Avenged Sevenfold (2007–2009)

Avenged Sevenfold's was invited to join Ozzfest tour on the main stage, alongside other well known hard rock and heavy metal acts DragonForce, Lacuna Coil, Hatebreed, Disturbed andSystem of a Down for the first time in 2006.^[24] 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 a sixteen month promotion of City of Evil, the band announced that they were cancelling their Fall 2006 tour to record new music.^[25] 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.^[25][26] In the interim, the band released their first DVD titled All Excess on July 17, 2007.^[27] All Excess, which debuted as the No.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 No.4 on the Billboard 200 with over 90,000 copies sold.^[28] 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 June 15, 2008. Although critical reception was generally mixed the self-titled album went on to sell over 500,000 copies and was awarded "Album of the Year" at the Kerrang! Awards.^[29]

Avenged Sevenfold headlined the 2008 Taste of Chaos tour with Atreyu, Bullet for My Valentine, Blessthefall and Idiot Pilot.^[30] They used the footage from their last show in Long Beachfor 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".^[30][31][32] 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.^[33] During a sold-out festival performance in Leeds andReading, the band were forced to shorten their Leeds performance and cancel their Reading performance due to a vocal strain sustained by M. Shadows.^[34] 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.^[35]