Band Review: Avenged Sevenfold

Avenged Sevenfold has been my favorite band for close to a year now. Their sound has changed greatly from the release of their first album, to the latest City Of Evil. Sounding The Seventh Trumpet and Waking The Fallen were released in 2002, and 2004 on Hopeless records. They began building a small fanbase, which grew tremendously into much bigger fanbase when City Of Evil was released on Warner Bros. records.

The band members all came from Huntington Beach, California. They all love to party, but say they stay sober during the recording of the new album, and try to during tour. They faced a lot of difficulties growing up. Almost all of them were either kicked out, or dropped out of school. The original bassist, Justin Sane, overdosed on cough syrup and was severly injured.

The bands first two albums were mainly metalcore albums. They didn't have much singing, but mostly screaming. Things changed when singer M. Shadows popped a blood vessel in his vocal chord. He began taking vocal lessons to heal his vocal chords, and thats when they realized he could really sing. The new album, City Of Evil has no screaming, and all singing.

The band did the Warped Tour from 2003-2005, and many of their own headlining tours. They weren't talked about much untill this years warped tour. The band released their first big budget video in late summer, 2005, for the song Bat Country. Bat Country began getting major airplay on the radio, and TV. Since Warped 2005, they have done 2 US tours, are currently touring in Europe, and are coming back to tour in the US again in the spring.

I personally like the new CD better than the old ones, but all 3 were amazing. The new album sound is often compared to a mix between Iron Maiden, and Bad Religion. The new one is much better in terms of instrumentals. It features longer songs, with a lot better instruments. The vocals are amazing, the guitar solos are some of the best you will hear by a band, the guitar riffs are really powerful, the basslines are complicated, and the drumming, especially the work of the double bass drum are amazing. It also features new stringed instruments for the longer songs.

The band is influenced majorly by Iron Maiden, Guns N' Roses, Pantera, and punk bands like Bad Religion. Their songs are all about different things. For instance, the popular song Bat Country is about Hunter S. Thompsons book, Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas. Their song Betrayed was written about the murder of Pantera Guitarist Dimebag Darrel. They also have a new video out for Beast And The Harlot, which is about life in ancient Babylon.

I suggest to everyone who enjoys metal to listen to these guys. Many people have only heard the song Bat Country, and say that they suck. Listen to the whole album, and I bet you will change your mind.

Artist rating: 9.5/10

Band: Avenged Sevenfold
Record Label: Warner Bros. Records
Albums: Sounding The Seventh Trumpet, Waking The Fallen, and City of Evil
Band Members:
M. Shadows (Vocals)
Synester Gates (Lead guitar)
Zacky Vengeance (Second Guitar)
Johnny Christ (Bass)
The Reverend (Drums)