Metal with a vengeance

Paul Saitowitz

Blending the screeching glam-rock era high pitch of Axl Rose and RKL’s

Bomber Manzullo with the snarling guttural chant of Pantera’s Phil

Anselmo, M. Shadows -- Matt Sanders -- frontman of Avenged Sevenfold has

no trouble complimenting the musical deluge that surrounds him.

The deluge provided by James “The Reverend” Sullivan on drums, Zach

“Zacky Vengace” on guitar, Brian “Synyster Gates” Haner on guitar and

Matt “Dameon Ash” Hare on bass is a combination of death rock, punk rock

and glam rock.

The constantly evolving drum patterns and precarious rhythms recall

70s-era Rush with 80s-era Metallica. The flaming guitar leads remind you

why you liked metal to begin with.

With the plethora of hardcore metal coming out of Orange County these

days Avenged Sevenfold strives to set itself apart.

“I think we like to explore different things in our music,” M. Shadows

said. “We are a heavy band, but we don’t want to be grouped into any one

particular style.”

As far as the nicknames are concerned -- the band insists on being

known by their monikers -- there is no deep-seated meaning.

“It’s just something that we did for fun and to be different and set

ourselves apart,” M. Shadows said.

The songwriting is so frenetic in spots, that it’s hard to imagine how

they put the music together. M. Shadows focuses on the lyrical content,

which is influenced by everything from the Bible to interpersonal

relationships.

“The music is basically structured by Zacky and Shadows and then we

put our own personal touch on it,” Synyster Gates said. “We try to look

at the big picture of the entire songs and not just write things that

sound good in parts, but not so good in others.”

The band’s most recent efforts have been more collective as the sound

has evolved.

“I think that we might be a bit more melodic than we were in the

past,” The Reverend added.

The Huntington Beach band has been together for just over two years

and have recently signed to Hopeless Records. Their album -- “Sounding

the Seventh Trumpet” -- was originally released in 1999 by European label

Goodlife Records. The album was only available in Europe.

“We got a good response from it in Europe, but we weren’t able to get

over there and tour for it,” M. Shadows said.

Hopeless has retained all the rights for the record and will be

re-releasing it with a new introduction on March 19.

“Being on a bigger label gives us exposure to a lot bigger audience

and hopefully we can tour as much as possible and get the music to as

many people as possible,” The Reverend added. The band will be playing at

the high-profile South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin, Texas this

summer. They are planning on touring the U.S. several times before coming

back to record their follow-up album next winter.

“Our label is trying to line things up for us, but we don’t have any

set touring plans as of yet,” M. Shadows added.

Avenged Sevenfold will be playing Feb. 10 at the Showcase Theater in

Corona with Sacramento metal band Will Haven.