1. “Exist”ing with Avenged Sevenfold
Kaytlin Marden
Music 1010
Section 502
7/5/17

2. Introduction Avenged Sevenfold Aka - A7X Genre – metalcore
Metalcore = hardcore metal combined with punk rock
Hello, my name is Kaytlin Marden. I want to describe to you the works of Avenged Sevenfold. Avenged Sevenfold, or A7X, is classified as a metalcore band. For those of you who don’t know, metalcore is hardcore metal and punk rock mixed together to create a unique sound many people can appreciate. Metalcore isn’t something I typically listen to. My music of choice is pop, hip hop, or 80s and 90s music. However, I decided to do this presentation on A7X because I wanted to expand my music interests. My brother introduced me to A7X a couple months ago and I have slowly gotten to enjoy their music ever since. I personally like their music because each song has its own tune (none sound the same) and its own guitar solo. Their music also provides powerful lyrics that stimulate various emotions. But before I describe their music, let me describe to you Avenged Sevenfold and how they started.

3. Biography
Formed in 1999
High school band in Huntington Beach, California
Cain and Able from The Bible (Genesis 4:24)
Added band members later on
They each have a nickname
Logo = Deathbat
In 1999, Matthew Charles Sanders (lead singer) and Zachary James Baker (guitarist) formed the beginnings of Avenged Sevenfold while they were in high school in Huntington Beach, California. The two decided to name their band after a scripture in The Bible as a reference to Cain and Able. That scripture, Genesis 4:24, reads, “If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold.” Although they are not a religious band, the name stuck. Later on in the year, they expanded their band by adding Brian Elwin Haner, Jr. (guitarist), Johnathan Lewis Seward (bassist), and James Owen Sullivan (drummer). To complete the band’s vibe, they referred to themselves by the nicknames they gave themselves in high school. Matthew is M. Shadows, Zachary is Zacky Vengeance, Brian is Synyster Gates, Johnathan is Johnny Christ, and James is The Reverend Tholomew Plague or The Rev. Last but not least, their band wouldn’t be complete without a logo. Micah Montague, a high school friend of theirs, drew the Deathbat as the official logo for the band; the Deathbat is featured on all of their albums. With a name, band members, and a logo, Avenged Sevenfold was ready to make their mark on the metalcore world.

4. Biography 1st album – Sounding of the Seventh Trumpet (2001)
2nd album – Waking the Fallen (2003)
3rd album – City of Evil (2005)
first album to contain hit singles
4th album – Avenged Sevenfold (2007)
top 10 on Billboard’s Top 200
popular outside of the U.S.
5th album – Diamonds in the Rough (2008)
The Rev died in 2009
6th album – Nightmare (2010)
temporary drummer Mike Portnoy
Arin Ilejay official new drummer in 2011
In 2001, the band released their first album Sounding the Seventh Trumpet with Good Life Recordings. Their next album, Waking the Fallen, was released with Hopeless Records in City of Evil was the next album to be released in 2005 through Warner Bros., which got the ball rolling for successful singles like “Bat Country” and “Beast and the Harlot”. In 2007, Avenged Sevenfold made A7X’s popularity grow substantially with “Dear God” and “Almost Easy” hitting the top ten for Billboard’s Top 200. This album also became popular in the U.K. where three of the album’s songs hit the top five of England’s rock charts, making them internationally popular. After reaching the top five, Avenged Sevenfold toured North America playing for the Taste of Chaos tour. A7X continued their success by releasing their next album Diamonds in the Rough in In the next year, The Rev, the drummer, passed away from accidental overdose of oxycodone, Valium, and alcohol at the age of 28. The band considered breaking up after the death of The Rev, but decided to keep the band together and released their next album Nightmare in 2010 with Mike Portnoy as a temporary drummer. In 2011, Avenged Sevenfold played in multiple music festivals with other rock bands like System of a Down and In Flames with their official new drummer, Arin Ilejay.

5. Biography Won at Revolver Golden Gods awards
Wrote “Carry On” for Call of Duty: Black Ops II
7th album – Hail to the King (2013)
number one on Billboard Top 200
8th album – Waking the Fallen: Resurrected (2014)
10th anniversary to Waking the Fallen album
Drummer change to Brooks Wackerman
9th album – The Stage (2016)
Concept album
By 2012, Avenged Sevenfold’s popularity was soaring! That year, A7X won the award for “Best Live Band” followed by the award for “Most Dedicated Fans” at the Revolver Golden Gods awards. They had the opportunity to compose a song that would appear in a video game Call of Duty: Black Ops II. After the song “Carry On” featured in the game, they announced that they were writing new material for their next album with Arin Ilejay. Hail to the King was released in 2013, which reached number one on the Billboard 200. Waking the Fallen: Resurrected proceeded Hail to the King in 2014 to “celebrate” the 10th anniversary of Waking the Fallen. In 2015, the band had another drummer change due to “creative differences” issues with Arin Ilejay. A7X performed for the “Louder Than Life” tour with Brooks Wackerman as their new drummer. With Wackerman, they created their most recent album The Stage. Capitol Records released the album in This album went in a slightly different direction than their other albums. Avenged Sevenfold made this a concept album, speaking about artificial intelligence. This album also includes their longest song “Exist”.

6. Biography Current band members: M. Shadows – lead vocals and piano
Zacky Vengeance – rhythm guitar, lead guitar, and backing vocals
Synyster Gates – lead guitar and backing vocals
Johnny Christ – bass guitar and backing vocals
Brooks Wakerman - drums
There were many band member change ups throughout the years. To sum up, M. Shadows is lead singer and he plays the piano. Zacky Vengeance is the rhythm and lead guitar, and backing vocals. Synyster Gates plays lead guitar and backing vocals. Johnny Christ is bass guitarist and backing vocals. Brooks Wakerman is the drummer.

7. Composition History Background of album The Stage Capitol Studios
Released October 28, 2016
Conceptual album
Artificial intelligence
Self destruction of society
The stage = the earth
Longest song = “Exist”
The Stage is Avenged Sevenfold’s seventh studio album and ninth overall. It is their most recent album (it was released on October 28, 2016 through Capitol Studios) and their most diverse from previous albums. The Stage can be described as a concept album, which is about artificial intelligence and the dangers of self-destruction to society. A majority of the songs deal with topics such as space exploration, a NASA test that fails, and religion. These topics have all been dealt with on Earth, or what A7X calls Earth, the stage. The Stage also contains their longest song to date, “Exist”.

8. Composition History https://youtu.be/PL3kaM-y4K0
I stumbled upon this video when I was looking for details about A7X’s song “Exist”. M. Shadows describes what influences around the band persuaded them to write the song, how all of the pieces came together, and how they decided who to speak for the non-lyrical section of the song. I think this video is a great introduction to the details I will share in the next slide.

9. Composition History Background of “Exist” Longest song The Big Bang
Creation of the universe
Creation of the Earth
Neil deGrasse Tyson
“Exist”, as I stated before, is Avenged Sevenfold’s longest song rolling in at 15 minutes and 39 seconds. The song is about the Big Bang. It begins with the creation of the universe and ending with the creation of earth adding vocals at that point. “Exist” also has a speech towards the end. A7X reached out to Neil deGrasse Tyson, an astrophysicist, to write an essay about predicament of mankind. Avenged Sevenfold originally sought out Carl Sagan, another astrophysicist, to write the essay, but went with Neil instead and they were glad they did. The band thought that Neil’s voice fit in perfect with the song. Keyboard, lead guitar, bass guitar and drums are all of the instruments involved in the song. As we look at the listening guides, you will notice the impact of the instruments throughout the composition.

10. Listening Guide - Exist
Slow, moderate, quick tempo
Instruments: drums, keyboard, guitar (lead and rhythm), French horn, violin
4x4 and 2x4 meter
G minor
This song switches frequently between speeds. Depending on the section of the song, the tempo helps to set the tone of the composition. The instruments that are involved in this song are the drums, the keyboard, the guitar (lead and rhythm), the French horn, and the violin. Not only does this song switch between tempos, it also switches between meters to give the song texture and variation. This composition begins with G minor and keeps that key as a common factor throughout.

11. Listening Guide 0:00-1:27 Introduction
The song begins with the sounds of the synthesizer, simulating the sound of the “expansion of universe”. The keyboard enters about half way through, adding to the vastness of the universe. The dynamics give a sense of wonder providing consonance in major key. The speed is very quick right from the start.
1:28-1:31
Interlude
A brief pause is presenting where no instruments are playing, except for the sound of “air” provided by the synthesizer. This pause is the anticipation of silence right before the Big Bang occurs.
1:32-2:11
A massive collaboration of all the instruments crashes together to create what might have been the sound of the Big Bang. A guitar solo steals the melody making the timbre organized chaos. The rhythm is kept at 2x4.
2:12-2:18
Guitar Solo
Only the lead guitar and the drums are left to continue the solo at this point. This could be called a diminished build up as it minimizes the amount of instruments needed to continue the rest of the solo. It also leads up to the bridge as it slows down.

12. 2:19-2:31
Guitar Riff
A guitar riff presents itself while the drums keep the rhythm.
2:32-3:15
Bridge 1
The whole band enters once again to complete the bridge. Still keeping the dynamic of controlled chaos, the lead guitar plays of few chords in short bursts to create texture with a transition solo by the drums.
3:16-3:35
The keyboard enters to make it the focus of this section. This creates a sense of dissonance that something bigger is approaching. There is a slight key change towards the end.
3:36-4:19
Another guitar riff enters. A French horn plays behind the guitar and drums. The dynamics are quite eerie at this point while the French horn switches to minor key.
4:20-4:39
All instruments play at this point, keeping the eerie dissonance. The drums keep the rhythm at 4x4 and the guitar play the melody.

13. 4:40-5:20
Guitar Solo
Another guitar solo starts with another mash up of universe chaos. This represents the build up to the “creation of multiple planets”. Towards the end, the guitar and drums play with no rhythm, an unorganized mix of notes. A long, held out, high pitched guitar note brings the solo this section to a screeching halt.
5:21-6:09
Another moment of “silence” enters with the use of synthesizer effects. Occasional random guitar notes are played softly in the background to create variation of sound and texture.
6:10-6:46
A slow paced guitar solo brings the music back. Now, dynamics are more amazement instead of fear. Major key is brought back at this point as well to express organization. There is no specific rhythm set at this time.
6:47-6:55
Interlude
A short pause is given with complete silence.
6:56-7:25
Bridge 2
The lead guitar enters alone to bring the 2x4 rhythm back into play. The guitar also plays the melody in simple chords. This simulates the moment “Earth is created”. The tempo is kept at a medium speed.

14. 7:26-7:51
Verse 1
Vocals enter with the guitar keeping the same simple rhythm with a slight key change in the middle to give variation. The music is soft compared to the chaos played at the beginning.
7:52-7:58
Bridge 3
A break from the vocals is given while the drums take the lead in the rhythm. This is a build up to the chorus.
7:59-8:58
Chorus
The drums keep the rhythm at 2x4 and the guitar keeps the melody. The words and music repeats at the time 8:28. The mood is light, the key is in major form.
8:59-9:27
Verse 2
This verse is the same as the previous except for the sound of the violin is quietly added to the mix.
9:28-9:36
Bridge 4
A break is presented to build up to the chorus. It is the same as Bridge 3 with the addition of the violin.

15. 9:37-10:33
Chorus
This chorus is similar to the first. It also has a repeat of words and music at the time 10:04. The violin sound ends as well.
10:34-10:55
Guitar and Drum Solo
The vocals end at this point. The climax of the song comes to an end with a short solo by the guitar and drums. The rhythm is still 2x4. The music becomes less intense and becomes quieter.
10:56-11:21
A different guitar and drum solo enters. The rhythm guitar and drums remain the same, but the lead guitar plays higher pitched chords to gain the attention. The rhythm switches to 4x4.
11:22-12:08
Bridge 5
The keyboard enters at this point to take control of the melody while the rest of the instruments keep the rhythm. Slight changes of tempo occur with the drums towards the end. Slight major key changes also occur during this time with the guitar.

16. 12:09-14:50
Speech
A speech by Neil deGrasse Tyson enters. This speech is given to inform listeners about the universe and our Earth. This section of the composition changes the dynamic to more intrigue and wonderment rather than fear. The rhythm stays at 4x4 and all instruments are present during this time. Towards the end of the speech, a slight change in tempo occurs to create variation of speed.
14:51-15:39
Outro
The tempo slows significantly to close out the song. At the end, the instruments slowly drop off until the lead guitar is the last instrument standing. Note C is held for 31 seconds on the guitar to finish the song. You hear variation in sound caused by the feedback of the note.

17. Avenged Sevenfold has become one of my favorite bands not only from doing the research for this song, but also through listening to their music with my brother. Their style of music has opened my eyes to different styles of music that I could potentially enjoy. Thanks to A7X, I now know more about astronomy (from the song “Exist”) and more importantly about the metalcore style of music.

18. Bibliography & References