Band M. Shadows Synyster Gates Zacky Vengeance Johnny Christ The Rev

Band Biography

City of Evil to Present

They relesased their third studio and first major label album on June 7th, 2005. City of Evili sold over 30,000 copies in the first week. M. Shadows worked with vocal coach Ron Anderson, whose clients have included Axl Rose and Chris Cornell, for months before the album's release to achieve a sound that had "grit while still having the tone." This album was their first to go gold and the album was certified platinum in August 2009, and has gone onto sell over 1,000,000 copies in the United States, and 1,500,000 total worldwide. The band returned to the Van's Warped Tour, headling the tour and the setting off on the "Cities of Evil Tour." They also won "Best New Artist" at the MTV's Video Music Awards beating out artists like Rihanna, Panic at the Disco, and Chris Brown.

Avenged Sevenfold's mainstream success got them an invitation to 2006's Ozzfest tour on the main stage, alongside other well known hard rock and heavy metal acts DragonForce, Lacuna Coil, Hatebreed, Disturbed and System of a Down. After being on tour for sixteen months in promotion of City of Evil, the band announced that they were cancelling their Fall 2006 tour in favor of recording new music. M. Shadows stated that their fourth studio album, which the band self-titled and self-produced, would not be a "City of Evil Part 2" or "Waking the Fallen Part 2," but would incorporate a new, grittier sound. To tide the fans over in between albums, the band released their first DVD titled All Excess on July 17, 2007. All Excess, which debuted as the #1 DVD in the USA, included live performances and backstage footage that spanned the band's eight year career.

Avenged Sevenfold, the band's fourth album, was released on October 30, 2007, debuting at #4 on the Billboard 200 with over 90,000 copies sold. The self-titled album went onto sell over 500,000 copies and was awarded "Album of the Year" at the Kerrang! Awards. Avenged Sevenfold headlined the 2008 Taste of Chaos tour with Atreyu, Bullet for My Valentine, Blessthefall and Idiot Pilot. They used the footage from their last show in Long Beach for Live in the LBC & Diamonds in the Rough, a two-disc B-sides CD and live DVD which was released on September 16, 2008. In January 2009, M. Shadows confirmed that the band is writing the follow-up to their self-titled fourth album within the upcoming months. M. Shadows also said in an interview with Loveline that the next record would be a more classic metal, more rock-oriented record, since the self-titled record was very experimental. He also said it would feature more progressive, longer songs and would be the "biggest Avenged Sevenfold record ever."