Nightmare Case

AVENGED SEVENFOLD - Nightmare

Avenged Sevenfold is an American heavy metal band from Huntington Beach, California. The band was formed in 1999. Presently, they consist of Matt Shadows(Vocalist), Johnny Christ(Bassist), Zacky Vengeance(Rhythm Guitarist) and Synyster Gates(Lead guitarist).

Matt Sanders(M. Shadows); the lead singer of the band is one of the original founding members. He came up with the band name on being inspired by the fourth chapter in the Book of Genesis. It involves God asking Cain where his brother, Abel was. Cain answered that he didn't know, when in fact, he had killed Abel. "... whoever kills you will suffer seven times the vengeance." (Genesis 4:15, International Standard Version). Jonathan Seward(Johnny Christ) is the fourth bassist, and joined the band while he was still in High School in the year 2003. He is the youngest and shortest in the band. Zack Baker(Zacky Vengeance) is the band's left-handed rhythm guitarist and backup vocalist. Zacky was a self-taught guitarist and would play his dad's right-handed guitar upside-down by watching his favourite bands play and other people he knew that played, and practised as much as he could. Brian Haner Jr.(Synyster Gates) plays the lead guitar, and does backup vocals for the band. His father is Brian Haner. He also plays in some Avenged Sevenfold tracks. He mostly plays acoustic guitar solos that duel back and forth with Synyster's electric guitar and also helped his son write "So Far Away", a track on the band's latest album that Brian had finished writing in memory of his late best friend and band-mate, Jimmy "The Rev" Sullivan. The Rev was known to the world as one of the greatest drummers of all time. He passed away on 28th December 2009, due to an accidental overdose of prescription drugs.

Avenged Sevenfold kicked off with a metalcore sound on their first album 'Sounding the Seventh Trumpet', which included a lot of screaming vocals and heavy-metal guitar riffs. They then changed their style on their third release, 'City of Evil', which featured more of a mainstream hard rock style. They have still retained their heavy metal feel by using blazing guitar solos and blistering double-bass drumming patterns, while keeping their musical aggression at a minimum level compared to their earlier work which makes their music all the more appealing to the larger crowd.

"The Rev 'Seized the Day' to conquer the 'City of Evil' in 'Bat Country', and forced the 'Beast and the Harlot' to 'Scream' their 'Unholy Confessions'. He left them 'Trashed and Scattered' and 'Blinded In Chains' with the 'Strength of the World'. He found it 'Almost Easy' and became a 'Sidewinder' and slithered to 'A Little Piece of Heaven' in his 'Afterlife', now he is 'M.I.A.' and his 'Nightmare' has come to pass. RIP Jimmy "The Rev" Sullivan, you're gone but NEVER forgotten!"

Sevenfold, A. (n.d.). Quote by Avenged Sevenfold. Retrieved December 10th, 2012 from http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/308559-the-rev-seized-the-day-to-conquer-the-city-of

This meaningful quote is a tribute to the late legend and also uses quite a few of Avenged Sevenfold's track names as characteristics of the quote to convey a very important message about The Rev's personality.

Avenged Sevenfold has released five studio albums, fifteen singles, and one live album/compilation.

The album artwork of their latest album 'Nightmare' deeply reflects on the music and the band's life without their beloved friend, The Rev. The musicality has advanced since their emergence and this is their most technically advance album yet. At first glance, it's no doubt that the band is Avenged Sevenfold. Not just because of the text stating the obvious, but because of their signature symbol that they have made known all over the world as the "Deathbat". It was originally designed by their high school friend named Micah Montague. The Deathbat is the key element in almost any Avenged Sevenfold image or poster and has also appeared on every album cover,

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