We revisit the moments that made AVENGED SEVENFOLD’S career.
As Avenged Sevenfold’s debut album hits the big 2-0, we relive the triumphs and the tragedies that took the Orange County metalcore crew from school band to arena megastars
AVENGED ARE BORN (1999)
In March 1999, three high school friends from Huntington Beach, California named Jimmy Sullivan, Matt Sanders and Matt Wendt decide to form a band. “We grew up on punk rock and power chords,” said Sanders – who would later become known to the world as M. Shadows – when recalling the formation of Avenged Sevenfold for the band’s All Excess documentary. “I met The Rev [Jimmy Sullivan] in second grade and he ruled the drums; he was laughing at my band because we just played straight-ahead punk rock. We knew he was too good to be in our band, but we asked him anyway and he just said, ‘I guess I will.’ He only joined because we were friends.” The band soon found guitarist Zachary Barker – AKA Zacky Vengeance – to complete the original line-up. Little did the young men know it, but metal’s next superstar band had just been born.
… AND SO IS THE DEATHBAT (1999)
It’s not without controversy (Did you know Overkill had the same… *SNORE*!), but Avenged’s Deathbat logo has arguably become the most instantly recognisable piece of heavy metal iconography of this millennium. “We knew we needed a logo and that was really important,” Zacky said of the Deathbat’s creation on All Excess. “We knew we wanted a skull and we knew we wanted it to have wings… and that’s all, really. Once we got it back, we just said ‘This is it!’ – we were freaking out!” It’s been with them ever since, featuring on every album cover since 2002’s Waking The Fallen, and has come to define the band as much as Iron Maiden’s Eddie or Motörhead’s Snaggletooth. “This is what embodies us,” claimed Shadows. “This is what we are.”
THEY INK THEIR FIRST DEAL (2001)
After a number of local shows and a couple of demos, Avenged got the call from Belgian hardcore label Good Life Recordings, who had released records from the likes of As Friends Rust and Poison The Well, offering them the chance to record an album. Youthful exuberance took over and the band reveal on All Excess of how they signed a one-page contract that entitled them to a measly $2,000 advance to pay for their 2001 debut, Sounding The Seventh Trumpet. “We didn’t know how the music industry worked,” recalls Zacky. “We didn’t really care, we just wanted to put out a CD.” The album created a bit of a buzz, but the most crucial moment was Avenged roping in local guitarist Brian Haner Jnr to play on a re-recorded version of the song To End The Rapture after the album’s release. He soon changed his name to Synyster Gates and joined the band full time.
METALCORE RISES… SO DO AVENGED (2003)
By 2003, metalcore and the New Wave Of American Heavy Metal was beginning to usurp the previously dominant nu metal scene. Led at first by Killswitch Engage and Lamb Of God, Avenged Sevenfold arguably perfected their own eyeliner-smeared version of the style with their second album, Waking The Fallen. Bassist Johnny Christ had replaced Matt Wendt the year before, so the classic line-up of the band was established, and the record was a massive critical and commercial leap forward. Offering savage, metallic riffs, a new-found sense of melody, some brooding, deep gothic textures and a sense of restless creativity, it was beloved by fans and has gone on to be certified platinum in the US with sales of over one million copies. Eighteen years later, it’s easy to pinpoint Waking The Fallen as the moment A7X officially arrived.
M. SHADOWS DITCHES SCREAMING (2005)
Even at this early stage of their career, Avenged were not content with resting on their laurels. With metalcore’s popularity rising, but the genre’s limitations proving to be artistically unsatisfying for them, Avenged’s frontman made a hugely divisive decision: to quit the screamed vocals of their previous two albums for their third release, 2005’s City Of Evil. Prior to it coming out, Shadows told MTV: “None of our favourite bands are super-extreme, they just write really good, melodic songs, that are still heavy. So, we decided we didn’t want to scream anymore. We wanted to make rock songs for the new ages.” The approach enraged purists, but it worked: the album’s Guns’n’metallica mash-up brought them a whole new audience, selling 30,000 copies in its first week and seeing Avenged peak at No.30 on the US Billboard Top 200, before eventually going platinum.
THEY CRASH THE MTV AWARDS (2006)
Proof of just how far a reach City Of Evil gave the band was the MTV Awards 2006. In the category for Best New Artist In A Video, nominees Avenged stood out like a sore thumb alongside the likes of pop superstar Rihanna, acoustic fop James Blunt, emo pretty boys Panic! At The Disco, rapper Chris Brown and ex-blink 182 man Tom Delonge’s new project, Angels and Airwaves. But they shocked everyone, as their now-iconic video for Bat Country saw them take home the prize. “We are the underdogs! Peace!” said Synyster Gates, before dropping the mic and leaving the (frankly rather frightened-looking) audience wondering what they’d just witnessed. It was official: Avenged Sevenfold had crashed the mainstream.
A LITTLE PIECE OF HEAVEN RAISES THE BAR (2007)
2007’s self-titled album saw A7X further accelerate away from the competition with broader, more streamlined and accessible material. But their creative spark was far from dimming, and the record’s penultimate song was thrillingly experimental. Penned by The Rev and featuring contributions from former Oingo Boingo men Marc Mann and Steve Bartek, A Little Piece of Heaven is a masterpiece. Over eight sublime minutes, it takes us on a wild journey of gothic melodrama, orchestral bombast and gruesome lyrical content. Synyster told us: “I’m so thankful that we did it because to me, I feel like we have a song that stands the test of time and is one of the greatest songs ever written, like a Bohemian Rhapsody or a Stairway To Heaven. Even though I didn’t write it, I’m probably even more proud that I got to witness that from a fan’s perspective and it was my best friend that created it.”
THE REV PASSES AWAY (2009)
On December 28, 2009, Jimmy was taken from us at the age of 28. The metal community was shocked and saddened when a statement was released on Avenged’s website stating: “It is with great sadness and heavy hearts that we tell you of the passing today of Jimmy ‘The Rev’ Sullivan. Jimmy was not only one of the world’s best drummers, but more importantly he was our best friend and brother.” For a decade, Jimmy was the man who crafted Avenged Sevenfold’s every move, each creative left turn instigated and driven by his restlessly creative mind. Tributes poured in from across the globe, from both fans and peers, and to this day our world mourns the loss of a truly unique character.
MIKE PORTNOY PLAYS ON NIGHTMARE (2010)
The loss of The Rev was crushing for Avenged Sevenfold, but they regrouped and paid tribute to their fallen brother as best they could with 2010’s Nightmare. Work on the album had already begun before Jimmy’s passing, and the final product features some of his demo and vocal takes, but someone was needed to step into the studio and recreate his unique drum style. Enter Mike Portnoy, then of Dream Theater, and with a reputation as one of the premier sticksmen in metal. He completed the sessions, before announcing he would be joining the band on their 2011 tour. “I am real excited to hit the road with the boys, to bring my drumming on their new album to life on stage and to honour the The Rev with all of their older material”, he stated.
THEY HIT NO.1 ON BOTH SIDES OF THE ATLANTIC (2013)
Although its far more mid-paced and stompy hard rock textures weren’t to everyone’s taste, 2013’s Hail To The
King saw Avenged achieve yet another milestone. The record hit the top spot in the US Billboard charts while simultaneously giving them their first UK No.1 album, beating off competition from Bob Dylan and Franz Ferdinand, in a fantastic victory for metal. Zacky Vengeance told the Official Charts Company: “It has been a hell of a ride thus far and having our first No.1 album in the UK is a monumental achievement for our fans and us. Thank you for putting heavy metal back on the throne. We look forward to growing old with you.”
DOWNLOAD FEST INVITES THEM TO HEADLINE (2014)
It had been five long years since Download had elevated a new artist to the peak position of the festival’s main stage, with Slipknot in 2009.
But with the success of Hail To The
King, Avenged Sevenfold could no longer be ignored. A statement on the band’s website read: “Friday, 13th June 2014 will mark a momentous occasion in the history of Avenged Sevenfold as we continue the tradition of spectacular Download performances by becoming headliners for the very first time, not just at Download, but at any UK festival.” Their performance was lauded, and established them as legitimate festival closers across the globe – a position they maintain to this day.
THEY SURPRISERELEASE THE STAGE ALBUM (2016)
Blame Chris Jericho. It was the prowrestler, Fozzy frontman and huge metal fan who set tongues wagging when he posted the Deathbat logo and the (false) date 12/9/16 under it. Fans were already quizzical when, on October 3, the logo began randomly appearing in cities across the globe
– it was projected onto buildings in London, Paris, Berlin and Toronto.
But when Jericho stirred the pot even more the internet was nearly broken. What did it all mean? The mystery was revealed when The Stage was surprise-released at midnight on October 28, 2016, culminating in the band playing a special livestreamed set on top of the Capitol Records building, proving they still had the ability to shock their audience.
METALLICA TAKE THEM INTO STADIUMS (2017)
By this point in their career, Avenged had pretty much established themselves as their generation’s version of Metallica. So, it was the perfect match when the biggest metal band of all time asked their spiritual successors to come out and be main support on their Worldwired stadium trek in 2017, in a mouthwatering package alongside Volbeat and Gojira. A situation that Synyster Gates called “humbling” and “completely inspiring” when we at Hammer caught up with the band in the middle of the tour.
THEY FIND THEIR CALL OF DUTY (2019)
Always thinking of new ways to introduce more people to their band, it made sense that A7X would want to get involved with one of the biggest gaming franchises on the planet. They have a few songs featured in Call Of Duty games (Not Ready To Die on Black Ops’ Call Of The Dead expansion in 2010, Carry On in 2012’s Black Ops II, Jade Helm in 2015’s Black Ops III, Mad Hatter in 2018’s Black Ops 4) but it was the addition of M. Shadows himself as a playable character in 2019’s Call Of Duty: Black Ops 4 that really showed how innovative and forward-thinking Avenged are. “It was such an honour, I’m a total gamer,” Shadows beamed on their Youtube channel.
ALBUM NUMBER EIGHT IS RELEASED (TBC)
Two decades into their career, a new Avenged Sevenfold album is a big deal in metal’s event calendar, and we must be on the verge of getting one soon. At the start of the year, M. Shadows told Kerrang! magazine that the material for their eighth album was “over the top… eclectic and wild!” before playing down any rush to get it out while the world is in the midst of the pandemic. But, needless to say, we’re desperate to hear where their wild, varied and fascinating career goes next.