Avenged Sevenfold

Avenged Sevenfold has grown to be one of the largest rock/metal bands in history. They started just while they were in high school out of Long Beach, California, starting out as a metalcore act and evolving into a hard rock/heavy metal band. Over the course of  15 years, the band has released six studio albums, one live/compilation/DVD and 18 singles and has sold over 8 million albums worldwide (Wikipedia).

Avenged Sevenfold's debut album, "Sounding the Seventh Trumpet" was recorded while they were just in high school and was released by their first label, Good Life Recordings. The album was definitely their heaviest music they've ever written, featuring little clean vocals, chugging guitars, and blistering drums (Wikipedia). Many people that are fans of A7X don't like this album that much because this was their only metalcore album and the band is more know for the sound they have now, but I actually loved this album from start to finish and kind of wish they stuck with this sound just a little longer, but the newer Avenged Sevenfold is what made them become one of my top favorite bands.

Two years after their first album came out, the band released their second album, "Waking the Fallen." The album featured more of a refined and mature sound production (Wikipedia). They definitely started to gain notice very quickly as they played the Vans Warped Tour and recorded their first music video for "Unholy Confessions," which appeared on MTV2's Headbangers Ball. The band's front man M. Shadows started to not scream as much because it hurt his voice, so there were more clean vocals on this record. This was the album were I thought the band started to get their sound, but it wasn't quite there yet.

Soon after the sophomore album was out, Avenged Sevenfold was signed to Warner Bros Records, which was a huge accomplishment. Soon after, the band released "City of Evil," which was the first album for M. Shadows to sing completely clean vocals and not scream at all. He worked with vocal coach Ron Anderson, who had also taught Axl Rose of Guns N' Roses and Chris Cornell of Soundgarden to get a sound that had "grit while still having the tone." (Wikipedia). I think this was definitely the album where Avenged Sevenfold had finally found their sound, mainly because of the vocals and dual guitar parts between Synyster Gates and Zacky Vengeance, really taking advantage of having two guitars and having harmonizing melodies. The band had a noticeably gained a large fan base as they beat out many talented musicians to win Best New Artist at the MTV Video Music Awards, (Wikipedia), even though they were hardly new anymore.

Avenged Sevenfold's later released their self-titled album, which is my favorite album ever released by them. The band grew bigger and bigger with every album they'd released, with this album debuting at No 4 on the Billboard 200 and selling over 90,000 copies (Wikipedia). The band released multiple music video for songs on the album, and was awarded album of the year at the Kerrang! Awards (Wikipedia). This album was more experimental in ways of style in featured elements of metal, symphonic rock, a little gothic rock, and even a little bit of a country feel.

Two weeks before the band was going to head into the studio to record their fifth album, "Nightmare," the band's drummer "The Rev" had died from an accidental drug overdose. The band almost split apart, but they still entered the studio with former Dream Theater drummer, Mike Portnoy. Even though The Rev wasn't on the album, his vocals and drumming were still featured as the songs "Nightmare" and "Fiction" were previously recorded. Mike Portnoy did not become the replacement for The Rev, but eventually Arin Ilejay (formerly of Confide) started touring with them filling in on drums. The sound on "Nightmare" was much more dark since the death of their drummer. You can definitely tell they were in an angry state as they applied heavy guitar riffs and strong and hateful lyrics.

Eventually the new drummer became a permanent member of the band and became comfortable writing music with them. As they were in the studio recording their next album, M. Shadows stated he would the album to "sound more blues-rock influenced and have a classic rock/metal sound like Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin." (Wikipedia). The album "Hail to the King" was released in August of 2013 and was the band's first album to have no contributions from late drummer The Rev. It topped the Billboard 200 chart in the US and in many other countries. I honestly think that the new drummer Arin Ilejay could have done better with the drumming on this album because I've watched him play before and he really is an amazing drummer, and I don't believe he used his full drumming potential on the new album.

There's a link to every album in case you havn't listened to Avenged Sevenfold or just want to listen to them now.
I'd love to hear what you think about Avenged Sevenfold. Tell me in the comments below!



Monk3yMadn3zz. "Sounding the Seventh Trumpet - Avenged Sevenfold (Full Album) *HD*." YouTube. YouTube, 10 Nov. 2012. Web. 24 Mar. 2014.
ZargoZombie. "Waking The Fallen (Full Album)-Avenged Sevenfold." YouTube. YouTube, 25 Nov. 2012. Web. 24 Mar. 2014.
BarWeissA7X. "City Of Evil - Avenged Sevenfold (Full Album)." YouTube. YouTube, 02 Mar. 2012. Web. 24 Mar. 2014.
BarWeissA7X. "Avenged Sevenfold - Avenged Sevenfold (Full Album)." YouTube. YouTube, 23 Feb. 2012. Web. 24 Mar. 2014.
RockVideos9. "Avenged Sevenfold - Nightmare (Full Album)." YouTube. YouTube, 28 Mar. 2013. Web. 24 Mar. 2014.
Sullivan, Eddy. "Avenged Sevenfold Hail to the King ( FULL ALBUM)." YouTube. YouTube, 23 Aug. 2013. Web. 24 Mar. 2014.
"Avenged Sevenfold." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 12 Mar. 2014. Web. 24 Mar. 2014.
Burke, Ray. "Avenged Sevenfold: Tour News Plus a Ticket Competition." Louder Than War. Louder Than War, 8 Nov. 2013. Web. 24 Mar. 2014.
"Avenged Sevenfold." Avenged Sevenfold. Avenged Sevenfold and Warner Bros Inc., n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2014.

Memphis May Fire

Memphis May Fire started out in 2004 as a small local band from Dallas, Texas. It was not until February of 2007 that the band had stabilized and put out their first self-titled EP. Shortly after, the band gathered a local following and caught the attention of president of Trustkill Records, "There is a lot of really exciting, young, dangerous music coming out of Texas right now, and Memphis May Fire are the cream of the crop. Not since Bullet for My Valentine's Hand of Blood have we heard a more compelling set of songs for an EP, where absolutely every song is bone-chillingly perfect, and timeless. These guys are on their way to something huge." In September of that same year, the band had officially signed to Trustkill Records and reissued their EP.

Memphis May Fire had hoped to release their first full length album in the summer of 2008, but during the recording process of the album" (Wikipedia), two of the band members had left, having the rest of the band find a new bassist and vocalist. Cory Elder stepped in as bassist and vocalist Matty Mullins became the new front-man of the band. All that was left to be done for the album was the vocals since all the instrument recording was done before. The first full-length album was released in July, 2009, and they were obviously starting to get popular as they were described as "a new breed of rock n' roll," and started to make music videos and even had a song used for the soundtrack for the movie Saw VI.

With every album thus far, Memphis May Fire continue to gain more energy with every album or EP they put out. In 2010, they released their second EP and continues to attain a greater fan-base. In early 2011, it was announced that the band was signed to Rise Records (a huge rock and metal music label), and that a new album would be due that spring. The Hollow was released that April and introduced a heavier and darker sound for the band. The band grew even bigger as they were announced to play the 2012 Vans Warped Tour.

In early 2012, the band's rhythm guitarist left the band. The only remaining founding member said this was because, "he did not have the right attitude and was not willing to push the band to a positive direction" (Wikipedia). Guitarist Anthony Sepe filled the role of rhythm guitarist and the band's third full-length album was released in June of 2012, while the band was touring on the Vans Warped tour. The album debuted at #16 on the Billboard Charts and continued to grow even bigger.

I've personally been a fan of Memphis May Fire soon after they started because I love to listen to and support local bands. Ever since i had heard them for the first time, I thought they were great artists and musicians and they quickly grew to be one of my favorite bands. They have grown more and more powerful with their music over the years and continue to grow as musicians. They are releasing their next full-length album next month and i can't wait to hear it. They released two songs from it, "No Ordinary Love" and "Sleepless Nights," and I can already tell it is going to be a great album. I had the pleasure of seeing them a few weeks ago on the "Unconditional Tour," named after the new album. They played those two songs from the new album plus many older ones, and they have always been one of my favorites to see live. They put on such a great show and the fans are always crazy for them. I'd like to hear what you think about the band in the comments below. I love feedback!



"Memphis May Fire." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 04 Mar. 2014. Web. 04 Mar. 2014.

RiickyART. "Redirect Notice." Redirect Notice. DeviantART, n.d. Web. 04 Mar. 2014.

Riserecords. "Memphis May Fire - No Ordinary Love (Unconditional in Stores 03.25.14)."YouTube. YouTube, 06 Feb. 2014. Web. 04 Mar. 2014.

Riserecords. "Memphis May Fire - Sleepless Nights (Unconditional in Stores 03.25.14)."YouTube. YouTube, 24 Feb. 2014. Web. 04 Mar. 2014.