History of Avenged Sevenfold

Avenged Sevenfold, sometimes abbreviated to A7X, is a hard rock, and formerly metalcore band from Huntington Beach, California.

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Country Huntington Beach, California, USA

Years active 1999 to present

Genres Hard Rock, Metalcore (older material)

Labels Warner Brothers Records

Hopeless Records

Members M. Shadows

Synyster Gates

Zacky Vengeance

Johnny Christ

The Rev

Website(s) A7X Official Site

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History

The band formed when the members were in high school. Their first album was titled Sounding the Seventh Trumpet, and was recorded when the band members were eighteen years old. Their follow-up album was entitled Waking the Fallen, which received a positive rating in Rolling Stone magazine.

City of Evil, released on June 7, 2005, strays from metalcore, and adds a more "pop rock" sound with obvious influences ranging from various bands. Although the band have been labeled metal, metalcore and hard rock in many publications, the band themselves claim that they are a "metal" band and have no musical similarities to metalcore in any way although this is heavily debated by their peers. During the recording of City of Evil, M. Shadows' vocal stylings have changed more to focus on melodic singing than on hardcore screaming, because the band decided to pursue a different musical career, and leave a genre that they said was "dying". The proof that this movement was right is the award for Best New Artist in a Video at the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards, as the underdog of a group that included bands such as Panic! at the Disco and James Blunt.

The band's name is an alleged reference to the book of Genesis in the Bible and the story of Cain and Abel, where Cain is punished to live in exile, alone and miserable. Anyone who relieved Cain of his misery by killing him would be "avenged in sevenfold," or punished in a way that is seven times worse than Cain's punishment. The title of Avenged Sevenfold's song "Chapter Four" references Genesis IV, the chapter of the Bible 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 and refers to the punishment of Babylon and the destruction of Pagan nations. Although the band's title and members' stage names make obvious references to religion, Shadows stated in an interview that they are "not really religious at all."

Their song "Blinded in Chains" was used in the soundtrack for the video game Need for Speed: Most Wanted. Another song, "Bat Country," was used in the soundtracks for SSX on Tour, NHL 06 and Madden 06, following in the footsteps of "Chapter Four" which had also been on the soundtrack for NHL 2004, Madden 2004 and NASCAR Thunder 2004. The song "Beast and the Harlot" was in the soundtrack for Burnout Revenge. All the above games, not coincidentally, are produced by various divisions of Electronic Arts.

During recent tours (Coheed and Cambria spring 2006 tour and Ozzfest 2006), Avenged Sevenfold have been performing the song "Walk", originally by Pantera, as part of a tribute to the late "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott.

Recently at the MTV Video Music Awards, Avenged Sevenfold received the award for best new artist. They took the award over several other artists including; Angels and Airwaves, Panic at the Disco, Rihanna, and James Blunt.

Although Avenged Sevenfold have claimed that they are trying to get away from the metalcore movement, they will be touring with metalcore act Bleeding Through this fall.[1]

Band members

M. Shadows (1999-Present) (Matthew Charles Sanders) — Lead Vocals

Synyster Gates (2001-Present) (Brian Elwin Haner, Jr.) — Lead Guitars, Back up Vocals

Zacky Vengeance (1999-Present) (Zachary Johnathan Baker) — Rhythm Guitars, Back up Vocals

Johnny Christ (2002-Present) (Johnathan Lewis Seward) — Bass (not to be confused with John Christ of Danzig)

The Rev "The Reverend Tholomew Plague" (1999-Present) (Jimmy Owen Sullivan) — Drums, Back up Vocals

Former band members

Justin Sane (1999-2001) — Bass guitar (not to be confused with Justin Sane of Anti-Flag)

Daemon Ash (2001-2002) — Bass guitar

Equipment

Synyster Gates

Uses Schecter guitars:

Schecter Syn Custom

Schecter C-1 FR (white with dot inlays)

C-1 FR Hellraiser Avenger

Syn Custom Avenger Models

Bogner Uberscall head and 4x12 cab...but are moving to Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifiers because of issues with Bogner

Ernie Ball Slinky Top Heavy Bottom Strings

Zacky Vengeance

Uses Schecter guitars:

S-1 Elite

S-1 Regular

S-1 Blackjack

Vengeance Custom S-1 Models

Both Zacky and Syn have been seen using PT and Banshee models on special occasions

Johnny Christ

Uses Ernie Ball basses

Musicman Sterling

The Rev

Uses DW drums

8 piece drum kit including two bass drums

Uses Sabian AA Metal-X cymbals.

Also uses Pro-Mark 5BN Drumsticks and Evans drum heads.

Discography

Demo Recordings

For information, see Early Avenged Sevenfold releases.

Albums

Date of release Title Label U.S. Billboard peak U.S. sales

July 24, 2001 Sounding the Seventh Trumpet Goodlife Recording

August 8, 2001 Warmness on the Soul EP Goodlife Recording

March 19, 2002 Sounding the Seventh Trumpet Re-Release Hopeless Records

August 26, 2003 Waking the Fallen Hopeless Records 12 (Independent Album Chart) 175,000

June 7, 2005 City of Evil Warner Bros. Records 30 697,000

Singles

Date of release Title Label Other Info

September 19, 2005 Bat Country Warner Bros.

February 6, 2006 Beast and the Harlot Warner Bros.

June 12, 2006 Burn It Down Warner Bros. CD/Vinyl Release only. No video/radio play.

July 10, 2006 Seize the Day Warner Bros. Currently not available as a CD or vinyl.

Videography

March 2001 - Warmness on the Soul (professional video) - Sounding the Seventh Trumpet -(Video)

March 6, 2004 - Unholy Confessions (live video with dubbed music) - Waking the Fallen - (Video)

July 28, 2005 - Bat Country - (professional video directed by Marc Klasfeld) - City of Evil (video from Bedlam Society)

February 6, 2006 - Beast and the Harlot - (professional video directed by Tony Petrossian) - City of Evil (Video from YouTube)

June 30, 2006 - Seize the Day - (professional video directed by Wayne Isham) - City of Evil (Video From YouTube)

Burn It Down (live video with dubbed music)

Compilations

Plea for Peace/Take Action! Vol. 2 (2002) (Subcity Records)

"Turn the Other Way"

Take Action! Vol. 3 (2003) (Subcity Records)

"Chapter Four"

Metal=Life CD/DVD (2003) (Subcity Records)

"Unholy Confessions" & Video

Operation: Punk Rock Freedom (2003) (Hopeless Records/Subcity Records)

"Chapter Four" & "Darkness Surrounding"

Hopelessly Devoted to You Vol. 4 (2004) (Hopeless Records/Subcity Records)

"Second Heartbeat" & "Darkness Surrounding"

Hopelessly Devoted to You Vol. 5 (2005) (Hopeless Records/Subcity Records)

"Chapter Four" & "Eternal Rest (Live)" (feat. "Unholy Confessions" video on Enhanced CD)

Masters of Horror Soundtrack (2005)

"Beast and the Harlot" (live)

Kerrang! - High Voltage: A Brief History of Rock (2006) [1]

"Walk" (Pantera cover)

Hopelessly Devoted to You Vol. 6 (2006) (Hopeless Records/Subcity Records)

"Darkness Surrounding" & "Unholy Confessions" (feat. "Unholy Confessions" video and "We Come Out at Night" live at Warped Tour 2003 video on included DVD)

Kerrang! - Kerrang! Awards 2006 (2006)

"Beast And The Harlot"

Miscellaneous

Zacky Vengeance owns his own clothing line, called "Zacky V. Presents..." It features the popular "Vengeance University" line, featuring shirts and belt buckles. [2].

Synyster Gates also has a clothing line due out, tentatively titled "Syn."

The Rev and Synyster were both members of the band Pinkly Smooth, formed with members of the now-extinct band Ballistico. The Rev sang and also recorded drums. Former Avenged Sevenfold bassist, Justin Sane, was also in the band.

Zacky Vengeance was a baseball player in high school and has said that if he were not in a band, he would have pursued a professional career.

The group won "Best New Artist" at the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards despite being a band since 1999.

Notes

^ Metalcore tour

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The History of Linkin Park

Linkin Park is a six-piece nu metal band from California.

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Music

The music of Linkin Park is a mix of alternative metal, rap, electronic, and hip-hop sounds. Like others in the nu metal genre, their sound has been criticized as being overly commercial and mainstream-friendly.

Band History

Linkin Park began in the surroundings of Mike Shinoda's bedroom studio, where he and friend Brad Delson recorded the band's first material in 1996. The two had attended Agoura High School together in Los Angeles-suburb Agoura Hills, where they met the band's drummer, Rob Bourdon. Shinoda met up with DJ Joseph Hahn while studying illustration at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. Meanwhile, attending UCLA, Delson shared an apartment with bassist Dave Farrell, who left the band after college and returned a year later. At this point, along with vocalist Mark Wakefield, they named themselves Xero (after revising the former name Super Xero) and recorded several demo tracks. They were never signed and the project floundered.

Shinoda advertised for a vocalist, choosing Chester Bennington, a transplanted Arizona native who started making records when he was 16. They immediately started to write and record music.

At first they called themselves 'Hybrid Theory' after the addition of Bennington (the idea being that they were a hybrid of hard rock and rap), but due to a trademark issue with a band called Hybrid they were forced to change their name. Some discarded ideas were Clear, Probing Lagers, Ten PM Stocker and Platinum Lotus Foundation. Eventually, they settled on Lincoln Park, suggested by Bennington because after band practice he would have to drive past Lincoln Park in Santa Monica to get home. However the domain "lincolnpark.com" cost more than the band could afford, so they changed the spelling to Linkin Park.

Working with an independent label, the band recorded the album Hybrid Theory EP, which featured "Carousel", "Technique", "Step Up", "And One", "High Voltage", and "Part of Me".

After being signed to Warner Brothers in 1999 their first album, Hybrid Theory, was released in 2000. It was the top-selling album in the United States and New Zealand in 2001, with the hit singles "One Step Closer", "Crawling", "Papercut", "In The End" and "Points of Authority". The album was notable for its absence of profanity, in contrast to many other nu metal bands' songs.

Linkin Park were part of the Ozzfest in 2001, touring along side Marilyn Manson, Slipknot, Crazy Town, Papa Roach, and Disturbed. Linkin Park also created their own tour - Projekt: Revolution, and on it have toured with Cypress Hill, Adema, DJ Z-Trip, Xzibit, Mudvayne and Blindside.

In 2002, they released a hip-hop remix album of their Hybrid Theory album, called Reanimation, featuring many underground hip-hop figures, with an artistic direction mainly dictated by Shinoda and Hahn. They also released a remix version of their song, "Points Of Authority".

In 2003 their new studio album was released, titled Meteora, which debuted at #1 in the US and UK, and #2 in Australia. It contained the singles, "Somewhere I Belong", "Faint", "Numb", "From The Inside", "Lying From You", and "Breaking The Habit". Later in the year, they joined forces with fellow nu-metal band Limp Bizkit and Metallica for the Summer Sanitarium Tour 2003. From this tour, Linkin Park released a new CD/DVD set called Live in Texas. This set contains tracks from their three previous records, and was filmed on location at their Summer Sanitarium performances in Dallas and Houston, Texas .

In 2004, Linkin Park created the Meteora World Tour. This tour included Linkin Park, P.O.D., Hoobastank, and Story of the Year.

In 2004, Linkin Park was touring with Snoop Dogg, The Used, Korn, and Less Than Jake on the main stage, and No Warning, Ghostface, Funeral for a Friend, M.O.P., and Downset on the second stage as part of Projekt Revolution 2004. They also had a travelling DJ, Z-Trip with them, along with Irvin the Urban Action Figure.

On November 30, 2004, Linkin Park released Collision Course, a collaboration with rapper Jay-Z featuring rap-style remixes ("mash-ups") of songs from Meteora and Hybrid Theory using lyrics from Jay-Z's repertoire. Collision Course debuted at #1 in the US, but peaked at #17 in the UK. In the Netherlands Collision Course topped the charts at 7th place. Their first Collision Course hit single, Numb/Encore, reached #1 at the Free Record Shop Download Charts in the Netherlands.

On the eve of its initial public offering in May 2005, Linkin Park demanded to be released from its contract with Warner Brothers Music on the grounds of a lack of confidence. The band is in negotiations with the label over a new record contract. Linkin Park still has four albums outstanding on its 2000 record contract. [1]

Linkin Park is currently writing and recording a new album, set to be released in 2006 (although work has been stopped due to the contract re-negotiations). Mike Shinoda is also in the process of releasing a hip-hop side project under the moniker Fort Minor. It reportedly features several well-known underground rappers, including Gift of Gab, and will be released on September 12th, 2005.

On July 2, 2005 Linkin Park preformed in Live 8 at Philadelphia, USA, performing part of their set with Jay-Z.

Members

Chester Bennington (vocals / guitar)

Mike Shinoda (alias: Fort Minor) (vocals / sampling / rhythm guitar, keyboard)

Joe Hahn (aliases: Chairman Hahn, Mr. Hahn) (turntables / samples)

Brad Delson (guitar)

Rob Bourdon (drums)

David 'Phoenix' Farrell (bass)

Alic Stone - Chief Production Manager

Kenny Hausauer - Extra Screamer

Vernon Goodwin - Bag Pipes

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