Arin Ilejay

Arin Ilejay is probably best known for being the drummer in Californian Christian Metal band Confide. He is featured on the group's full-length debut album Shout the Truth (2008) and performed with them during the 2008 Warped Tour, among others. Arin Ilejay accepted the position of Artist Relations Manager with TRX Cymbals in February 2009. As Confide's drummer, Arin Ilejay was followed up by Joel Piper.

In January 2011 he joined Avenged Sevenfold as the new additional drummer replacing Mike Portnoy, who has been filling in this position after the death of Jimmy "The Rev" Sullivan in December 2009. It is currently unknown if he will join them in the permanent position.

Oliver Sykes

Oliver "Oli" Sykes (born Oliver Scott Sykes November 20, 1986) is the current vocalist for the deathcore band Bring Me the Horizon from Sheffield England

Sykes moved to Australia until he was five years with his parents, he moved to Stockbridge, just outside Sheffield in the UK As a teenager he attended Stockbridge High School and was a year below Alex Turner and Matt Helders of Arctic Monkeys After school he began making compilation CDs and short tracks under the name Quake Beat He is a vegetarian
Other Projects

Quake Beat is a compilation album Sykes, who has made while in school here also come under the name "Quake Sound"
Olisarus was an ambient electronic project that Sykes started when he was 16 JamesSpence of Rolo Tomassi followedwith electronic beats on guitar
Purple Curto were two men Deathrash band featuring Sykes on drums and vocals, Neil on guitar, Neil Whitely Whitely Whitely brother of SJ Sykes' ex girlfriend Purple Curto recorded several songs and played once at the Sykes-'18 Anniversary
Sykes has recently revealed that his personal MySpace profile that he will make a future project that "could not be further away from Bring Me The Horizon music and if you do not want to dance, you do not like it" It is expected that this can be another electronic project that will continue as soon Bring Me The Horizon has been touring for their second album, Suicide Season
Womb 2 Da Tomb was a "Rapping" side project in the early days Bring Me the Horizon consists of Tom Sykes and Matt Nicholls Oli Sykes
Drop Dead Clothing is a clothing company founded and run by Sykes

Second Heartbeat

We keep writing, talking and planning, but everything's changing,
We all know what to do but no one does it,
Now this time has passed and full of regret,
Two in my heart have left me a while, I stand alone,
When they get back, it won't be the same,
Never be the same,
My life, you've always been there,
Now you're gone and my heads spinning,
Left the childhood, left the memories, left the good times in the past,
Moving on your time has run out,
Wishing the clock would stand still, the world can wait,
Wasting away once again, once lived as friends,

As time passes by, regrets for the rest of my life,
The ones who I confide were gone in the black of the night,

Never will I forget you, and all the memories past,
So rarely I get to see your face,
Growing I looked to you in guidance.
We knew that time would kill us, but you're still so close to me,

To me you were my life,
To me you were my soul companion,
Now you are so far away,
Nothing can take away the time and the memories we had,
Come back - to the days when we were young
Come back - to the days when nothing mattered
to the days when nothing mattered

And I feel time passes by, regrets for the rest of my life,
The ones who I confide were gone in the black of the night

As time passes by, regrets for the rest of my life,
The ones who I confide were gone in the black of the night.

Johnny Christ

Johnny Christ was born November 18, 1984 as Jonathan Lewis Seward. Unlike all the other bandmembers, Johnny did not attend Huntington Beach High School but the Marina High School. Johnny knew Synyster Gates through his older brother and remembers The Rev because he (The Rev) was always picking on him, so he claims. When the band would be practicing in M. Shadows' parents' garage, Johnny would walk over there and tell them their bassplayer was inadequate and that they should let him play instead. When Avenged Sevenfold was left with no bassplayer for tour, Johnny filled up the spot for them and took a few weeks off from high school during his senior year. Those few weeks would become permanent, as Johnny dropped out of high school to join Avenged Sevenfold. Before Johnny, the band had already had three bassplayers that go by the names of Dameon Ash, Justin Sane and Matt Wendt. Johnny's two biggest influences are Cliff Burton (Metallica) and Duff McKagan (Guns N Roses, Velvet Revolver). However, Les Claypool, the bassist and vocalist of Primus, was the one who inspired him the most to play bass guitar. Johnny plays the bass with both his fingers and a pick, depending on the songs. The first album Johnny recorded was 'Waking The Fallen'. At first, he would sign things with 'Johnny' until guitarist Zacky Vengeance came up with 'Johnny Christ'. He decided to go with that, because everybody would be going to hate it. Johnny is currently dating Lacey Anne Franklin.

Equipment used:

* Ernie Ball Musicman Sterling Bass
* Gallien Krueger 4x12 Neo
* Gallien Krueger 2001 RB Head
* Ernie Ball 2831 Power Slinky Bass Strings
* uses distortion from 2001rb head

Very little is known and posted onlne about Johnny's life before the band and personal life. This is the reason why his biography is not as complete as the others. As more information becomes available, more information will be added.
Childhood and Family

Johnny's family is Polish. For those of you who have confused him with Johnny Gera, who is really Syn's step-brother, you are wrong. Sorry.
Music and Playing Bass

Joined Avenged Sevenfold in 2002 at the age of 18. He started playing for the band when they had problems with their last bassist and the band was still on tour. Johnny left school for about two weeks before the band asked him to stay on and be their bassist.
When the band was practicing in Matt's parents garage, Johnny would walk down the street and tell them that their bassist was no good and that they should let him play with them instead.
Johnny has apparently known Jimmy since he was in kindergarten.

His two biggest influences are Cliff Burton (now deceased bassist for Metallica) and Duff MacKagan (the bassist from Velvet Revolver and formely Guns N Roses). The person that inspired him the most to pick up a bass was Les Claypool, the bassist and vocalist from Primus.
Tattoos

* His first tattoo was based off of “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe, it's of a raven in a tree. The artist that did the tattoo wanted to make sure that the branches of the tree looked like flames
* A skull cowboy on his neck
* The rest of his tattoos on his arm are from the old horror movies
o Dracula
o Lady Dracula
o Frankenstein
o Mr. Hyde
o The Wolfman

Quick Facts

* Doesn't like to impress anybody
* The band keeps a close eye on him and his self damaging habits out of fear of what could happen
* Roughly 5'6'' tall

R.I.P The Rev

Jimmy wrote every part, Lyrics, riffs ect. of 4 of the songs recently written for the Avenged Sevenfold album.

Jimmy is a self proclaimed perfectionist.

Brian has given Jimmy informal guitar lessons through the years.

Larry Jacobson, A7X Manager, says Jimmy looks like an octopus when he plays Almost Easy.

Jimmy joined the percussion ensemble at Harbor College in L.A. in the 6th thru the 8th grade.

Jimmy began transcribing exceedingly difficult metal tunes including Metallica, Slayer, and Pantera eventually learning Dream Theatre and Rush.

Jimmy's parents wanted him to take piano lessons when he was 5 but he resisted them but secretly wanted to play.

Jimmy started out at age 10 with a mail ordered drum kit which he calls crap. A year later he got his own kit.

Jimmy was raised Catholic.

Jimmy lived with Brian for a while and Papa Gates had this to say about him: "Jimmy is eccentric to a nearly dangerous level. I would guess his I.Q. would be in excess of 160. He is possibly one of the most natural musicians I have ever met."

Jimmy’s drum tech is Jason Berry.

Jimmy has been chosen the second best drummer on Drum magazine’s 2008 list.

Jimmy has lived in many homes and at one time even lived in a laundry mat that he worked at.

Jimmy thought he was too good to be in Matt’s original Band "Successful Failure", not A7X.

Jimmy was kicked off of the basketball team at Huntington Beach High School.

Jimmy has known Johnny the longest because he was friends with Johnny’s' Older brother.

Jimmy stands at 6'2.5 and has blue eyes.

Despite Jimmy revealing his arachnophobia he allowed spiders to walk on his face for the "Afterlife" video. He said he did it for the fans.

Jimmy has stated that he owns 6 cars. Almost one for every day of the week.

Jimmy wrote the lyrics for Almost Easy, Afterlife and A Little Peice of Heaven. He also came up with the concept for Brompton Cocktail.

Jimmy brought the fly swatter he used in the Bat Country Video from home.

Jimmy had lasix surgery just prior to his death.

The song "Bring My Baby Back" is believed to be the last actual recorded song Jimmy played the drums on before his death. The song is on Brian Haner Sr's album "Fist Fight at the Waffle House" which was released October 2010.


"We love being on the road. I get really bored if I'm home for too long or in one spot for too long. Touring is more fun, but the act of creating music that people love is also very satisfying."

"The first couple of months when you release an album, the crowds don't know the songs quite as well, so the shows get better after a few months."

"I'm just proud and I'm touched when I see someone with a new Avenged Sevenfold tat. and now I always make sure I check them out if they're sportin'one. That's meaningful when you put someone else’s ink on your body."

"Like most bands we're a family, family before band. If we broke up tomorrow, we'd still be friends."

"I call it the double-ride thing just for the lack of a better definition because no one does it.

"It is very hard to keep yourself on the bells without being able to look. You can't look at the two places at the same time. My right hand naturally can find the ride on its own, so I have to look at the bell on the left, and you also have to bring it over to hit the snare, so it gets a bit hard and that's when you start looking like a fucking octopus weirdo, its awesome!"

"I love it, I live for it. I've never been able to stay in one place and I just like the Excitement of getting out there and playing live and the whole lifestyle that comes along with it. I like to party when the time to party is right, as we all do, I believe. Being in new countries every week is just awesome when you take in the foreign culture. When we go to other countries, we always make sure we have a couple days between shows and get to see the places we want to see. It's perfect-you're on vacation and your working, too. I'm obsessed with seeing as much of the world as possible."

"Over all Avenged Sevenfold the album is 10 times better than the others."

"Critical Acclaim is just in your face madness going, it all just sticks to that and doesn't transition to something that's completely left field."

"The biggest headlining show we ever done were at the Gibson Amphitheater in L.A. That was an overwhelming moment. Also, a great moment was the first time we went out on stage with Metallica. Oh and meeting a lot of my idols like Vinnie Paul. Those moments are always really rewarding."

"She was very influential in me being a musician in general. She took me into her percussion ensemble, which kind of ended up being a band and she taught me about music theory as well as drum theory. She's always pumped me up and nerver failed to point out to me that she thought I had a lot of potential as a drummer. I think a lot of drum instructors don't really influence you to try to write music, they mainly focus on drumming, you know? Referencing his instructor at L.A. Harbor College Jeannette Wrate.

"I started playing double bass in the 6th or 7th grade but no one ever taught me, so I didn't really figure out how to build up my endurance and stamina to just do straight sixteenth-notes as fast as you want until much later, until I was about 19 or so."

"I don't do well with technology." referencing when his i-pod broke loosing over 4500 rare and vintage songs.

"It was a bit of a letdown. It was just like drinking something that tasted kind of bad and didn't do a thing for you. In the long run, I would have just rather let the King cobra live, you know? Because he was a cool looking Motherfucker." referencing the drinking of the cobra blood."

"The Rev is very good at coming up with full songs. That guys a piece of work; he's badass and he's a great writer. He walked in with a "Little Piece of Heaven", and it was like an eight-minute movie in his head. And we were like Fuck yeah dude!"-M.Shadows-

"I can write any style that I choose. I've always been heavily influenced by Danny Elfman, Oingo Boingo, Mr. Bungle, and bands like that. With all the different parts and the cinematic feel."


"No one could get anything done if they were completely out of control all of the time. Everyone likes to go out and have a few drinks with their best friends; I don't think anyone on the planet doesn't like to do that."

"I tore out of my mother's womb as a bloody, screaming mess causing her as much pain as possible. I'd say that was depraved."

"Everyone in this band has beaten Johnny up at some point."

"I beat myself off 17 times in one day. That's the worst beating I've ever handed out. I was so sore that it was hard to get that last load out."

"Your clothes you would think would always be clean when you live in a laundry mat, but no!! I lived in a laundry mat for 6 months and I only washed my clothes twice."

"The Revs a crazy bastard and he's everyone’s best friend". -M. Shadows-

Jimmy’s favorite quote and best turn around in the shortest period of time as told to him by Matt Berry: "One day I am just gonna get off this bus and I'm gonna run in the woods and I am never gonna come back and when I come back I 'm gonna be the 9th master".

"Spiders and fuckin shit on my face. I'm not happy about it at all. There is nothing to be happy about spiders on my face. But it's gonna look cool."--Jimmy referencing the spiders crawling on his face in the "Afterlife" video--


"The Rev is one of the most talented guys I know and have ever met. No matter what band you talk about, the biggest most famous bands off all-time, he’s right up there as far as I’m concerned. He’s a brilliant writer, he’s got one of my favorite voices in the world, and I know this for a fact, he’s the best drummer in the world. I mean, put those things together and he’s a pretty unstoppable dude."-Brian Haner Jr./Synyster Gates-

Zacky Vengeance

Music and Playing Guitar

Zacky started to play guitar at age 12 while he was in the seventh grade. He learned by watching his favourite bands and other people he knew who played and practiced as much as he could. He would also read each edition of Guitar World cover to cover, learning the tabs of the songs published in there and watching the professionals perform it until he got it right. His influences in his style are Rancid, Misfits and Bad Religion. Zacky's favourite bands also include Metalica, Guns N Roses and 'other bands like that'.

Before joining up with Avenged Sevenfold, Zacky played in a punk band called: MPA while in high school.
Tattoos

Zacky got his first tattoo when he was around 18, on his leg of a sparrow with a dagger through it. He continues to get tattoos just because he wants to be the kind of guy people see in a nice car, that people looked down on but it actually successful. Zacky also likes his tattoos because they make him look a bit buffer than he really is.

His tattoos include:

* A sparrow with a dagger through it on his leg
* A purple and red coffin on the side of his right index finger which the members of Avenged Sevenfold got with Good Charolette
* The Anaheim Angels logo behind his left ear which he got as the result of a bet he made with Synister Gates back in
* The word Vengeance and the number seven on his back in red to resemble a jersey
* A Jesus on his right lower arm near his wrist
* A sparrow with a dagger on his leg
* A decapitated woman on his right arm
* A skull with wings on left arm

Quick Facts

* Has a dog named Ichabod Crane Vengeance
* Thought of the abbreviation of A7X
* Has his own clothing line: Vengeance University
* Recently released for sale a guitar model he designed

Quotes

* "I ain't afraid of no ghosts, but I think we're all afraid of STDs
* "Johnny's in space, The Rev's in jail, Synyster's in Germany, Shadows knocks down the walls, and I cure cancer then forget how I did it."
* "I wish, I wish I hadn't killed that fish.
* "I play guitar and **** little girls... and drink.
* "I think the invitation was something to the effect of 'We have lots of beer and we need your help drinking it.' Naturally we said yes." (on how they ended up on Warped Tour for a 4th year)
* "Yeah, can I bite you?"
* "How does it feel living in England knowing Robin Hood was going around f***ing f***ing people?!!"
* "I'm Zacky Vengeance and I play the gynaecologist."
* "I dont talk to strangers."
* "The death bat was drawn by a small norwegian man."

-Zackys parents names are Maria and Matthew Baker.

-Zackys guitar tech is Pete Walker.

-Zacky has a brother Matt Baker who is a member of the band The Dear and Departed and a sister Zina Baker Pacheco who has a daughter and a son.

-Zacky also has a little dog that goes by Ichabod Vengeance whom he established a MySpace for.

-Zacky is a left handed guitarist.

-Zacky has a girlfriend Gina Paulhus. She is seen dancing with him in the video "Afterlife". You can also see Gina in the video for "Seize the Day" during the funeral scene standing beside Zacky.

-Zacky is 5'9 and has green eyes.

-Sour Patch Kids is Zackys favorite candy.

-House of 1000 Corpses is Zackys favorite Halloween Movie.

-Zackys scariest Halloween memory is cleaning up after his 2006 Halloween party.

-Zackys favorite Halloween costume was an orange pumpkin suit with a green hat.

-Zacky laughingly says he would like to make a song with Jim Henson of the Muppet fame, Beethoven, and Lil Wayne.

-Zackys white guitar with the red spashes on it he calles the gynocologist has been stolen 3 times in the past. It somehow always gets returned to him.

- Zacky couldn't get the finger twirl right on the Video for Beast and the Harlot. He had to practice it many times before he got it right.

-Zacky learned to play guitar on his fathers right handed guitar. In order to make it work he turned it upside down.

-Zacky smokes Marlboro Reds.


"We didn't really know what we were getting ourselves into. We thought you would just go to a restaurant and they would serve you King Cobra, like it was a common thing. But that wasn't the case." Referencing his experience with drinking the blood of the King Cobra

"If it were all going to end tomorrow, we'd still be the same people that we are. I think that's why we have such a long career. We just stay true to ourselves and have fun doing it."

"I read that I was a 6 finger guitarist." Referencing the weirdest thing he ever read about himself.

"I think that illegal downloading is great. I'd rather sell a million songs for 5-10 cents apiece than a hundred at $20 a CD. It's all about getting your music heard.

"As far as my overall favorite song of all time I would probably say MIA form the city of Evil CD. From think that's probably one of the most meaningful, strongest, heartfelt, songs that we've ever written."

"We just really like to try to be the best songwriters that we can be as opposed to a good metal band or good any other kind of band."

"Avenged Sevenfold the album was our lifetime of influences put to work. I think the most distinct difference on this album is that the songs are the most focused that any Avenged Sevenfold songs have ever been in the fact that some of our other songs were on other albums were very long and meandering and almost progressive."

"On the Taste of Chaos tour we just want a tour that is memorable"

"When we tour we can see the change of seasons better."

"One thing we take pride in is being able to play everything that we write live."

"I've never felt that way. I've never felt like a looser. You can't get what you want if you feel like it's you against the world. You'll never get anywhere with negativity. I make my own opportunities I don't feel like everything is against me."

"All of us knew it then at the first rehearsal. We thought we were the biggest band in the world before we even played a show. We knew that was what we wanted to do. We just had to find a way to make it work."

"Johnny would bite your fuckin' ankles."

“I was born out of a vagina that was pretty depraved.

“There was a time when metal ruled the world and I don't see any reason why it should be different now."

"I think a lot of the time writers try to make us sound like a stupid young kid. You don't get to where we are by being a stupid kid that just loves titty bars. We're really smart, and everything we do is really thought out, and they just want to make us look like party machines with stupid opinions on politics. We're more than what people want to write about."

"Zacky Vengeance-Fuck yeah! It's going to be on my tombstone. It's a huge part of my life. Only my family has been there longer."

"When we made the change some kids didn't like it. They'll come back around. A lot of people are scared of change and that's why there are not a lot of bands out there doing anything creative."

"All the other bands in our genre, heavy bands it's like they've given up and given it over to rap. They say aw...fuck TRL. You don't take over the world by leaving unconquered territory."

"When I get a platinum record I'll do a double-line."

"It's 1999-upside down- That was the year we formed the band. But 6661 is cool cuz it's like Satan won. To me that's the real number of the beast."

"We got to the point where we got sick of the screaming and we didn't want to contribute to the noise pollution anymore. Then we realized that all our favorite bands didn't scream."

"It's been like that from day one though. There's no middle ground with us. One of the first reviews we got best album of the month and we also got worst album of the month at the same time. It's like maybe we are onto something here."

"Some players don't appreciate how important rhythm guitar is and how a good rhythm guitarist will hold everything together".

"Just for good measure we had to bum the drummer out by taking away some of his favorite parts of the record too".

"We expect this album to take us to the next level".

"With each album we're becoming a little more fearless. One thing that annoys me is people who say A7X were at their best when "Sounding the Seventh Trumpet" was out. Where were those fans when we couldn't sale out a single show or sale over 2000 copies of the album?"

"Critical Acclaim is us telling people who don't make the decisions to just shut up a minute. Their bitching really isn't helping".

"If you don't know now you know."-Zackys words on stage taking the moon man in 2006 for best new artist in a video.-

Zacky Vengeance issued the following thanks to fans for their #4 Billboard debut of their latest self-titled album:

"It’s kind of funny to wake up and see the words Avenged Sevenfold at the #4 spot on the billboard top 200. Right next to The Eagles and a Britney/Carrie Underwood threesome. I don’t know about you but it puts a smirk on my face just knowing that our fans tattooed it right on the foreheads of everyone who would quickly disregard the name Avenged Sevenfold (like we aren’t a fucking force to be reckoned with, Haha). So once again thank you from the bottom of our hearts."

"MTV has decided to debut our video for almost easy on TRL which makes me believe that someone over at MTV is screaming for something real. I’ll be honest with you, when I roll out of bed every morning my goal in life isn’t to be alongside popstars or actors and actresses or on the cover of the national enquirer. It sure does feel good though to surprise all those people that don’t even know what "an A7X" is by putting them right behind us on the countdown or going home with their moonman."


"With that said if you wanna vote and bury whatever else they’re playing at the moment you can do that here. If not we’re still coming to your city to kick ass and have a great fucking time with all of you. Thank you all again for every ounce of support love and respect!"

"Avenged Sevenfold," the self-titled and self-produced follow-up to the 2005 million-selling "City of Evil," topped also the Billboard Alternative, Hard and Rock Charts this week in addition to its #4 debut on the Billboard Top 200. This marked the biggest sales week ever for the Huntington Beach-based band. "Avenged Sevenfold" was released on October 30th by Warner Bros. Records.

"Almost Easy," the first single for the album, exploded into the Top 10 at Active Rock and Top 20 at Alternative in less than a month. In addition, the video for "Almost Easy" is in MTV2's You Rock The Deuce Countdown and the Number One Most Played Video on Fuse.

Matt Shadows

I think you gotta have balls to be an Avenged fan sometimes. A lot of our fans get hated on just as much as us. To me Avenged fans aren't just fans of a band, they are fans of everything that surrounds it, like a lifestyle. We live it, you live it. You go to the shows and you can feel it. It's a great experience and people that aren't involved will never understand. So they can stand on the sidelines and talk, but we will just continue to do what makes us all happy." - M. Shadows -



M. Shadows not only has a wonderfully unique singing voice and a natural ability to create lyrics that tell a story, he also plays piano/organ and guitar/bass. According to Zacky Vengeance, M.Shadows also has a musical ear for detail and the abilty to add tiny nuances needed to make the music perfect.


Facts:



•M. Shadows said at the Myrtle Beach, SC concert (11-28-2008) that the band had been visiting many of the wounded American Soldiers.
•M. Shadows has one younger sister, Amy. His parent’s names are Gary Charles and Kimberlyann. You can see Gary in the intros on the DVD "Live in the LBC".
•M. Shadows’ vocal coach is Ron Anderson who has coached none other than Axl Rose.
•M. Shadows has said that he spends up to 8 hours a day, seven days a week, writing songs.
•M. Shadows smoked his first cigarette with The REV when he was 12 years old.
•In 2007 M. Shadows along with Synyster Gates was featured on the Good Charlotte video/song "The River".
•M. Shadows' grill cost $8000.00 and it's made of platinum and diamonds. It was made at Eddie's Gold Teeth Atlanta, GA.
•M. Shadows tested to see what kinds of alcohol affect his body so he knows what he can get away with drinking. He drinks Grey Goose with Cranberry Juice.
•Bill Bourroughs, an early member of the "Vicious Circle Gang", later the TSOL is M. Shadows' uncle.
•Riding a motorcycle is an escape for M. Shadows. It allows him to get away and clear his head. He has always wanted a custom chopper. He however has never been able to find time to go get one made.
•M. Shadows has 1 dog. Its name is Bella. Bella is a yellow lab who apparently has a liking for "special" brownies and looking at the ocean after consuming them.
•M. Shadows filled in for Jonathan Davis of Korn in Europe when Jonathan became ill before a performance.
•M. Shadows is allergic to grass.
•M. Shadows is 6'1 and has hazel eyes.
•M. Shadows produced the confessions most recent album Requium unfortunately the band has now broken up.
•At one point M. Shadows liked the song Barbie Doll by Aqua. He drove the Rev so crazy with it that the Rev threw it out the bus window while it was moving. The interesting part is that it was the Revs CD.
•M. Shadows was sitting in a bar in Bangkok, Thailand trying to rap his mind around all of the young men parading past him who have had sex changes in order to become prostitutes when suddenly he gets hit by a something mushy on his leg. Well many girls in Thailand have the ability to use their privates to let’s say launch items like ping pong balls. When he looks down he realized he had been hit by a banana from a girl across the room. He immediately ran to the bathroom trying to remove it from his pants while trying not to touch it. He said it smelled really bad.
•M. Shadows wrote the guitar riffs for The Beast and the Harlot and Critical Acclaim.
•M. Shadows wrote the lyrics for Dear God, Gunslinger, Brompton Cocktail and Seize the Day completely. In reality M. Shadows does the majority of the lyrical writing for the band.
•At the 2005 warped tour, while the guys were doing a meet and greet, Matt was spat upon by a dude who didn't like his music. Synyster Gates slammed the dudes head down on the table and held him there until security came. M. Shadows walked away being the bigger man we all know he is. Val came out and handled the dudes girlfriend.
•M. Shadows had a polyp removed from his vocal cords. He did not have a ruptured or torn vocal cord. This also has no bearing on why the band no longer screams. The decision not to scream anymore was a group decision to change the direction and sound of the band.
•M. Shadows is a huge supporter of the American troups overseas. Thus the reason why he wrote MIA and Gunslinger. He stresses though that the band is not a political band and they have no intentions of becoming one.
•M. Shadows lists his musical influences as Guns N' Roses, Iron Maiden, Metallica, Megadeth, and Pantera. His screaming influence is Philip Anselmo formerly of Pantera and now the front man for the band Down.
•Before Avenged Sevenfold M. Shadows had a band called Successful Failure. During that time he wrote the song Streets which was added to A7X first album "Sounding the Seventh Trumpet".
•M. Shadows original background is deeply ingrained in the Metalcore of the West Coast.
• M. Shadows made a guest appearance in the 18 Visions video for the song "I Let Go". 18 Visions is no longer together.


•Bat country is M. Shadows favorite video.
•M. Shadows likes the snake tongues that were added to the Bat country video.
•M. Shadows thinks Seize the day is a sophisticated video.
•Synysters step mother, Suzie Haner, will pause the seize the day video on M. Shadows bare ass and tells him about it.
•Up until 2007, M. Shadows had a lip ring located on the right side of his bottom lip. Although there were several rumors floating about in regards to why he took it out including an incident of him almost swallowing it in his sleep he has not said anything official about his reason. He also has said he regrets gauging his ears so large now. His largest gauge was 7/16. He has downsized them considerably now.
•M. Shadows stopped a show in Scotland because I girl was hurt badly in the pit where he could see. They resumed where they left off after she was removed for medical attention. He also stopped a show during the Uproar tour in 2010 in the North Eastern United States when a boy fell while they were playing and they again resumed after he was taken to get medical attention.
•M. Shadows is a very fit individual as everyone can see. As part of his work out routine he runs, practices jujitsu, plays golf, and does core performance training. He eats healthy too.
•M. Shadows has an endearing quality of occasionally forgetting/rewriting song lyrics while performing. He looks to Zacky for assistance sometimes and even the fans others.
•M. Shadows has many tattoos. Click here to view them.
•M. Shadows is a fan of the Lakers and enjoys playing basketball on the street with friends when he is at home.


•M. Shadows favorite munchie food is Pop Tarts.
•M. Shadows prefers extra crispy over original
•M. Shadows says Bangkok, Thialand is a true City of Evil.
•M. Shadows Says Iron Maiden puts on the most elaborate shows.
•M. Shadowsfavorite actress is Angelina Jolie because shes hot.
•M. Shadows favorite tv show is South Park.
•M. Shadows prefers jagermister over taquila.
•M. Shadows admits to shoplifting in the past.
•The first real concert M. Shadows ever attended was Rancid when "Lets Go" came out.



o In 2007, Matt became engaged to long time girlfriend Valary DiBenedetto.
o They were married October 17, 2009 in Palm Springs, California. Matt's bachelor party was held October 3, 2009 at the Palms in Las Vegas, Nevada. The couple honeymooned in Africa.
o Valary was the bands original tour manager and merch dealer.
o Valary helped progress the bands success by promoting the band at Warped tour spending hours in the hot sun giving out tapes and posters to anyone who seemed to like similar bands. She also would steal money from her parents when the guys needed it. Valary appears in the bands video "Dear God". (Scene from video above)
o Valary is also seen in the video for "Seize the Day" as Matt's pregnant girlfriend who dies in the video. She is also interviewed in the "All Excess" DVD.

M. Shadows has a love for classic car and owns a 1972 Chevelle Convertible. He has totally pimped it out with a killer sound system, deathbat inlayed headrests, among other upgrades. In an interview, he stated that the car was no longer red and I believe he said it was now painted purple. I have misplaced the interview and when I find it I will make sure that is exactly what he said. In the 2010 making of "Nightmare" video, M. Shadows drove up in a 2010 tan Dodge Charger. In the "All Excess" DVD he was driving a black Chevrolet Yukon.

M. Shadows is an Avid Golfer and Gamer



Matt loves playing xbox,
This is Matt's xbox gamer profile as of 07/09/2010

Mattplayingxbox.jpg
M. Shadows' favorite game on Xbox is "Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2". He plays as much as he can when he has free time. He also has played with fans of the band. He has a special group he plays with on a regular basis. M. Shadows has also mentioned in many interviews about how just following Jimmy's passing he became even more into Modern Warfare. He said it was much better than turning to drugs or alcohol for an escape from the emensely unbearable pain and loss he was/is enduring.

M. Shadows Musical One Night Stands:

Matt sometimes guest sings on different artists albums in which he refers to them as one night stands.

These guest vocals include to date:

Slash--Nothing to Say
Good Charlotte--The River
Cowboy Troy--Buffalo Stampede
Steel Panther--Turn out the Lights
Kisses for Kings--Like Always
Bleeding Through--Portrait of a Goddess

Quotes:

"We don't consider being on TRL an accomplishment. We want to be selling out stadiums and selling millions of records."

"When other bands tour with us they usually say, wow! I learned a lot from A7X because they have their shit together."

"No matter how I word this it's gonna sound bad. We changed because we wanted to play the kind of music we liked but we were smart enough to want to be listenable to more people. We knew the metal core thing had a cap on it. There's only so far you can go doing that."

"I'll play hold'em if I'm sober and blackjack if I'm drunk."

"The first Metallica record I ever got was "And Justice For All". The video for one was my dad’s favorite. He got me the tape and I just flipped out. I went out and bought the entire back catalog."

"To do this tour let alone sing onstage with Metallica in Berlin it's something you can't even imagine when you’re just starting out in a garage. It's insane, it's a dream come true. You can't even put it into words."

"We have come to a spot where we have confidence in our own musical judgment and we are going to write a record that's truly us. “Referencing the album Avenged Sevenfold

"Yeah we're cocky, because we have confidence in what we do. We believe in what we do, and we've been successful at it."

"I want this to be a mature record, one where everyone can listen to it and get something out of It." referencing Avenged Sevenfold the album

"We want to do something that's completely original and completely us and not worry about trying to emulate someone else’s record. I think that's what being mature is-- doing your own thing and not worrying about what sounds cool at the time or what you used to listen to."

"I really like guns, but everyone thinks I shouldn't get one because of my temper and they’re probably right. I've had people come to my house before to fuck with me and I'd have shot them for sure if I had a gun. I just wouldn't be able to control myself. I know because I've tried to stab a guy before, and I've beat the shit out of people. It just wouldn't be a good idea."

"You explain these things to kids and they think you have gone off the deep end. Maybe we have."

"This album is way less indulgent than "City of Evil". It's all about making good music and making ourselves happy."

"We have always been about pissing people off and getting a reaction and we don't back down".

"Controversy has always followed us".

When asked about cancelling the UK dates in 2007 his reply was: "We were at each other’s throats. If we'd had come over for those dates there might not have been a band anymore. We'd have been out on tour for 16 months. It had gotten to the point where we just didn't want to be around each other."

"We grew the fuck up"

"When you meet fans you want to be in a good mood because they pick up on that. You want them to have a positive experience when they meet you. When I have met bands that I love and they didn't give me the time of day it totally sucked".

"It's the record we've always wanted to make so we called it Avenged Sevenfold".


"I think people have a weird misconception about us. They think we are trying to be a super-heavy band, but we really like our songs to have a certain pop element to them; If something we write isn't super-catchy, we try to get it to that point. Kids think we do it to sell records, but really we just like it. We like pop music."

"Oh yeah we sold out again." Matt says sarcastically about the Avenged Sevenfold album. "I think kids will like it--they will just have to get used to it."

"The whole records is about definitely trying to be a better person." referencing the Avenged Sevenfold Album

"Not to sound hippie or anything but there are way more important things on this earth than money, or how big your band is. To go out there and make a difference in kid’s lives, to make them happy for one night and get to interact with them...it's a very special thing."

"We are not a bunch of drugged out friggin' wannabes that don't give a shit about their music or their fans."

"Every band no matter how big they get started at the bottom."

"He's a buff guy. He's a fearless leader and the best fuckin front man ever. Great singer--as creative as they come. Huge horse cock. God I love that horse cock. He's made grown men cry."--Brian Haner in reference to Matt


"We may not be as bad as people make us out to be but we still like to have fun."

"I had this batman outfit that my mom bought me. I'd ride on my skateboard wearing it with Guns N'Roses "Lies" playing. I'd play "One in a Million" over and over again because it had shitty words in it. Everyone would throw shit at me because I was a complete nerd but I didn't care. I was listening to metal."

"It just kind of morphed into "hey lets rock out together". -Matt speaking about how the band began-

"No one knows what I think, they don't know me and they never will. You can't be in a band like this and be a reclusive, sit-in-the-corner guy. If you are like that you'll never dominate."

"We want to be the band that everyone has to go and see."

"Our fans like our honesty. They know they'll get the truth from us. That's why they become fanatic. It's like a life style, a look and a vibe. You might not agree with what we say but you know where not bullshitting. We don't smell of corporate shit."

"This is what we are either love it or hate it."

"That's part of who we are. If people have a problem then it's obviously jealousy."

"The reality is we get up at 6 in the morning and work our asses off. We make sure every show is the best show possible. Then we cut loose."

"I hate to see bands who are down to Earth." Matt's answer when asked what he thinks about elaborate shows verses the very plain ones.

"I still think we have a black album in us. Our very best album is yet to come."


"Dear God was an experiment but we loved it so much we thought how can we not put it on the record".

"My manager and my mom and dad hate when I ride motorcycles, but I just go ahead and do the opposite of what they say."

"We had this mack daddy tour with tons of production, pyro, and videos. We wanted to be able to offer it to kids who couldn't make it."-Referencing the DVD "Live in the LBC and Diamond in the rough"-


"Musically I want people to never know what to expect."



"The press was all like they want to be Guns N' Roses; all they care about is partying all they care about is girls. We all got steady girlfriends; I've got a fiancée. I'm not out there banging every groupie and getting hammered every night. I drank 2 times during the entire Asian tour."

"I don’t know what age exactly, but the week that Appetite For Destruction came out my Dad bought me that tape. I listened to Nirvana and stuff like that, but then I started getting into older punk like Black Flag and our drummer started getting me into Pantera, Metallica and those types of metal bands." Matt's answer when asked at what age did he get into music.

"I don’t know, I just love everything about it. It’s just catchy and I can really get into it; the guitar solos are amazing. Everything about it is just amazing to me. It’s the first thing that I got into so it’ll always be special. It’s just the perfect album." Matt's answer when asked what he likes so much about appetite for distruction.

"I think we considered ourselves a punk and hardcore hybrid band at first. We had some hardcore metal with a lot of punk rock influence and I think the hardcore scene embraced us at first, but we weren’t really looking to be embraced by that scene."

"Other bands started coming out as metalcore and they sounded so horrible that we didn’t want to have anything to do with it. It was one of those things where we don’t listen to metalcore, we don’t own any metalcore CDs and we don’t necessarily like those bands."

"We wanted to write something that we could call a creative metal record. We took a lot of different things musically and combined them into one record and that’s all we wanted to do."Matt referencing "City of Evil"

"Everything you read and heard about, you just know he’s one of the nicest guys. He’s always laughing, always good hearted, always having a good time drinking it up. You can tell he’s a great guy. That’s why he’s touched so many people.Dimebag was just a guitar God to us, so when I got the call that he had died, I couldn’t believe it; my heart totally stopped. I’d never met the guy, but I’d been listening to him my whole life and I knew every note on every song on every record. I just couldn’t believe it; we had always hoped for a reunion tour to happen."
Matt referencing Dimebag Darrell

The English press; they blow things way out of proportion, to the point where it’s not even funny.



"We recently met Metallica, and Rex [Brown] from Pantera came to our shows, and they're just like, "You guys are waving the flag now. Run with it and be proud." And those are the biggest compliments in the world, hearing stuff from Metallica and Pantera. Those are our idols, gods among men, and they've all been so supportive. ... When we hear people talking down to us in our own scene, that's just jealousy. But when you hear the big dogs talking to you, it's very, very inspiring."- 2006 interview-

"Joel from Good Charlotte, and he's like,"The art ends in the studio," and that kind of rang true. He's like,"You make the CD you wanna make, you give it to your label and whatever happens happens. When MTV comes to you and gives you an opportunity like, 'Hey we wanna put you on "TRL,"it's like just another video show, just go on there and see what happens." And we knew there would be a backlash, but the CD's a CD, it's not gonna change 'cause it got on "TRL," the video's not gonna change 'cause it's on "TRL," the band's not gonna change, there's nothing to change. It's there already, it was made months before this ever happened, so it came to us and it was like, "Let's just do it." There's already a million things going on where kids are stealing music, there's a million bands, so any way you can get it out there and sell some records and get some new fans." -Referencing the popularity of Bat Country and Seize the Day on MTV"s former show TRL and their appearance on that show.-

"We wanna go out there and we wanna destroy other bands — not physically, just onstage. [He laughs.] Maybe physically too, but we wanna go out there and that's what we're here to do. Every time we walk onstage, we give ourselves the world-domination sign, like we're trying to be the best band possible and play the best shows possible, 'cause if we don't we're furious at ourselves. And people take that as being like cocky or ego, but really it's just that we take what we do really seriously."

"The last [Warped Tour] we got on we heard rumors that people thought we had big egos and were stuck-up, but really it was just that mentally, we were just on a level of, "We wanna go out here and dominate every day. We wanna get fans."

"You gotta look like Flavor Flav if you're gonna be Axl Rose." -Matt Referencing his grill-



M. Shadows Teenage Misadventures:


-M. Shadows hated school so much his parents would make him go and drive him there themselves. He would wait for them to leave and then he would hop a city bus back home. His mother was so upset and stressed out about his behavior that she considered sending him to military school and sent out for literature. But thanks to his wonderful sister Amy who would hurry home after school and remove any literature from the mail before her parents would see them. Note: I just wonder if they had succeeded would we have M. Shadows or even An A7X? Sad thought!!

-M. Shadows and undisclosed others broke into a school and started small fires-it got out of control-"We were like shit!" "We got to go now!" "As we were leaving we heard all these fire engines. We got on top of one of my friends roof and watched the whole school burn to the ground."

-M. Shadows got into a brawl with guys from a rival neighborhood and ended up spending the night in jail for assaulting a cop. These dudes were throwing bottles at us and then their car got caught in a cul-de-sac. So I ran up with a whole can full of bottles and smashed in their front window. Then I threw brass knuckles through the back window. The neighbors thought the sound was gunshots and called the police. So we ran through the park. These cops on motorcycles pulled up with guns out and yelled "get down!" and me being an antagonistic fuck said what the fucks the problem officer? So a cop kicks me in the back of the leg and shoves me down. I got up and hit him. Then he hit me. So I grabbed him by the throat. Finally all the cops with guns put me in fucking hand cuffs and one of them cracks me in the back of the head with a maglite. That's the reason I didn't spend time in jail because he hit me and I had proof.

-M. Shadows was known at one time as the "kid that killed the principal" when the principal at his school had a heart attack after Matt had vandalized the school.