Avenged Sevenfold

Avenged Sevenfold (or simply A7X) is an American hard rock/heavy metal band formed in 1999 in Huntington Beach, California by Matthew Charles Sanders, (lead vocals), James "Jimmy" Owens Sullivan, (drums), Brian Elwin Haner Jr. (lead guitar), Matt Wendt, (bass) and Zachary James Baker, (rhythm guitar and backing vocals). Their bassist was replaced in 2000 by Justin Sane and again in 2001 by Dameon Ash and lastly by Jonathan Lewis Seward, who became a backing vocalist after The Rev died. After said tragic death in 2009, The now late Rev was briefly replaced by Mike Portnoy of Dream Theater fame. After Mike left the band, he was replaced by Arin Ilejay in 2011 and again by Brooks Wackerman in 2015, whose still in the band. Most of the founding members of the band were great friends since childhood. 
Most of the core members of the band have stage names, which isn't that common when it come to bands formed at the turn of the 21st century or later. They did this because they were part of of the 2000's punk scene and they did it especially because they wanted to piss other people in the scene off, (and supposedly, it worked, too). Matthew is M. Shadows, Brian is Synyster Gates, Zachary is Zacky Vengeance, Jonathan is Johnny Christ, and James was The Rev. The only member of the current band that doesn't have a stage name is Brooks Wackerman, since he joined well into the band's career. 
Since they formed, they've released a total of 7 albums. They are Sounding the Seventh Trumpet (2001), Waking the Fallen (2003), City of Evil, (2005), Avenged Sevenfold, (2007), Nightmare, (2010), Hail to the King, (2013) and The Stage, (2016). They're currently recording their eighth studio album and have been on hiatus largely due to coronavirus.
==History==
===Formation===
Avenged Sevenfold formed in 1999 at Huntington Beach, California by Matthew Charles Sanders (a.k.a. M. Shadows), James Owen Sullivan (a.k.a. The Rev), Zachary James Baker (a.k.a. Zacky Vengeance) and Matt Wendt. The band began recording tape demos and performing at clubs to build revenue. Months later, Wendt left for college and Justin Meacham took over as the next bassist.
===Sounding the Seventh Trumpet===
In late 2000, the band was picked up by Good Life Recordings and began developing material for an album. Sounding the Seventh Trumpet, the band's first studio album, was released on July 24, 2001. It took a budget of only $2,000 to develop. Shortly after the album's release, Brian Haner Jr. (a.k.a. Synyster Gates), joined the band as the secondary guitarist. The album featured thirteen tracks. Two singles were "Darkness Surrounding" and "Warmness on the Soul". Despite the release, it did not garner much attention or popularity. A month after the album's release, Meacham attempted suicide by consuming an excessive amount of cough syrup. He was hospitalized, remained in critical condition, and left the band. Dameon Ash took over as the next bassist, but did not garner any credit on any of the band's future recordings.
On January 18, 2002, Sevenfold severed the ties with Good Life Recordings and signed with Hopeless Records. They re-released Sounding the Seventh Trumpet on March 19, 2002. The band went on a national tour to promote the album. Months later, Ash left the band. Jonathan Seward (a.k.a. Johnny Christ), who was a high school senior at the time, dropped out of school, and joined the band, despite only being eighteen years of age at the time.
===Walking the Fallen===
With the initial lineup assembled, Sevenfold released their second studio album, Walking the Fallen on August 26, 2003. The album included twelve tracks. One single was "Unholy Confessions". Still, the band did not gain much popularity. To gain revenue, the band went on another national tour. By November 2003, Sevenfold signed with Warner Bros. Records.
===City of Evil===
Sevenfold released their third studio album, City of Evil, on June 6, 2005. It did far better than the previous two albums, and gathered attention to international countries. Eleven tracks were included in the album. "Beast and the Harlot" and "Bat Country" turned out to be hugely successful singles. While on tour, the album sold enough copies to become certified gold, and was later platinum in late 2009. In early 2006, Sevenfold embarked on a worldwide tour to Europe, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand. By fall of 2006, Sevenfold announced that they were cancelling the remainder of the tour to return to the studio to record new material.
===Self-titled album===
Avenged Sevenfold released their fourth studio album on October 30, 2007, named after the band itself. The album included ten tracks. Singles were "Almost Easy", "Scream" and "Afterlife". The band again went on tour to promote the release, including a concert at Long Beach, close to their formation home.
===Nightmare===
In late 2009, Sevenfold returned to the studio to record new material. However, as their development was in session, a few causalities arose. On December 28, 2009, The Rev died. An investigation in the following months regarding Sullivan's death revealed that the latter overdosed on acute polydrug with combined effects of Oxycodone, Oxymorphone, Diazepam/Nordiazepam and ethanol. Unwilling to hire a new drummer with material still needed to be recorded to complete the album, Sevenfold recruited Mike Portnoy of Dream Theater to act as a fill-in drummer. Portnoy accepted and did the drums for the album. A single titled Nightmare was released digitally on May 18, 2010. A lyric video was released on YouTube in June that year, gaining 275,000 views in a single day. The fifth studio album was officially released on July 27, 2010. The album included eleven tracks, including singles of the title track released two months prior to the album, "Buried Alive", "Welcome to the Family", and "So Far Away". Even after Sullivan's death, the latter was partially credited on some tracks, while Mike Portnoy was fully credited on all tracks doing the drums. Shortly after the album's release, Portnoy left to resume duties with Dream Theater.
== Trivia ==
* M. Shadows is married to Valary DiBenedetto. 
* They have two sons, River, born in 2012 and Cash, born in 2014.
* Valary is the sister of Michelle DiBenedetto, the wife of Synyster Gates, which makes Synyster and Shadows brothers in law. 
* Synyster and Michelle have two children, a son Nicolangelo, born in 2017, and a daughter, Monroe, born in 2019. 
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