ROCK'IN blog's

Self-titled album (2007—2008)
 

Zacky Vengeance in 2007.
Avenged Sevenfold's mainstream success got them an invitation to 2006's Ozzfest tour on the main stage, alongside other well known hard rock and heavy metal acts DragonForce, Lacuna Coil, Hatebreed, Disturbed and System of a Down.[18] That same year they also completed a worldwide tour, including the US, The United Kingdom (as well as mainland Europe), Japan, Australia and New Zealand. After being on tour for sixteen months in promotion of City of Evil, the band announced that they were cancelling their Fall 2006 tour in favor of recording new music.[19] M. Shadows stated that their fourth studio album—which the band self-titled and self-produced—would not be a "City of Evil Part 2" or "Waking the Fallen Part 2," but would incorporate a new, grittier sound.[19][20] To tide the fans over in between albums, the band released their first DVD titled All Excess on July 17, 2007.[21] All Excess, which debuted as the #1 DVD in the USA, included live performances and backstage footage that spanned the band's eight year career. Two tribute albums, Strung Out on Avenged Sevenfold: Bat Wings and Broken Strings and Strung Out on Avenged Sevenfold: The String Tribute were also released in October 2007.
Avenged Sevenfold, the band's fourth album, was released on October 30, 2007, debuting at #4 on the Billboard 200 with over 90,000 copies sold.[22] Two singles, "Critical Acclaim" and "Almost Easy" were released prior to the album's debut. In December 2007, an animated video was made for "A Little Piece of Heaven." Due to the song's controversial subject matter, however, Warner Brothers only released it to registered MVI users over the internet. The third single, "Afterlife" and its video was released in January 2008. Their fourth single, "Dear God", was released on September 30, 2008. The self-titled album went onto sell over 500,000 copies and was awarded "Album of the Year" at the Kerrang! Awards.[23]
Live in the LBC & Diamonds in the Rough (2008—2009)
Avenged Sevenfold headlined the 2008 Taste of Chaos tour with Atreyu, Bullet for My Valentine, Blessthefall and Idiot Pilot.[24] They used the footage from their last show in Long Beach for Live in the LBC & Diamonds in the Rough, a two-disc B-sides CD and live DVD which was released on September 16, 2008. They also recorded numerous covers, including Pantera's "Walk," Iron Maiden's "Flash of the Blade" and Black Sabbath's "Paranoid" (the first two of which were included on "Live in the LBC & Diamonds in the Rough").[24][25][26] They will also be releasing a Guitar Tutorial DVD, which include the five tracks, Afterlife, Almost Easy, Bat Country, Beast and the Harlot and Trashed And Scattered, breaking down the guitar solos and riffs in each song.[27]
During a sold-out festival performance in Leeds and Reading, the band were forced to shorten their Leeds performance and cancel their Reading performance due to a vocal strain sustained by M. Shadows.[28] A few days later, the band was forced to announce the cancellation of the remaining September shows, with the tour set to resume again on October 15.[29]
Fifth studio album (2009—present)
In January 2009, M. Shadows confirmed that the band is writing the follow-up to their self-titled fourth album within the upcoming months.[30] They also announced that they will be playing at Rock on the Range, from May 16–17, 2009.[31] In April 16, they performed a version of Guns N' Roses' "It's So Easy" onstage with Slash, at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles.[32] M. Shadows was featured on Slash's debut solo album Slash in the song "Nothing to Say".
M. Shadows and the rest of the band has expressed interest in making a follow-up to their self-titled record. They announced that they plan to start writing in June 2009 and recording in October 2009. M. Shadows also said in an interview with Loveline that the next record would be a more classic metal, more rock-oriented record, since the self-titled record was very experimental. He also said it would feature more progressive, longer songs and would be the "biggest Avenged Sevenfold record ever." Additionally, he said they were possibly thinking about a concept record.
On July 15, 2009, their website and MySpace profile were updated with a statement from M. Shadows implying that work on the next album has started, but they are still "throwing around ideas". The update was on the same day that Waking the Fallen went Gold.
In an interview, M. Shadows has revealed that after the band will complete their tour with a final performance at the Sonisphere Festival on August 2, they will get in the studio to write and record a new studio album, a follow-up to their self-titled album.[33]