[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/a7x_727.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:L to R: Johnny Christ, Synyster Gates, M. Shadows, Zacky Vengence, and [[TooCoolToLive the Rev]]]]

Avenged Sevenfold is a HardRock / {{Metalcore}} band from Huntington Beach, UsefulNotes/{{California}}. They formed in 1999. The band comprises four members; M. Shadows, Synyster Gates, Zacky Vengeance, and Johny Christ, since the death of The Rev. [[Music/DreamTheater Mike Portnoy]] covered for his spot for the album Nightmare and following tour. Arin Ilejay is their current drummer.

The band played the underground scene in America for several years before achieving more widespread recognition and success with their third studio album; City of Evil (2005). Their second album, Waking the Fallen, is certified gold. Their original sound was harsher, with extensive use of double bass drums and screamed vocals. Since then, the band has changed to include more melody, but not sacrificed any of the instrumentist's Hard Rock based sound. The lead guitarist, Synyster Gates is also renowned for unleashing fast solos.

Avenged Sevenfold's lyrics are inspired by a wide range of themes, including references to the dead/undead, biblical themes and strong themes such as assisted suicide. Also, at least one of their songs appears to be from a vampire's point of view, whilst ''A Little Piece Of Heaven'' is from the perspective of a man who killed the woman he was in love with, ''raped her corpse'' before she rose from the dead & killed him in the same way he killed her, at which point ''he'' returns from the dead and they decide to murder ''an entire wedding party & the guests'' so they can get married.

Avenged Sevenfold (or [=A7X=], as they are often called) are amongst the most popular alternative/heavy bands among teens and young adults the world over, and were instrumental in the creation of the new wave of Metalcore, a genre that combines hardcore punk with extreme metal. Unfortunately, the band is currently in a state of turmoil as the Rev passed away on Dec. 28, 2009. In statements from the rest of the band they have said that they won't give up and are trying to rebuild their lives, no easy task as the five had been friends for most of their lives. The spot had gone to Mike Portnoy, as mentioned above for a few early tours, but recently the band has found Arin Ilejay of disbanded Californian metalcore band Confide.

The band members' original names are:
* Matt Sanders - M. Shadows
* Zachary Baker - Zacky Vengeance
* Brian Haner (Jr.) - Synyster Gates
* Johnny Seward - Johnny Christ
* Jimmy (or James) O. Sullivan - The Rev/The Reverend Tholomew Plague. (1981-2009)

The band's discography is:

* Sounding the Seventh Trumpet (2001)
* Waking the Fallen (2003)
* City of Evil (2005)
* Avenged Sevenfold (2007)
* Nightmare (2010)

----
'''They have shown examples of some Tropes:'''

* AerithAndBob: M. Shadows, Synyster Gates, Zacky Vengeance, Johnny Christ and...Arin Ilejay.
* AlbumTitleDrop: City of Evil is dropped in "Beast and the Harlot".
* AllDrummersAreAnimals: The Rev was the resident {{Cloudcuckoolander}}. Watch him in any video.
* AlwaysIdenticalTwins: Michelle Dibenedetto-Haner and Valary Dibenedetto-Sanders, who are Brian and Matt's respective wives.
* AsTheGoodBookSays: The band's name is lifted from Genesis 4:15, when God curses Cain not to be killed after he kills Abel by saying: "Shall Cain be killed, he shall be avenged sevenfold". The Cain and Abel story also serves as the basis for the lyrics of "[[MeaningfulName Chapter Four]]" off ''Waking the Fallen''.
** "Beast and the Harlot" lifts many passages from Revelations 17 and 18.
* AwesomeMcCoolname: Their stage names.
* BerserkButton: Don't make jokes about Jimmy's death around a fan. [[UnacceptableTargets Just don't]].
** If "Critical Acclaim" is any indication, bashing on soldiers is this for the band.
* BloodyHilarious: "A Little Piece of Heaven"
* BowtiesAreCool: Zacky has a thing for this.[[note]]Zacky's younger brother, Matt, makes bowties.[[/note]]
* BuriedAlive: They have a song called Buried Alive.
* ButtMonkey: Johnny Christ seems to be this for the rest of the band.
-->''You can't spell bass without ass.'' - Synyster Gates
* CallBack: The video for "Nightmare" has two, both referencing "Afterlife". One has a tarantula crawling on The Rev's drum kit, a Call Back to the tarantula on The Rev's face. The other is Zacky dancing with a skeleton, where he was dancing with his girlfriend in "Afterlife".
** The Rev wrote "Fiction", which has the line, "Promise me you'll never feel afraid." After [[AuthorExistenceFailure his passing]], Syn wrote "So Far Away", which has the line, [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments "Sleep tight; I'm not afraid."]]
* CarefulWithThatAxe: "Bat Country," "A Little Piece Of Heaven," "Beast And The Harlot," "Trashed And Scattered," "Crossroads," "Almost Easy" (Especially in the CLA Mix), Most tracks on Waking The Fallen and Sounding The Seventh Trumpet, and about two-thirds of The Rev's vocals. Usually a MetalScream, and when M. Shadows does it, [[LargeHam expect it to be accompanied by an]] EvilLaugh.
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: The Rev.
-->'''The Rev''': There's one tattoo on my body that I can't show, that...[[NonSequitur Sometimes at night I feel like demons are attacking me]], and I claw at it and try to get it off me. I might get it covered up. But I don't know, I don't even know why I brought it up. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNyi5fmcQNk Next.]]
* ClusterFBomb: Trashed and Scattered from City Of Evil.
* TheDeadCanDance: The song "Dancing Dead", of course.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: "Sounding The Seventh Trumpet" is mostly a HardcorePunk album. Johnny isn't in the band yet, Synyster Gates' guitar solos are nowhere to be found (besides "To End The Rapture" on the re-release) since he joined the band just after finishing recording, The Rev is pretty much doing fills constantly for the whole album, M. Shadows barely sings (And when he does, [[NoseYodeling well...]]), and "Streets" is a leftover punk song from one of M. Shadows' first bands.
* EasterEgg: Watching certain parts of All Excess, the DVD, will unlock a number of [[http://viaheadphones.wordpress.com/2007/07/18/avenged-sevenfold-all-excess-easter-eggs/ hidden videos]].
** Especially "Unholy Confessions".
* EpicRocking: They are known to do this on occasion, but most notably on the album City of Evil, on which only one song is under five minutes and four are over seven, and most recently with "Save Me" from nightmare at almost eleven minutes.
** You have to consider, they were working with [[Music/DreamTheater Mike Portnoy]], and Dream Theater are known for having Epic Rocking songs.
* EvenTheGuysWantHim: M. Shadows has this reputation.
* EvilLaugh: Matt seems fond of these. Also The Rev throws in a few during A Little Piece Of Heaven and Afterlife.
* FadingIntoTheNextSong: "Beast and the Harlot" ends with a little bit of guitar violence (if it can be termed as such), which then takes a backseat for the drum opening of "Burn It Down".
* FamousLastWords: While The Rev's last appearances and writing credits were on ''"Fiction"'', written three days before his death, and come off eerily as this [[HarsherInHindsight (The song is specifically written about accepting death and saying goodbye and is named after one of his old nicknames)]]. His last recording ever was the ''"Skull!"'' in the intro to ''"Save Me"''. Nobody's really sure why he recorded it or what it was for.
* GenreShift: [[SelfTitledAlbum Avenged Sevenfold]] does this twice, with "A Little Piece Of Heaven" suddenly being composed mostly of brass and showtune instruments and is composed in a style more similar to {{Danny Elfman}} than any of their previous songs, then immediately following with another one with "Dear God" having more in common with a country song than a metal one.
* GriefSong: So Far Away, which was written for Syn's grandfather. When Jimmy died, the lyrics changed to being about him. Fiction is also about Jimmy, [[MindScrew despite being written and]] [[HarsherInHindsight sang by him]]....
* {{Guyliner}}: A few of them have used it, but Brian uses it consistently.
* HarshVocals: On earlier releases, and on "God Hates Us" from ''Nightmare.''
* HeWhoFightsMonsters: "Strength of the World"
* HeterosexualLifePartners: The group as a whole has this relationship with eachother, but special mention goes to Brian, Matt, and Jimmy, and within that trio, Jimmy and Brian. [[AuthorExistenceFailure Bit of a]] DownerEnding [[TearJerker there]].
** They have stated that even if they stopped being a ''band'', they would still be just as close with eachother.
* ILoveTheDead: "A Little Piece of Heaven"
* ImAHumanitarian: Again, "A Little Piece of Heaven".
* IntercourseWithYou: "Girl I Know."
* LargeHam: M. Shadows and The Rev, though with M. Shadows it's only when he's performing or singing, [[FunnyCharacterBoringActor in person he's pretty calm, nice, and down-to-earth.]] The Rev on the other hand, was just like this always.
* LastNoteNightmare: "And All Things Will End".
** "Nightmare" may also qualify.
* LoudnessWar: Every album is brickwalled, though ''Nightmare'' and ''Waking The Fallen'' have the most obvious clipping.
* MetalScream: Quite a few songs start with or have these. The Beast And The Harlot, Bat Country, Natural Born Killer, to name a few. He also does this quite often with the first two albums.
* MohsScaleOfRockAndMetalHardness: ''Sounding the Seventh Trumpet'' and ''Waking the Fallen'' were in the 8 range, with their later material usually bordering on 7, sometimes going down to 6. "Nightmare" (the song) teeters somewhere between a 7 and an 8. While a couple other songs, like "God Hates Us", are a pretty solid 8.
* MoodWhiplash: God Hates Us, an angry metal song that brought back their former metalcore sound comes between [[TearJerker So Far Away and Victim]] on the album.
** Buried Alive starts out as a slower song and changes into a metal song after the guitar solo.
* MurderBallad: Again, "A Little Piece of Heaven"
* NamesTheSame: Music/LinkinPark didn't cover "Burn It Down". Also, BlackVeilBrides didn't cover "Lost It All".
* TheNicknamer: When the band formed, Matt, Brian, Zack, and [[ThePeteBest Justin]] all had to come up with cheesy stage names that they thought would piss people off. [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} The Rev was already just "The Rev."]] Or Fiction, or Rat Head, or The Reverend Tholomue Plague,
* NightmareFace: Made by multiple people in the video for "Bat Country". Also, when [[spoiler:the girl comes back as a zombie and that...one face in the background of hell]] in "A Little Piece of Heaven".
** Not to mention the videos for Almost Easy and Nightmare. Hell, you can just about expect every other video to have at least one of these.
* NobodyLovesTheBassist: The band torments Johnny over this all the time, but averted by the fandom for the most part.
* PowerBallad: Many.
* PreOrderBonus: The track "Lost It All" can only be acquired through pre-ordering the Nightmare album on iTunes.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: "Critical Acclaim."
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxsFtCSOJyc "Strength of the World"]]
* ScullyBox: Johnny Christ had to stand on one for the video of Nightmare.
* SopranoAndGravel: They tend to work with female guest singers to achieve this effect.
** Subverted in [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cG5LNNUGs40 The Art of Subconcious Illusion]], which has Matt's wife Valary doing screaming vocals.
* ShoutOut: Many:
** [[Music/{{Pantera}} The idea of a two-part suicide song with the first part being told in a soft, ballad-like song followed by an intensely heavy part 2 told from the point of view of a surviving friend should sound a bit familiar to any 90's thrash metal fan]].
** The music video for [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94bGzWyHbu0 Nightmare]] is told from the point of view of [[JacobsLadder an amnesiac person being strapped in to a hospital bed and carried through the halls of a hospital with nightmarish things happening around him.]]
** The song and video for "Bat Country" are both [[WordOfGod confirmed]] to be based on FearAndLoathingInLasVegas. This should be obvious to anyone who's seen the movie or read the book, even if the title of the song didn't give it away.
* SuperpoweredEvilSide: "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cG5LNNUGs40 The Art Of Subconscious Illusion]]"
* TitleDrop: "The Beast And the Harlot" features this ''as well as'' an AlbumTitleDrop. And that's just one example.
* TogetherInDeath: "A Little Piece Of Heaven". Kind Of. [[spoiler:The guy kills the girl at the beginning and [[{{Squick}} does]] [[ILoveTheDead things]] with her corpse. She Then comes back as a zombie and [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill murders the living hell out of him]], after which they are both in hell, and he begs her to forgive him. She does, and they come back as zombies. Then they decide to [[CrossesTheLineTwice murder an entire church full of people with chainsaws and whatnot during a REAL wedding and force the priest to wed them]]. They then live happily ever after as a murderous evil zombie couple.]]
* VocalEvolution: M.Shadow's screams and singing sound differently from album to album. Just compare [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEMahsSLirU Art of Subconscious Illusion]] to [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cv_go1xUyks Chapter Four.]] And listen to his singing on their [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3plt6wMQyQE first album]] to their [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7ry4cx6HfY latest album.]]
* VocalTagTeam: M. Shadows and The Rev on the SelfTitledAlbum, and on "Fiction." [[WhatCouldHaveBeen This probably would have continued]] [[AuthorExistenceFailure had The Rev lived.]]
* WarIsHell: The song MIA.
* WarOnTerror: "Critical Acclaim" is an attack on peoples' tendency to blame the soldiers, which [[BerserkButton hits a little close for the band.]]
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: In [[http://www.moderndrummer.com/site/2009/12/james-the-rev-sullivan/#.UKmEx4c0V8E an interview]] with ''Modern Drummer'' in 2006, The Rev had said that he planned on [[SerialEscalation exponentially going more and more over the top in technicality in each subsequent release after City Of Evil.]] Instead, the SelfTitledAlbum was a much more simple NewSoundAlbum, and he died before Nightmare where they began to move back towards ProgressiveMetal, and with The Rev's stated influences (FrankZappa, KingCrimson...) it is quite likely that they would go further and further in that direction as well as getting more experimental. He also had said elsewhere that he wanted to re-form Pinkly Smooth, his and Synyster's [[SomethingCompletelyDifferent really weird]] side project, and re-record their album ''Unfortunate Snort'' as he'd compared it's recording quality to that of a demo. He was also seriously entertaining the idea of writing new material for it right around the time when he died.
* XtremeKoolLetterz: Synyster Gates
* {{Yandere}}: The guy in 'A Little Piece of Heaven'.