 Avenged Sevenfold mini-bio: (l 2 r) Zach Vengence, Johnny Crist, Synyster Gates, M. Shadows & R.I.P The Rev A7X #1!! on Billboards Hot ToursAvenged Sevenfold have claimed the #1 spot on Billboard’s Hot Tours list with the “Welcome To The Family” tour with a $3,666,256 total gross and a 99,725 attendance Guitar World List of Top Summer Metal Tours of 2011 includes the Rockstar uproar Tour with Yours Truely as the HEadliners! Avenged Sevenfold is a Punk/Metal band from Huntington Beach California, (USA) and was formed in 1999 with original members M. Shadows, Zacky Vengeance, The Rev and Matt Wendt. Later Synyster Gates joined the group along with Johnny Crist (replacing Wendt). The Members of A7X have been friends for quite a long time, if not since High School then Jr. High & in High school they met each other. Some even through family & friends, So the memebers in the band truely are like brothers. Syn Met Johnny Through Johnny's Older Brother, & 'Rev' met him through a friends' younger brother. Syn goes on to say they used to torture Johnny incessiently especially earlier on. Rev mentions that John said he may have picked on him while he (Johnny) was in Kindergarden. Before A7X Syn & The Rev were in a band together called Pinkly Smooth, while Zach was in MPA (Mad Porno Action) M. Shadows who was previously in a band called Susccessful Failure, recruited them. Shadows jokes on the All Excess Dvd That Drummer 'The Rev' & Guitarist Synyster Gates thought they were too good for the band, & that The Rev said he'd do it, only because they were friends. However 'Rev mentions about a 'Rumor' going around because he thought he was too good, he thought he was being recruited for Shadows' other band. (if I can find them I plan on posting on the long bio page work form the members former bands video or audio) M. Shadows came up with the name, having told the guys to come up with some names for the band. Only Shadows met up with them prepared. I've heard the name is a reference to the story of Cain & Abel from the Bible however they are not a religious band. Upon its formation, each member of the band also took on a pseudonym from which they had in school or came up with (Like Zachy Vengence... who was pretty much picked on all the time so now he's getting his payback....planning on posting vid here of Zach/The guys talking about their names if I can find it again) Avenged Sevenfold's debut album Sounding the Seventh Trumpet  has been labeled as a metalcore sound with screaming vocals. When a few of the Guys were still just 18 & in High School. After lead guitarist Synyster Gates joined the band, at the end of 1999 when he was 18 at the introductory track "To End the Rapture" was re-recorded featuring a full band element.Sounding the Seventh Trumpet sold 300 copies the first week of its release. It has now sold in excess of of 200,000 copies.  The band went through 3 bassists before finding Johnny Crist around 2003 to record on Waking the Fallen. The album sounds like a more refined, mature production. The guys profiles in BILLBOARD and the Boston Globe as well as played on the Vans Warped Tour and played there again in 2004 (& 2 more consecutive eyars after) recording a video for their Song unholy Confessions which reeived heavy rotation on MTV2's Headbanger's Ball.
City of Evil was released June June 7th 2005 and it Debuted at #30 on Billboards 200. The album sold (at the time) 30,000 copies. The album has more of a 'utilized classic metal sound' This is the first album without screamed lyrics as When  M.Shadows presented the Waking the Fallen demo To their Manager Larry Jacobson & said "This album has screamed vocals on it, the next album I don't want it to be screamed" M. Shadows worked with a vocal coach (Ron Anderson who has worked with the likes of Axl Rose & Chris Cornell) In 2006 Avenged Sevenfold memorably beat out R&B Singers Rihanna and Chris Brown, Panic! at the Disco, Angels & Airwaves and James Blunt for the title of Best New Artist at the MTV Video Music Awards, thanks to their Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas-inspired song “Bat Country.”The album went Certified Gold in 2009. bat COuntry reached #2 on Billboards mainstream rock charts #6 on Billboard's Modern Rock Charts and the accompanying video made it to #1 on MTV's Total Request Live (aka TRL)
 Fall 2006 after being on tour for sixteen months the band announced they were canceling their fall tour in favor of recording new music. M. Shadows stated the fourth album would not be a 'City of Evil or Waking the Fallen part 2'. However it would have a new grittier sound. The band would self produce & self Title the album. Tho' to tide fans over til the album came out .The band released their first video DVD July 17 2007 titled All Excess. The Dvd which features behind the scenes clips of the guys, Live footage, music Videos and more from over their eight years together. All Excess debuted as the #1 DVD in the USA! October 30, 2007 Avenged Sevenfold's self titled album was released debuting at #4 on Billboard 200 with over 90,000 copies sold. Critical Acclaim and Almost Easy were released to promote the album prior to its release. Come Dec 2007 the animated horror like Music video A Little Piece of Heaven was relased but due to the content, Warner Brother's only released it on the internet. The reception for The Self titled album was mixed, it was awarded the Best Album of the Year by Karrang! Awards (English Rock Magazine) and sold over 500,000 copies
September 16, 2008 Came a B-sides CD & Live Dvd Diamonds in the Rough Cd  and The Live @ the LBC Dvd which used footage from their last show in Long Beach. On the disk is Covers of Pantera's Walk and Iron Maiden's Flash of the Blade. While on iTunes you can find their cover of Black Sabbath's Paranoid.There's also an alternate version of Afterlife on the album. (see more on the Biography page)
The Band has also released a guitar tutorial breaking down the riffs of 5 tracks, including: Beast & the Harlot, Bat Country, Trashed and Scattered, Afterlife, and Almost Easy
January 2009 came the announcement from M. Shadows the band was working on a new album. April 16, at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles they performed a version of Guns N' Roses' "It's So Easy" onstage with Slash. M. Shadows was featured on Slash's debut solo album Slash on the song "Nothing to Say". They announced that they plan to start writing in June 2009 and recording in October 2009.
Nightmare the fifth studio album from A7X, was Released July 27, 2010 and the  first recording sadly without Jimmy 'REV' Sullivan. Was aptly named as no pun intended losing their friend and Brother was a Nightmare. However it was the first time the band scored a number one album. The Rev was able to lay down some tracks but not the whole album. He had a huge role however in songwriting and laying down lyrics on Fiction and Save Me. Sullivan's favorite drummer; Dream Theater's Mike Portnoy took the reigns to finish the album, as well as cover part of the upcoming tour. Teh album produced by Mike Elizondo, was mixed by noted engineer Andy Wallace in new York City and distributed by Warner Bros. Records. Nightmare sold 63,000 copies debuting at #1 on the Billboard 200 chart. Avenged Sevenfold released Eminem from his five week reign and pushed his album Recovery to #2 on the Billboard 200. February 2011 Nightmare was certified Gold by RIAA and won a REVOLVER Golden God award for 'Album of the year'.-April 2011.
Jimmy’s death was the hardest hit any of us had ever taken in our lives,” he states. “It’s something you can never prepare yourself for, it still doesn’t feel real. In one moment, it was all gone. We went from having the beginning of an unbelievable-sounding album and one of the best years of our touring life and making a decent amount of money finally – to having our entire world turn upside down. Losing Jimmy was horrific and I don’t wish it upon my worst enemy. No pun intended – but it was a nightmare. Nobody could cope with it.”“We worked harder than we ever had in our lives on anything – the only thing on our minds was ensuring that Jimmy was going to get the best possible send off. The fact that Nightmare turned into a number one album was just a huge weight lifted off our shoulders. It was a big statement to us, to our fans, to the world, really. We’d never had a number one album before and this was the only chance that Jimmy would ever get to be a part of something as special as that.”-Zacky Vengeance
(for tidbits on Each individual member...go to the biogrpahy page)
- WRIF Meltdown with Synyster Gates (4+ Minute) Interview
WRIF Interview With Synyster Gates At Rock On The Range 2011.
Dec 28 2009 Members of A7X & Fans were devistated to find 'The Rev' Died at the age of 28 in his home. Autopsy results were inconclusive, though on June 9, 2010, the cause of death was revealed to have been an "acute polydrug intoxication due to combined effects of Oxycodone, Oxymorphone, Diazepam/Nordiazepam and ethanol". In a statement by the band, they expressed their grief over the passing of The Rev. The band called Sullivan "one of the world's best drummers," and "our best friend and brother." and asked that his family's privacy be respected. Shown on Avenged Sevenfold's official website was a message from Sullivan's family which expressed their gratitude to his fans for their support. M. Shadows mentions " myself & the band still struggle to deal with the grief, but he's urging his band mates and their fans to celebrate the rocker's life on the day that marks the tragedy. He tells Kerrang! magazine, "It's a daily struggle since Jimmy's death. There are good days and bad days - days where you don't think about it so much, and then there are days where you sit there and just can't believe it. We're just trying to move forward and live our lives as best we can, and we're just happy to be here right now.....We're going to celebrate his birthday (February 9, 2011) and not necessarily his death. But I think I'll want to get together (with the rest of the band) and watch his tribute video and talk about him. We do that every day anyway, but (today) I just want to keep it chilled and remember the guy for how f**king awesome he was."
I love you, Jimmy, and I feel like the luckiest man in the world to have known you and spent 18 years of my life with you- M. Shadows
| VITAL STATS | | Avenged Sevenfold Information: | The Band:
Vocals - M. Shadows
Lead Guitar - Synyster Gates (a flixter bio is available besides what I have found so far)
rhythm guitarist- Zacky Vengeance
Bassist- Johnny Crist
Drummer R.I.P.
Jimmy 'The Rev' Sullivan who passed away Dec 28 2009 (always & FoREVer)
though The Rev cannot be replaced The Guys felt it was only fitting for The Rev's favorite drummer to help the band record the album & recruited
- Mike Portnoy formerly of Dream Theater agreeed and said he "was honrored to play on in The Rev's absense" However he was released sometime in Dec 2010
- Arin Ilejay is currently the Drummer
The band announced january 2011 Arin formerly of the band Confide, would be the new drummer after being impressed with his Technical skills, attitude & work ethic. The first song Arin has recorded as a member of A7X is the Black Ops game track "Not ready to Die" | Notable feature(s):
Shadows, Zach & Rev has some form of the band's 'Death Bat' logo tattooed on them. (If Syn & Johnny do I have yet to see it)
Most of the guys have at least in the past worn black nail polish
Piercings, Tattoos & Style descriptions
Matt Shadows-
Like no other rock singer I've seen..
Matt's got a baby face & the Dimples that go along,but somehow he can still look like the bad-ass rocker he is with the tattoos, Pilot Shades & just rocking out on stage. Granted no one should say this about anyone in a metal band but i will.. Shadz has a good blend of well I guess 'Sweet looking Bad-ass"
(The posted Image is only temp. .. Found in search..)
Usually wears shirts with his fave metal bands on them, Affliction label , or the DCMA brand that his buddies the Madden Brothers & Tal Cooperman own.
ON stage: wears jeans or dress slacks with a band shirt or a black dress shirt
off stage... Basketball shorts with his shoes being some form of Vans brand
He can be seen below accessorized with a paltinum grill or diamond encrusted fangs. He likes belt & cowboy boot combo made of snakeskin as well as Big shiny belt buckles & says he believes "tells the world your a man"
Ever wondered about that scar on his chest near his Left arm. Its from a bar fight when he got stabbed by a broken bottle
- piercing in each ear (Barrel type)
- Lip Piercing (but don't recall seeing him wearing it lately)
- previously Had some Blinging Teeth & to the right a set of fangs. (see Beast & The harlot Vid)
   - On right shoulder has 4 Horsemen of the apocolypse (done by Adam Barton) because he likes the biblical story of the horsemene calls it 'Sleepy hollow meets the bible" it was completed during the recording of the seltf titled album
 Right Hand Rev Death bat tattoo tribute done by Kat Von D
- On ? Left arm near elbow has a microphone representitive of him being a singer skull and crossbones with the 7 for sounding the seventh trumpet on it below inner elbow is
 Inner left arm below elbow.- Left Elbow theres a spider web
- across chest has a large tattoo with writing across top a couple of blue & black 'nautical' stars some blue & red birds with the cover for "Sounding the Seventh Trumpet" recreated on his chest.
- a version of the band's 'deathbat' logo across his stomach
 commerating Waking the Fallen album - looks like matt has on his right wrist one that ays 10x10
- Outter left leg about 4
- inside right arm near shoulder skull with Vll on forehead
- His first tattoo was for the band H2O the first punk band he liked. He got it when he was 14 and its on his lower leg. I'm sure needless to say His parents were not happy about it at the time but now they don't care
- His second tattoo was at age 15 a heart with flames around it and in the middle of the heart are the words "True till death"
- right arm includes a small rocket ship, heart, a rose creating a full sleeve. He also has A7X tattooed on his right wrist and praying hands on his right forearm.
- Portrait of Jason Berry (Rev's drum Tech) (who has a friends sleeve on his left arm which includes Matt, Val, Jimmy and Johnny just to name a few.) in 2008 Matt broke over and cut his first (hair) so Jason won but during that time Jason had almost a complete personality change. He became crazier as Matt has said so in honor of the whole deal he got Jason's portrait on his leg.
 Lower right leg  Inside right arm
Syn Gates-
piercing in Left Nostril -removed it circa 2007or 2008
Ear Piercings
Black or red fedora hats,
His smirk (& crazy faces in photos)
Sleeveless shirt to show off his tattoos,
Fingerless gloves & black nail polish (have not noticed this lately)
- Full right arm sleeve of monsters who are hooked up to a machine.
The machine is basically torchering them. The means of torcher are unknown to  everyone except Brian The only reason he notes is "he likes monsters"
- On his left arm is another monster scene and on both wrists is purple & green Flames (my favorite one)
- He has "Haner" tattooed across his back (in my research I've found) he
 dislikes it because of it "amature quaility and rough design" so never takes his shirt off (or at least never see his back toward camera when it is)
 Has Vll tattooed behind his left ear (rev has something the same) supposedly stands for sounding the seventh Trumpet album- His first tattoo a number 1 on his right thumb by Artist Grant Cobb
- On his left pectoral muscl is written "Blue Blood"
- MARLBORO is tattooed across his knuckles
 - bloody coffin tattooed on the inside of their left middle fingers (a friendship tattoo between A7X and Good Charlotte) both bands got it With the exception of M. Shadows
- FoREVer across his upper chest(near neckline)
- Left outer calf can't tell what it is but I see some roses around the tattoo
- On back of right sleeve looks like a graveyard with a tree at the top of that scene
Zacky Vengeance- Greyish Blue eyes 5'9"
Has colored his hair varrying colors (besides when its been onyx black) over the years I've seen Blue, Purple
Earring in each ear
2 Piercings on his Bottom lip (Vampire Bite) Tho' word is he's taken them out
Nose piercing (middle)
- NEW Skull on top of left hand
- Anaheim Angels logo tattooed behind his (left ?) ear
"Brian lost a bet with Matt that the Angels couldn't make a comeback in the World Series. The Angels did come back' so he was supposed to get the tat but Zacky agreed to get the tat for him because of money issues. Zacky pretty much took one for the team & is actually proud of the tattoo.- Left side of neck a script writing 'FoREVer'
 - across chest has a version of the band 'Deathbat' logo which was finished just before the taping of "Seize the Day
- on stomach has Theater masks
- Cali4nia tattooed on his knuckles
 - Vengeance 7 (sports lettering) tattooed on back like Jimmy's
 - Grim reaper head on back of left arm
- Inside left arm a holy Mary ":just to piss off religious people"
- Right Shoulder blueish Headless (Monster) Woman with roses
- a cupid looking image below the headless woman &
- a Jesus image below
- a Fairy looking image near his left Elbow
- a Coffin with a skull with bat wings on it with bats flying around it
- Zacky has his version of the deathbat on his lower back.
 It is a baseball with bat wings - He also has the bloody coffin on his left middle finger
- On right arm above elbow has a mickey Mouse (looking) tattoo
- On Right shoulder praying looking hands with a dimond above and below a blue rose
- Left sleeve has ivy, & thorns up to elbow, near wrist is a jack O'lantern, a red bat in the area of his elbow, above elbow is what loks like a $ with a switchblade The skull & roses above that
 
Johnny Crist- Brown eyes 5'4"
- Left nostril piercing
- a piercing in each ear
- Has Classic horror movie 'monsters' /characters on his right arm
with Frankenstein, The Bride of Frankensteain & Vampirella on his Left Arm - Right inside upper arm inside Jekyl
- a tattoo of a (cowboy) skull on left side of his neck beacuse he'd ove to be a cowboy
- Beer wine across his knuckles
 - VARY large REv Death Bat on his chest
- Johnny has a tree on his upper right arm in the theme of the Raven by Egar Allen Poe. The artist added fire to the limbs.
- He has a new tattoo located on his lower leg.
- Johnny also has the bloody coffin on his left middle finger
- new sleeve on his Left arm .... Jason from Friday the 13th on his shoulder below that is the Halloween movies logo (the Slashed jack o'lantern, & below that is Chucky The Doll from the Child's play series. Crook of elbow is the Nightmare on Elm St. House with Freddy Kreuger in front o f that on the inner side of his arm near the Nightmare house is Jack Nickolson in The Shining.
REV- Blue eyes
Tallest member of the band at 6'3" Blue eyespierced Center of Bottom lip labret piercing and an industrial piercing in his left ear.
- Hand Cuffs tatooed around his neck
In a 2006 interview, Jimmy stated they were a reminder of his arrests. In a recent interview, 06/2010 M. Shadows said the handcuffs signified to Jimmy the bounding of his soul in his body. Jimmy's parents said in the All A7X Revolver interview that they believed the handcuffs were the second tattoo he had done.- Sports jersey lettering of Sullivan across back & the number 0 below
 that (as seen in Header banner) - She devil/demon on left side of the Large Zero
- Has the word 'FICTION' tattooed down his torso
- Vll (like Syn's) tattooed behind his left ear
- a $ on lower part of his right pinky finger
- wife's (? or fiancee) name on his left ring finger
- some other smaller tattoos on his hands
- a Grim Reaper looking tattoo below neckline...across pecks
- Left arm and A7X sleeve: Adaptation of their logo with blue 'sweeping' back ground , a headless horseman(couldn't understand video but something about a) Graveyard
- Right forearm 1981 vertically
 on back of neck has an all seeing eye/ pyramid with an eye (the apex of the pyramid is floating above the rest with reddish colored ink surrounding
- Jimmy's friend Jason created his nun located on his right upper arm for free.
- According to Jimmy's
 parents his first tattoo was on his forearm. It is a coffin full of eggs and the Easter Bunny laying dead on top of it. - right hand there is a bottle with handcuffs on either side along with a pair of wings and the numbers "2" and "12", speculated to be a tattoo dedicated to himself for his birthday.
- behind his right ear of what appears to be a bird (speculation says it might be a commemoration of the pigeon he helped to meet its end).
Arin right shoulder down to elbow a Tree growing out of a heart 
Tattoos (pics)
Looking for individual pics for each of the guys arms, big enough for a better view of what their sleeves are incuding inner & back of arms
Left is The Rev Middle Zach & Right is Syn
 <--M.Shadows
Want to see more?? See the Bio pages.. I''ve posted their 'Tattoo Stories' Vids
(trying to find close up pics of their tats post ... For now the above will have to do)
Here's a link to see some Afterlife; forever. *
VIA A7X Eternal Soldiers <-- There's lots here, some are easier/clearer to see than others Tho' some of the sleeve tattoos aren't close enough or from undersides either | Discography
- Warmness on the Soul (ep)
- Sounding the Seventh Trumpet (2001)
- Waking the Fallen (2003)
- City of Evil (2005)
- Avenged Sevenfold (2007)
- All Excess Video (2007)
- Diamonds in the Rough Cd / Live @ the LBC DVD combo (2008)
- Nightmare (2010)
See Biography page Career highlights for more |
| | Resides in: Huntington Beach, California | Personal interests/hobbies:
Matt- mixed martial arts, jujitsu, Core Performance, classic American muscle cars
Zack- is a HORROR nut. He's usually seen in a variety (mostly younger days) of some form of ZOMBIE movie shirt like Night of the Living dead etc.
Zach teamed up with Bloody-Disgusting.com
http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/news/music/1607
http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/news/music/1676
Johnny- another horror fan he even wears is on his 'sleeve' Johnny's got various Classic horror movie characters tattooed on his arms as seen & Described above
Syn- Surfing & Ju Jitsu (I've seen a red Belt around his gi but haven't gotten more info than that) | Charities/Causes:
- F*ck Cancer Foundation
- Wounded Warrior Project
- Walter Reed Army Med Center
-MUSIC FOR RELIEF: http://www.musicforrelief.org/donate
-KILEY ALEXIS BENEFIT: http://www.kileyalexisbenefit.com/ (providing assistance to low income families with special needs children)
the guys auctioned off a bass guitar to help victi,s of the California Wildfires | Other: Quick Bits
(see full bio page for personal Biographies as well as Facts on the guys & Band. )
Why the band loves making music.. On Mtv Posted see Video #8
Avenged Sevenfold Performing Critical Acclaim, God Hates Us & bat Country @ Pinkpop 2011 something is up w/ Shadz voice I think. The beginning sounds like its going to crack or lose it.
was Syn drunk ? he's got 2 different sneakers on! also I think its the most I've ever seen Syn move around on stage!! (& I dont' mean walking across stage)
Shadows & Syn were featured on the Good Charlotte song The River
(vid should be on Best Characters/Movies page)
One thing is for sure the guys can definately be goofballs.
(mostly Syn & Rev of what I've seen, you' d have to see The All Excess video for my favorite clip they're in a hotel bar..drunk)
Syn impersonating Johnny.
Play Like AVenged Sevenfold With Guitar World In Deep http://www.guitarworld.com/in-deep-avenged-sevenfold examines the the twin guitar attack of Syn & Zacky, signature Tunings, construction of harmonized lead lins & & methods to formulate the rhythm guitar parts. There's also a few actual lessons on YoU Tube from Zack & Syn (tho' I haven't found the newer works) | Why A7X is Great?
1. Great talented musicians who write, record & have produced their own music their own music.
2. I was recently Finally able to see for myself about their Live showwith Their "Welcome to the Family' tour (2011) The guys put on an awesome stage show.
3. Though I've unfortunately haven't had the honour yet.. I hear the guys are really down to earth
Zacky describes what he thinks Makes Avenged Sevenfold's
I think we take a lot of pride in trying to always have as much energy as we can. Keep the songs as energetic as possible. The songs that are slower, you know, we really try and create a dynamic. The songs that are energetic are going to be the most energetic. The songs that are slower, definitely, we want to bring down the mood a lot. We have fun up there playing. We always like playing fast guitar, the drums fast, we have lots of vocals. We grew up listening to heavy metal. I think a lot of our style comes from having grown up listening to a lot of punk rock also, classic rock, I mean we’re fans of everything so we incorporate everything and it’s made for like a big really eclectic heavy metal type band | | Check out the other pages in the links at top (under 'expert' box) for Biography (I did individuals there) also Quotes & the Best Movies page is their music videos, favorite interviews, concert clips etc. | footnotes - http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/music/search.php?id=Avenged Sevenfold BD searchhttp://www.bloody-disgusting.com/news/music/873 Johnny Interview | |
