The members of metalcore outfit Avenged Sevenfold (or A7X) were still attending high school in Huntington Beach, CA, when they formed their group in 1999. Nevertheless, it didn't take long for M. Shadows (vocals), Zacky Vengeance (guitar), Synyster Gates (guitar), the Reverend (drums), and Johnny Christ (bass) to make an impression with their forceful hybrid of metal and punk-pop. The lineup made its official debut in July 2001, releasing Sounding the Seventh Trumpet on the Good Life label before moving to the Hopeless roster for 2003's Waking the Fallen. Warner Bros. took interest in the band's aggressive sound and gave us its breakthrough release, City of Evil, in June 2005. The record reached number 30 on Billboard's Top 200, propelled in part by the Top Ten success of the single "Bat Country." The accompany songs video was heavily rotated on MTV and Fuse, where live appearances also helped boost Avenged's growing profile, and the ensemble ultimately won the Best New Artist Award (though they were hardly newcomers) at the 2006 MTV Video material Awards.

As demand for their music increased, Avenged Sevenfold canceled their tour dates for fall 2006 and decamped to Houston, TX, where they set to work on a fourth studio album. Boasting a grittier style of music than previous releases, the self-titled/self-produced disc appeared in October 2007, debuting at number four on the Billboard Top 200 and spinning off the radio single "Almost Easy." The record also fared well in England, where three songs cracked the Top Five of the U.K. rock charts, and Avenged Sevenfold helped support the release by performing North America on the Taste of Chaos tour. released in September 2008, the CD/DVD package Live in the LBC and Diamonds in the Rough captured the lineup while a tour stop in Long Beach.