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Band Bio
It's not always recognized in today's "I want it all now" world, but patience is a virtue. And Huntington Beach, California rockers Avenged Sevenfold are being rewarded for remembering that golden rule. After releasing two highly successful albums on an indie label (Sounding The Seventh Trumpet and Waking The Fallen), the quintet is set to unleash its major label debut, City Of Evil, on Warner Bros. Records. City Of Evil, co-produced by Avenged Sevenfold, reunites the group with producer Mudrock (Waking The Fallen).
"We're at the point now where we've come into our own," vocalist M. Shadows says of the ambitious City Of Evil, an 11-song collection that gives a middle finger to the idea of categorization, bridging the sonic guitar assault of Iron Maiden with the frenetic pace of Bad Religion and the musicianship of Dream Theater. "In Southern California you're really brought up in the whole punk world. At the same time, we were growing up listening to Pantera, Megadeath, Metallica and Slayer records," Shadows recalls. "So then you think, 'I want to play in that kind of band, but I want to play in this kind of band.' Then you pass that point and all of a sudden you're just writing music and it comes out naturally. But that's what happens cause of all the different influences we have. And we're definitely not afraid to put anything in our songs if we think it calls for it."
Yes, Avenged Sevenfold can rock, as the band recently did at a sold-out show at Hollywood's Music Box Theater, where they turned the intensity of the new tunes up from 11 to about a 20, but these are musicians as well. However, as the group evidenced during the orchestral interlude in "The Wicked End," a perfect metal moment live complemented by a boys choir and 14-piece string section, Avenged Sevenfold, in the tradition of Zeppelin, Queen, and Guns 'N' Roses' "November Rain," meld their intensity with a musical daring their hard rock forefathers would be proud of.
Those looking primarily for a cathartic release live, as so many of the kids moshing their brains out at the Music Box were, need only turn to the ferocious energy of "Bat Country," a song written for Hunter S. Thompson about the band's own adventures in Vegas, and the Maiden-esque guitar and Shadows' perfect caterwaul of the line "city of evil" (where the album's title stems from) in the opening "Beast & The Harlot."
And while Avenged, whose influences range from Maiden, Pantera, and Guns 'N' Roses (Shadows calls Use Your Illusions 1 and 2 his favorite albums of all time) to Billy Joel, Queen, and Elvis Costello, may not be your typical hard rock band musically, they can hang with the best of them. Epic nights of late night fun have followed this band around the country, and it's something all of the members freely acknowledge. They like to party, and they like to drink: and plenty. Additionally, and fitting with their chosen lifestyle, the members of Avenged could write the A7X equivalent of the Zagut guide to strip clubs in America.
"Strippers and bands have this bond," Vengeance says. "They totally do. The band walks in and it's like special treatment," Shadows adds. So, what makes a good strip club? "I like strip clubs that are out of control," he says, citing Vegas, New York and New Orleans ("It's fucking Bourbon Street. It better be crazy," he says) as home to some of the better establishments they've frequented.
Reflecting the complex personalities though that can lead a hard rock band to throw in a beautiful Flamenco guitar solo near the end of the new album's savage "Sidewinder," Avenged Sevenfold is far from just a party band, and it shows on City Of Evil. The album is bursting with displays of their virtuoso musicianship, from the intricate tempo changes of "Burn It Down" to the tender acoustic intro into a Spaghetti Western mixed with classical melody that provides the calm before the storm in the savage "Strength Of The World."
The group has learned a great deal having spent the last three summers as part of the Warped tour. Shadows got some valuable advice from Fat Mike of NOFX, besides how to play Texas Hold 'Em. "He's like, 'You know what, if you do this stuff long enough, you gotta fucking have fun. If you can't have fun on tour then you'll never last,'" Shadows recalls. "I think that's a really important thing."
Additionally, the quintet, which started on a Warped side stage, graduated to the second stage, and then made the move last year to main stage, a spot they'll be returning to this year, learned a lot by the gradual progression. "We've seen bands that we started out with that got a little bit of a head start or an early break and they're done. We've learned so much more doing it from the ground up. We've got so many more stories than other bands will have; so many more good times, bad times. It has made us stronger as a band too," Vengeance says.
Hard work is what also accounts for the band's fiercely loyal following, according to Shadows. "It's rewarding 'cause you know you have this really solid core fan base that has been through a lot and they believe in the band now as more than a band, it's like a lifestyle," he says. "If anything happens we don't ever fall, it's like they're holding us up. Wee not on the radio, but everywhere we go we always have this rabid group of fans. We would've never had that if we had some lucky break and just jumped to the point we're at now. I hope it gradually keeps going up. The slower you go the more I think it builds underneath you and we're grateful for that. They can't just get pulled out from underneath us. There's nothing you can grab to pull; it's fans that love that band. So, it's very gratifying to be at this place now."
M. Shadows
Stage Name: M. Shadows
Birthname: Matthew Sanders
Hometown: Huntington Beach, California
Birthday: July 31, 1981
Zodiac Sign: Leo
Chinese Sign: Rooster
Height: about 6'1"
Role in Avenged Sevenfold: Vocals
Boxers or briefs: Boxers
Favorites:
Bands/Influences: Guns N' Roses, Pantera, Iron Maiden, NOFX, Bad Religion, Rancid, Death By Stereo, Pennywise, Nirvana, Megadeth, Beatles, Tom Petty, Journey
Albums of all time: Anything By Guns N' Roses
Video Games: Zelda, Mario Cart, Halo
Superhero: Batman
Super Villain: Joker
Late Night Snack: On Tour: Anything he can eat late, In The Studio: Cheap 40's
Food: Sushi
Drink: Seirra Nevada Pale Ale
Movies: Shawshank Redemption, Natural Born Killers, Fear And Loathing
Favorite Band To See Live: Velvet Revolver
Facts:
Matt has a Death Bat tattoo on his lower chest around his stomach
Matt's girlfriend, Val, was A7X's tour manager. Now she is usually the merch girl.
Matt used to play basketball
Matt is allergic to grass
In 5th grade, Matt's favorite bands were, Slayer, NOFX and Pantera
His dad is his non-musical influence
Phil Ansalmo of Pantera is his screaming inspiration
If he could tour with three other bands, he'd tour with Iron Maiden, Metallica and System Of A Down, cause they all sound different and made their sound their own
Matt knows how to play the piano and the guitar
He likes Marylin Manson
"Breaking Their Hold", "Forgotten Faces", "Thick and Thin" are his least favorite song that he has written
His favorite Ozzy Osbourne song is Mr. Crowley
Shadows says My Chemical Romance made a great CD
His favorite Zelda game is ocarina
Would love to open for Velvet Revolver
Quotes:
"My nickname's 'Hot Stud'."
"Synyster's name is &..39;Hot Buffy Sex Dude'."
"We're gonna drive around and look for....SLUTS."
"Boobies, BOOBIES!"
"We just do what we feel is best, and if people think it sucks or we are fags or talk shit, that's cool. We aren't doing this to impress anyone. We write and play music to please ourselves."
"We are just trying to make music, and if people like it, then that's awesome. Be yourself and like what you like, fuck everyone else."
"I&..39;m not sure about the funniest, but by far the coolest is when fans show us their Avenged tattoos. That kind of shit makes us so excited. That's the ultimate sacrifice for a band, and I love it when I see Avenged ink."
"Come on, he didnt fight all five of them"
"We've been reading the Mötley Crüe book. Thats our holy bible."
"I saw The Rev the other night and he was on like four different things. He was like, Dude, Ive been gone for three days!"
Johnny Christ
Stage Name: Johnny Christ
Birthname: Johnathan Seward
Birthday: November 18, 1984
Zodiac Sign: Scorpio
Chinese Sign: Rat
Hometown: Huntington Beach, California
Height: 5'4"
Role in Avenged Sevenfold: Bassist
Favorites:
Movies: Batman, Terminator 2
Influences: Duff Mcagen (GNR), Velvet Revolver, Cliff Burton (formally from Metallica)
Bands: Descendents, Rancid, NOFX, Bad Religion, Lagwagon, Home Grown, Guns N' Roses, Pantera, Metallica, etc.
Facts:
First gig he ever attended was Metallica
Johnny has been playing bass for more than 8 years and has never had a lesson
Johnny only played one song with an 8 string
Johnny likes steak
Has been using Music Man basses on most of the songs on City Of Evil
Finds the Austin Power movies funny
Johnny has both his ears and his nose pierced
Johnny met the other band members through Zacky's younger brother
Johnny smokes cigarettes
Quotes:
"If I ever wanted a Gnome I guess I'd just stand out on my lawn for a while"
"To be invisible so Rev could never find me."
"The Rev can't make it to the computer since he has broken his low chair."
"This one time I stayed up way past my bedtime... man that was scary."
"I'm not here to impress anyone, they can all suck my dick."
"I'm a filthy boy. I'm a filthy, filthy boy."
"Its cold on my nipples!"
"But I like to dress as a cowboy, though mainly when Im drunk! I wanna get some chaps too cause Im going to get my butt tattooed and I want people to be able to see it."
"Well the thing I actually have a fear of horses, so I wouldn't make a very good cowboy."
"Can you hang on a minute? I need to get some sun cream, I'd hate to burn my face."
"I'm Johnny Christ and I play the tambourine."
"I dont get groupies."
"Shetland pony? They sound OK. I could ride one of those."
"Now we need to find some kids stores to buy me some stuff."
"Yeah, I don't know what the hell I'd be doing. I'd be trying to do something in music. To be honest, I don't know where I would be without this."
The Reverend
Stage Name: The Reverend
Birthname : James(Jimmy) Sullivan
Hometown: Huntington Beach, California
Birthday: February 10, 1981
Zodiac Sign: Aquarius
Chinese Sign: Rooster
Height: about 6'2"-6'3"
Role in Avenged Sevenfold: Drummer
Favorites:
Bands/Influences: Slayer, Andrew W.K.
Albums of all time: Mr. Bungle - Self Titled, Pingo Boingo - Live Album
Facts:
The Reverend has a side project with Synyster Gates called "Pinkly Smooth"
The Reverend was arrested in the UK
The Reverend used to work at a laundry mat
In 5th grade The Reverend's favorite bands were, Metallica, Guns N' Roses, Slayer, NOFX and Pantera.
Has a labret
Quotes:
"Every fifth grader's favorite band is Metallica"
"What about being naked in the liquor store? I was naked in a liquor store and..."
"To be invisible so that I could kill Johnny and no one would know."
"I don't blame anyone for wanting to fuck us."
"I think weve done as many drugs in one night as anyone has ever combined."
"He hallucinated that we were replacing him with the bassist of Atreyu!"
"I worked in a fucking Laundromat."
"Yeah, I would just go and open it up, bring my pillow and blanket, and sleep until it was time to lock up. It was cool. I would bring my fucking TV/VCR and just chill."
"Come on, I know the weirdest thing. The weirdest thing is that chick that came up and asked me to cut her with a knife. Isn't that the weirdest thing?"
Zacky Vengeance
Stage Name: Zacky Vengeance
Birthname: Zackary Johnathan Baker
Birthday: December 11, 1981
Zodiac Sign: Sagittarius
Chinese Sign: Rooster
Hometown: Huntington Beach, California
Eye color: Hazel (Green)
Height: about 5'8"
Role in Avenged Sevenfold: Guitarist / Back-up vocals
Favorites:
Movie(s): Shawshank Redemption, Return of the Living Dead, House of 1000 Corpses
Food: Sushi, Greek and Italian food, Japanese Shabu Shabu
Drink: Absinthe
Bands/Influences: Rancid, Guns N' Roses, Bad Religion, Misfits, Metallica, Elvis Costello, Danny Elfman...
Album of all time: Use Your Illusion Part 2
Guitarists: Dimebag Darrell [R.I.P] (Pantera) and Slash (Guns N' Roses, Velvet Revolver)
High School Subjects: History
Facts:
Zacky has five piercings
Zacky is left handed
Zacky has been playing guitar since the age of 12-13
Zacky is 1/2 Italian and 1/2 German
Zacky used to play in a band called MPA before joining A7X
Zacky thought of the abbreviation A7X
In 5th grade Zacky's favorite bands were Metallica and Guns N' Roses
Zacky used to work at a coffee shop
Zacky despises the sun
When he was young, he really liked skateboarding and playing baseball, but now that he has found music there's nothing else he could be doing.
He would play on his dad's Yamaha acoustic guitar, but it was upside down for him, so he'd pretend to play it.
One day his parents took him into a music store and he picked up a right handed squier strat and turned it upside down and cranked it up and from then on he knew he was going to be a guitarist. His parents surprised him by buying him that same guitar and that same amp for his 13th birthday which was the greatest gift of his life. In fact he found it about 2 weeks before his birthday so they let him open it early.
His plugs are 00 gauge
Uses Ernie ball 10 to 52 gauge strings
Has saymour duncan invaders and jbs pickups
Uses schecter guitars and bogner amps
Says he spent his 21st birthday "playing some hole in the wall in portland and some girl broke her ribs during our set then later I went to an indian casino and lost the only 50 dollars I had to my name in 30 seconds." [quoted from the official board]
Favorite cigarettes are Marlboro Red or Lucky Strikes
Zacky's tattoo of the Virgin Mary with skeleton hands means to most to him, because it was his first forearm tattoo, and he says "it just looks so damn purty".
Zacky has a clothing line called "Zacky V Presents..."
Zacky doesn't think the Green Day CD (American Idiot) would make a good movie, but he'd like to see them prove him wrong
Zacky has a dog named Ichabod Crane Vengeance
The coffin tattoo inside his middle finger happens to be a friendship tattoo between A7X (minus M. Shadows) and Good Charlotte and some crew members.
Quotes:
"I play guitar and fuck little girls... and drink."
"I like hip-hop, I like yay music."
"We have pins that say 'Fuck Hardcore'."
"Johnny's 21st birthday took place in the future."
"I like to start by wiggling my fingers on top of guitar strings."
"We're in a league of our own darling and don't you forget it."
"I want x-ray vision, sometimes. Just so I can check out Syn's package."
"I wish, I wish I hadn't killed that fish."
"Johnnys in space, The Revs in jail, Synysters in Germany, Shadows knocks down the walls, and I cure cancer then forget how I did it."
"The best part of being in a band and being successful is you get to have hot girls lace up your shoes."
"After this I get to change into my rocker clothes. My true self. Not evil Zacky, but SUPER evil Zacky."
"Oh voices!... lots of voices!"
"We've got some amps. Uh if you look over here ya got uh, you over there? We got a microphone, we use some microphones."
"Really the most important part of recording is having instruments."
"Down here we got electricity, important for making the amps work"
"As long as he doesn't fall asleep"
Synyster Gates
Stage Name: Synyster Gates
Birthname: Brain Haner JR.
Birthday: July 7, 1981
Zodiac Sign: Cancer
Chinese Sign: Rooster
Hometown: Huntington Beach, California
Height: about 5'10"-5'11"
Role in Avenged Sevenfold: Guitarist / Back-up Vocals
Favorites:
Movies: Godfather 1 and 2
Facts:
Synyster has a side project with The Reverend called "Pinkly Smooth"
Synyster studied music at MIT (Music Institute of Technology)
His father is also a musician and songwriter
Synyster also smokes
Has his nose and ears pierced
His first tattoo was his last name, on his back, at the age of 15.
His favorite color is purple
Quotes:
"Oh we beat the fuck out of our bass player."
"I'm Synyster Gates, he's talking about my package."
"I play Synyster Gates and I am guitar."
"I'll sit on the table. By table I mean chair."
"The most important part of a song is the solo. Everybody knows that, right? EVERYBODY KNOWS THAT!"
"You've just been punk'd... AAAAH crazy"
"Hes a cocky mother fucker. You live with him for a week, he pees on your dad, you pick on him! My dad was with us for a week and he was dreaming, he thought it was raining outside, then he realized someone was peeing on the bunk. So he opens up his bunk and gets nailed right in the face. Johnny finished the rest into my dads shoe. It killed my dads spirit and his will to live" (About Johnny)
"I have a personal problem with napster himself because the mother fucker is gonna die. Nah I'm just kiddin. But he's a dork and I'm gonna kill him. Nah I'm just kiddin. But I would really kick the shit outta him cause of the way he looks. Nah I'm just kiddin. I really don't fuckin like napster"
"Fucking grab them by the fucking face and put a gun to their head and just try to get a blowjob out of it."
"Always been purple. Like, I remember being in the first grade, looking up at the color charts, and saying, Man purple is the best color, man it is the best color, it just is the best color. I have a lot of purple shirts and stuff, Im always wearing purple. You know what its all about, its all about this (this is where he showed me his tattoo of purple and green flames on his forearm)."
This is a fan page for the amazly talented band of Avenged Sevenfold. Avenged Sevenfold has inspired us, and gave us wonderful music.
We made this page for A7X fans to come and dwell in everything Avenged
Sevenfold. Also for fans to interact with other fans. There are
two people who run this page. We've worked hard on it. We will try to give
all the upcoming news on A7X. If your a fan of A7X & would like to add us that's great but if your not a fan of Avenged Sevenfold please don't send us messages telling us that they suck or that they are horrible. Everyone has
their own opinions on different bands. Not everyone is going to like the
same things. So please keep your comments to yourself if they are in anyway rude or offensive to Avenged Sevenfold & there fans. This is a fan site for them so only A7X fans are welcomed. We made this
page because A7X have inspired us in many ways. We are both huge fans
of them. They're amazing guitar & drum solos, fanstatic lyrics, & fucking rocking bass lines. They&..39;re are so many reasons why to love A7X. They simply make gorgeous music and we want people to realize this. So welcome!
_____________Owners.
My names is Ashley, you can call me Ashes. I live in Florida. My favorite bands are; A7X, GNR, Motley Crue, Iron Maiden and so on.
The reason{s} why I love A7X is/are because Shads has the most amazing voice I have ever heard, they are all extremely talented, they're just an extremly amazing band that I truly will love for the rest of my life.
My favorite songs are; Seize The Day, Unholy Confessions,Warmness On The Soul, Sidewinder, The Wicked End, Art of Subconscious Illusion, Lips Of Deceit, Eternal Rest, Chapter Four, I won't see you tonight Part 1 & Part 2 and Second Heart Beat.
Name is Cumdumpster Cunt, I am 17 years old. I live in New Jersey. My favorite bands are; Jack Off Jill, Scarling, Evanescence, Avenged Sevenfold, The Cure, Metallica. The reason(s) why I love A7X is because they're lyrics are real, truthful, & amazing. M.Shadows has one of the most phenomenal voice I have ever heard. The guitar solo's are remarkable, once you hear them you'll be astonished. The bass line is incredible. The drums are flawless. Once you hear them your amazed and just want to hear more. My favorite songs consist of; Warmness On The Soul, Sidewinder, The Wicked End, Seize The Day, Art of Subconscious Illusion, Lips Of Deceit, Eternal Rest; Chapter Four, I won't see you tonight Part 1 & Part 2 ,Unholy Confessions & Streets. Their are just no words to describe how fucking awesome this band is. You have to witness it. You can't get anymore real then A7X. If you'd like anymore information on me click my picture for my personal myspace.
"I think you gotta have balls to be an Avenged fan sometimes. A lot of our fans get hated on just as much as us. To me Avenged fans aren't just fans of a band, they are fans of everything that surrounds it, like a lifestyle. We live it, you live it. You go to the shows and you can feel it. It's a great experience and people that aren't involved will never understand. So they can stand on the sidelines and talk, but we will just continue to do what makes us all happy. "-Matt
