they began to create videos for their songs some a bit controversial. Yet in 2008 the bands drummer was found dead in his home. The cause of death was an overdose of many drugs. The band suffered a lot from this but carried on for the fans of the band.

Nightmare (2010- 2011)

The band considered disbanding after the death of their drummer but found a replacement and released the single Nightmare. After good reviews from both magazines and fans they continued to record the rest of the album. The record went on to win “Afflictions Album of The Year”. After headlining at the Uproar Festival they announced that they would be taking a break before starting a album.

Hail To The King (2012- present)

The band managed to win both “Best Live Band” and “Most Dedicated Fans” in 2012 at the Revolver Golden Gods Awards. After touring Asia in April and May they then played in the Orion Music + More Festival. There song “Carry It On” was then featured in a Call Of Duty game. The album “Hail To The King” was released in August and sold extremely well within the first week of sales.

I will use this information to decide on the style of the video as they tend to base their videos on things that have occurred in their life. The main event that is used a lot in the videos are around the death of their drummer. This was a major part of their life and is obvious in their music and videos.