"Afterlife" is a song by

Avenged Sevenfold Avenged Sevenfold (abbreviated as A7X) is an American heavy metal band from Huntington Beach, California, formed in 1999. The band's current lineup consists of lead vocalist M. Shadows, rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist Zacky Vengeance ...

. The song is released as the third single from their self-titled album. The song itself features a string orchestra and was written by the band's drummer,

The Rev James Owen Sullivan (February 9, 1981 – December 28, 2009), also known by his stage name the Rev (shortened version of ''the Reverend Tholomew Plague''), was an American musician, best known as a member of the heavy metal band Avenged Seven ...

. The single and music video were released in early 2008.

Music video

The music video, which released on March 12, 2008, consists of the band performing on a small stage. There are also clips of M. Shadows running shirtless, Zacky Vengeance dancing with a woman, Synyster Gates holding a skull in a sea of lit candles, The Rev lying down with a Spider on his face, and Johnny Christ holding a flock of doves which he sends flying off all at once at the end of the video. The music video was directed by

Wayne Isham Wayne Isham (born December 2, 1958) is an American film director and music video director who has directed films and music videos of many popular artists. Early life and education Isham was born in December 2, 1958. He attended the Univers ...

, who has shot videos for bands like Bon Jovi, Judas Priest and Mötley Crüe. In the album version, there is a string section in the intro and later in the song, both of which are cut out of the video, along with the bridge of the song, which features The Rev's vocals.

Lyrical meaning

According to Zacky Vengeance the song is about a man who dies early and finds himself in heaven. Upon entering, he realizes that he has too many things to do on Earth and to go back and make it right, he must escape from the afterlife.

Other appearances

The song is available as downloadable content for '' Rock Band'' and ''

Guitar Hero 5 ''Guitar Hero 5'' (initially referred to as ''Guitar Hero V'') is a 2009 music rhythm video game developed by Neversoft and published by Activision. It is the fifth main installment in the ''Guitar Hero'' series. The game was released internat ...

'', and is featured in the video game '' NHL 09''. It was released for ''

Rocksmith ''Rocksmith'' is a music video game produced by Ubisoft, released in October 2011 for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 platforms in North America. ''Rocksmith'' was released on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 during September 2012 in Australian and Europ ...

'' on October 30, 2012. The song is also available on the game '' Rock Band Track Pack: Volume 2''. An alternate version of the song is included in the compilation album '' Live in the LBC & Diamonds in the Rough'', released on September 16, 2008. The alternate version has a prominent string section through the whole duration of the song, as well as a different bridge in comparison with the original song.

Track listing

;Promo single # "Afterlife" (radio edit) – 4:02 ;Single # "Afterlife" (album version) – 5:54 # "Critical Acclaim" (live in Hollywood) – 5:22

Chart positions

Personnel

;Avenged Sevenfold *

M. Shadows Matthew Charles Sanders (born July 31, 1981), known by his stage name M. Shadows, is an American singer and songwriter. He is the lead vocalist and a founding member of heavy metal band Avenged Sevenfold. In 2017, Shadows was voted third in th ...

– lead vocals, backing vocals *Zacky Vengeance – rhythm guitar, backing vocals *

- drums, percussion, piano, backing vocals, co-lead vocals * Synyster Gates – lead guitar, backing vocals *

Johnny Christ Avenged Sevenfold (abbreviated as A7X) is an American heavy metal band from Huntington Beach, California, formed in 1999. The band's current lineup consists of lead vocalist M. Shadows, rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist Zacky Vengeance, ...

– bass guitar, backing vocals ;Session musicians *

Upright bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox additions such as the octobass). Similar ...

Miles Mosley Miles Mosley is an American musician, producer and composer from Hollywood, California. He is known for his vocal and bass skills, as well as his abilities as a composer, arranger and music producer. He is also a founding member of the West C ...

Cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G ...

by Cameron Stone *

Violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

s by Caroline Campbell and Neel Hammond *

Viola ; german: Bratsche , alt=Viola shown from the front and the side , image=Bratsche.jpg , caption= , background=string , hornbostel_sachs=321.322-71 , hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded by a bow , range= , related= *Violin family ...

by Andrew Duckles ;Production * Produced by Avenged Sevenfold * Engineered by Fred Archambault and Dave Schiffman, assisted by Clifton Allen, Chris Steffen, Robert DeLong, Aaron Walk, Mike Scielzi, and Josh Wilbur * Mixed by Andy Wallace *

Mastered Mastering, a form of audio post production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device (the master), the source from which all copies will be produced (via meth ...

by Brian Gardner * Drum tech by Mike Fasano *Guitar tech by Walter Rice *'Fan Producers for a Day' ( MVI) by Daniel McLaughlin and Christopher Guinn

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Afterlife (Avenged Sevenfold Song) Avenged Sevenfold songs 2007 songs 2008 singles Music videos directed by Wayne Isham Songs containing the I–V-vi-IV progression Thrash metal songs Symphonic metal songs