Avenged Sevenfold

Avenged Sevenfold (sometimes abbreviated to A7X), is a band from Huntington Beach, CA, consisting of members M. Shadows, Zacky Vengeance, Synyster Gates, Johnny Christ, and The Rev. Influences ranging from Pantera and Metallica to Misfits and Guns N' Roses. The band got their name from the book of Genesis in the Bible and the story of Cain and Abel, where Cain is punished to live forever in exile, alone and miserable. Anyone who relieved Cain of his misery by killing him would be "avenged sevenfold," or punished in a way that is seven times worse than Cain's punishment. Although the band has been labeled metal, metalcore and hard rock in many publications, the band themselves claim that they are a metal/hard rock band and have no musical similarities to metalcore in any way. Recently M. Shadows' vocal stylings have changed more to focus on melodic singing than on hardcore screaming, due to the band's desire to change the direction of their music. Shadows had minor throat surgery in 2004, but this did not affect their decision to change musical styles. Albums: Sounding the Seventh Trumpet Waking the Fallen City of Evil Band members: M. Shadows (Matthew Sanders) - vocals Zacky Vengeance (Zackary Baker) - rhythm guitar Synyster Gates (Brian Haner Jr.) - lead guitar Johnny Christ (Johnathan Seward) - bass The Reverend Tholomew Plague (Jimmy Sullivan) - drums