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AVENGED SEVENFOLD
EVIL INK AND METAL OF BIBLICAL PROPORTIONS
by Jonathan Williams
Photos by Aysha
From the February 2006 issue of Prick Magazine.
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 Avenged Sevenfold are (l-r): M. Shadows, Johnny Christ, Zacky Vengeance,
Synyster Gates, and The Rev. (Photo by Chapman Baehler) |
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As Avenged Sevenfold has transcended its emo-ish Orange County origins to become a Warped Tour headliner and somewhat surprising TRL favorite, the band's sound and image have evolved as well. The pasty quintet clad in black Jack Daniel's and AFI shirts was leading a pack of screaming metalcore bands just a few years ago. But these days the band sounds like a cross between Metallica, Maiden and Pantera fronted by Axl Rose and covered in punk rock attitude and tattoos that reflect the horror movie imagery and biblical references found on its latest release, City of Evil.
A7X's reputation for rock star excesses like alcohol-fueled parties with strippers, Motley Crue inspired makeup and singer M. Shadows' platinum fang fittings has also included turning down offers for free tattoos while on tour in favor of paying the artists that have done most of the band's ink. They even flew Jim Miner out on their last tour to work on some new tattoos, such as guitarist Zacky Vengeance's chest piece of the A7X death bat logo.
"The hardest thing is being on the road because I have a really good idea of the tattoo artist that I want to tattoo me," says Vengeance. "When you're on tour you get a lot of offers from people to tattoo you for free, but I really like the artists that I go to, especially Jim Miner. Those guys are so busy because back home they're all so popular that they're just constantly booked up and we’re only home for a few days at a time, so if you do want to get someone like that you have to fly them out."
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 M. Shadows on the mic. |
 Synyster Gates (lead guitar). |
 Zacky Vengeance. |
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Vengeance, who designs most of the band's artwork from CD layouts to T-shirts and posters, has an assortment of tattoos that symbolize his feelings towards organized religion and his love of the macabre. But while his assortment of body art seems to be constantly growing today, his first tattoo experience was almost too much for him to handle at the time.
"My first tattoo on the back of my leg is a dagger going through a sparrow and it's by Adam Barton," he says. "I just went up with our singer to get tattooed in San Jose, which is about eight hours from where we live. So we drove up there and the second he put the needle in me I was so sad because it hurt so bad. I was sitting there dying and I didn't think I'd be able to get through ten lines. But I toughed it out and I felt so cool to have my first tattoo.
"This was my second tattoo that I ever got," he says of the skull on his left arm. "The funny thing about this tattoo is that no one ever believes me when I tell them there's no white in it. That's just my skin color and it looks like it's white. It's really, really weird. It's a total optical illusion because of the blue he put in there. It even freaks me out to be honest.
"The only band tattoo I have is my Misfits tattoo because that's my favorite band of all time," he continues. "What they did was so cool and so ahead of its time and they have such a cool looking logo that's so identifiable that I figured it's something I would like to have on me forever."
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 Zacky Vengeance (guitar) and Johnny Christ (bass) at the Warped Tour. |
 The Rev (drums). |
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While it isn't a band logo, the small coffin on Vengeance's finger that looks more like a scrape than a tattoo is shared not only by other members of A7X, but also by members of the band that introduced them to MTV's TRL audience.
"Dude, it was such a bad idea," says Vengeance. "But it was fun. We actually got these on the last day of the Warped Tour [2004] and it was all the guys in my band except our singer and all the guys in Good Charlotte except for the singer. We were the only bands that hung out on the Warped Tour together, which is weird with us being the metal band and them being super poppy. But those guys were cool, their entire crew, and it was just a good gesture to say, 'Fuck what everyone thinks. Fuck everything else.' I wish we had gotten something cooler because it does look like a cut or something."
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 Johnny Christ. |
 Synyster Gates. |
 Zacky Vengeance. |
 M. Shadows. |
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Just as A7X's sound has changed significantly over the course of its three albums, Vengeance recognizes a similar growth amongst tattoo artists.
"Tattoo art is getting so much better," he says. "From where it started and where it's ending up, it's just kind of unreal. This stuff, to me, looks like it could be on a wall or something, but now they're putting it on your skin. I really like what it's evolved into. I like the competition and the camaraderie amongst all the tattoo artists I know. They're all friends, they all teach each other. It's kind of like music – you want music to keep going and expanding. You don't ever want it to just be stale.
"Too many bands out there all sound the same, too many tattoo artists out there all do the same thing," he concludes. "But it's good to know there are bands doing different things and it's good to know there are tattoo artists doing different things. Those are the guys that are booked up all day long for months in advance."
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