Sounding the Seventh Trumpet

Sounding the Seventh Trumpet was recorded in eight days in November 2000,{{cite web |title=Sounding The Seventh Trumpet Vinyl Record |url=https://a7xworld.com/collections/misc/products/the-stage-deluxe-edition-vinyl |website=A7X World |access-date=7 November 2022}} with a budget of only $2,000. When the band members got into the studio, The Rev recorded all the drums in one take,{{cite web |last1=Enis |first1=Eli |title=15 GREAT BANDS THAT SOUND TOTALLY DIFFERENT FROM THEIR DEBUT ALBUMS|url=https://www.revolvermag.com/music/15-great-bands-sound-totally-different-their-debut-albums#avenged-sevenfold-sounding-seventh-trumpet |website=Revolver Mag |access-date=7 November 2022 |date=21 March 2022 |quote=The Rev's drumming on "Darkness Surrounding" — which he recorded in one take, along with the rest of the record — is fucking insane,}} and the other members of the band added their parts to what he had laid down. Zacky Vengeance played lead guitar originally. When Synyster Gates joined the band in early 2001, they recorded a heavy metal version of "To End the Rapture", with Gates playing lead guitar. This version was first seen on the Warmness on the Soul single, and was later featured on the re-release of Sounding the Seventh Trumpet. This is the only album to feature bassist Justin Sane (not to be confused with Justin Sane of Anti-Flag), who also played piano. He was briefly replaced by Dameon Ash during the album's touring cycle,{{cite web |last1=Childers |first1=Chad |title=21 Years Ago: Avenged Sevenfold Introduce Themselves With 'Sounding the Seventh Trumpet' Read More: 21 Years Ago: Avenged Sevenfold's 'Sounding the Seventh Trumpet' |url=https://loudwire.com/avenged-sevenfold-sounding-the-seventh-trumpet-album-anniversary/ |website=Loudwire |access-date=3 October 2022}} who was then replaced by Johnny Christ.{{cite web|url=https://www.kerrang.com/features/youre-not-cooler-than-anyone-avenged-sevenfold-write-letters-their-younger-selves/ |title="You're Not Cooler Than Anyone": Avenged Sevenfold Write Letters Their Younger Selves |publisher=kerrang.com |access-date=January 28, 2020}}

Dubbed "proto-A7X," the album's sound is characterized as being stylistically "derivative of the goth-leaning metalcore,"{{Cite web |last=published |first=Stephen HillContributions from Merlin Alderslade |date=2023-06-28 |title=Every single Avenged Sevenfold album ranked from worst to best |url=https://www.loudersound.com/features/every-single-avenged-sevenfold-album-ranked-from-worst-to-best |access-date=2025-04-22 |website=Louder |language=en}} and as "inflecting the traditional metal sound with outrageous bursts of hardcore fury and mesmerizing wails more likely found in the European vein of death metal." Revolver described the sound as an "often awkward, somewhat schizophrenic hybrid of metalcore and skate-punk."{{Cite web |last=Enis |first=Eli |title=15 Great Bands That Sound Totally Different From Their Debut Albums |url=https://www.revolvermag.com/music/15-great-bands-sound-totally-different-their-debut-albums/ |access-date=2025-04-22 |website=Revolver |language=en-US}}{{Citation |title=Sounding the Seventh Trumpet - Avenged Sevenfo... {{!}} AllMusic |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/sounding-the-seventh-trumpet-mw0000217368 |access-date=2025-04-11 |language=en}}

The release date of this album's initial version is theorized in many sources. On the band's official website, it is given as January 31, 2001. However, on archived versions of the website, news updates explain that the album, distributed by Lumberjack Distributions, was originally planned for a late April 2001 release. Due to unknown reasons, it had to be pushed back multiple times, at first for a June 10, then for a June 20 release. A Loudwire article about the album's 17th anniversary gives July 24 as the actual release date.{{cite web|url=http://loudwire.com/avenged-sevenfold-sounding-the-seventh-trumpet-album-anniversary/ |title=17 Years Ago: Avenged Sevenfold Introduce Themselves With 'Sounding the Seventh Trumpet' |publisher=Loudwire.com |date=July 24, 2017 |accessdate=November 27, 2018 }} It was rereleased on March 19, 2002.

{{Album ratings

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1score = {{Rating|3|5}}

| rev2 = Kerrang!

| rev2score = {{Rating|1|5}}Kerrang! issue 880 (November 24, 2001).

| rev3 = Ultimate Guitar

| rev3score = 8.5/10{{cite web |title=Avenged Sevenfold: Sounding The Seventh Trumpet {{!}} Reviews @ Ultimate-Guitar.com |url=https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/reviews/compact_discs/avenged_sevenfold/sounding_the_seventh_trumpet/ |website=Ultimate Guitar |accessdate=March 3, 2020 |language=en}}

}}

Sounding the Seventh Trumpet received mixed to positive reviews from critics. AllMusic rated the album three stars out of five and wrote: "Sounding the Seventh Trumpet is a magnificent album that is suitable for any fan of metal music, as Avenged Sevenfold has a firm grasp on all that is extreme." The review also praised the tracks "Darkness Surrounding" and "We Come out at Night" as being "...excellent metalcore masterpieces, as the vocal harmonies add to these cuts to evolve the songs into fully atmospheric sonic blasts."

Avenged Sevenfold later released the Warmness on the Soul, which featured a video for the single "Warmness on the Soul". The video depicted the band wandering through city streets as M. Shadows' wife, Valary, searches for them.{{cite web|author= |url=http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xfi09_avenged-sevenfold-warmness-on-the-s_news |title=Avenged Sevenfold - Warmness On The Soul - Vidéo Dailymotion |publisher=Dailymotion.com |date=September 25, 2006 |accessdate=February 15, 2014}}

All songs are written by M. Shadows and Zacky Vengeance,{{cite web |last1=Epstein |first1=Dan |title='SOUNDING THE SEVENTH TRUMPET': AVENGED SEVENFOLD LOOK BACK ON EARLY DAYS, FIRST ALBUM |url=https://www.revolvermag.com/music/sounding-seventh-trumpet-avenged-sevenfold-look-back-early-days-first-album |website=Revolver |access-date=12 April 2023}} except where noted.

{{tracklist

| headline = Original release

| title1 = To End the Rapture

| length1 = 1:22

| title2 = Turn the Other Way

| length2 = 5:37

| title3 = Darkness Surrounding

| length3 = 4:50

| title4 = The Art of Subconscious Illusion

| length4 = 3:46

| title5 = We Come Out at Night

| length5 = 4:45

| title6 = Lips of Deceit

| length6 = 4:10

| title7 = Warmness on the Soul

| length7 = 4:20

| title8 = An Epic of Time Wasted

| length8 = 4:19

| title9 = Breaking Their Hold

| length9 = 1:12

| title10 = Forgotten Faces

| length10 = 3:27

| title11 = Thick and Thin

| length11 = 4:16

| title12 = Streets

| length12 = 3:07

| writer12 = {{hlist|Matthew Sanders|Successful Failure}}

| title13 = Shattered by Broken Dreams

| length13 = 7:09

| total_length = 52:00

| title_width = 480px

| lyrics_width = 320px

}}

{{tracklist

| headline = 2002 reissue

| title1 = To End the Rapture{{ref label|heavymetalversion|*|}}

| length1 = 1:23

| total_length = 52:00

| title_width = 800px

}}

{{note|heavymetalversion}}* The Hopeless Records rerelease features a heavy metal version of "To End the Rapture", featuring new bandmate Synyster Gates on lead guitar.

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.{{cite book |title=Sounding The Seventh Trumpet |date=2002 |publisher=Hopeless Records |language=English}}

;Avenged Sevenfold

• M. Shadows – vocals, acoustic guitars and keyboards{{Cite AV media |url=https://i.discogs.com/S6vyYmvBbcJwLyQxNJayLnU-cbtpoUz37T2zpgeboPQ/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:600/w:594/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTEzMzA0/OTM1LTE2NjE2MDU5/OTEtMjIyNC5qcGVn.jpeg |title=Sounding The Seventh Trumpet liner notes |type=Image}}
• Zacky Vengeance – guitars, backing vocals
• The Rev – drums, sound effects, additional screams on "The Art of Subconscious Illusion"
• Justin Sane – bass, piano (Dameon Ash is credited on some pressings but didn't play)
• Synyster Gates – lead guitar on "To End the Rapture" (heavy metal version)

;Session musicians

• Valary DiBenedetto – additional screams on "The Art of Subconscious Illusion"

;Production

• Recorded at Westbeach in Hollywood, California
• Produced, engineered, and mixed by Donnell Cameron and Avenged Sevenfold
• Assistant engineering by Henrah Kruzchev
• Mastered by Ramón Bretón and Avenged Sevenfold at Oceanview Mastering
• Cover Art by Micah Montague
• Drum Tech by Mike Rose

{{Reflist}}

{{Avenged Sevenfold}}

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Category:Avenged Sevenfold albums

Category:2001 debut albums

Category:Hopeless Records albums

Category:Good Life Recordings albums

Category:Skate punk albums