"I Won't See You Tonight" is a two-part song by American heavy metal band

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 songs appeared on their second studio album, '' Waking the Fallen'', as tracks 9 and 10 respectively. The song peaked at #2 on the overall US song sales chart in 2014.

Composition

The first portion, "I Won't See You Tonight Part 1" is a

power ballad A sentimental ballad is an emotional style of music that often deals with romantic and intimate relationships, and to a lesser extent, loneliness, death, war, drug abuse, politics and religion, usually in a poignant but solemn manner.J. M. C ...

, while "I Won't See You Tonight Part 2" is much faster, and more in line with the

metalcore Metalcore (also known as metallic hardcore) is a fusion music genre that combines elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk. As with other styles blending metal and hardcore, such as crust punk and grindcore, metalcore is noted for its use of ...

sound the band played in their early days.

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 music, heavy metal ...

's drumming on (Part 2) was reportedly inspired by the work of drummer

Paul Bostaph Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...

from

Slayer Slayer was an American thrash metal band from Huntington Park, California. The band was formed in 1981 by guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman, drummer Dave Lombardo and bassist/vocalist Tom Araya. Slayer's fast and aggressive musical style ...

. The song's lyrical matter was inspired by the band's former bassist Justin Sane. Around August 2001, Sane attempted suicide by drinking excessive amounts of cough syrup. During Sane's hospitalization, he remained in poor condition and had to leave the band. In an interview, lead singer

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 ...

said of Sane that "he perma-fried his brain and was in a mental institution for a long time, and when you have someone in your band who does that, it ruins everything that's going on all around you, and it makes you want to do something to prevent it from happening to other people."

Critical reception

In 2021, ''Return of Rock'' ranked the song(s) at number 19 on its list of the 20 greatest Avenged Sevenfold songs. It was also features on

Revolver A revolver (also called a wheel gun) is a repeating handgun that has at least one barrel and uses a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold up to six roun ...

's list of the best non-

hair metal Hair is a protein filament that grows from hair follicle, follicles found in the dermis. Hair is one of the defining characteristics of mammals. The human body, apart from areas of glabrous skin, is covered in follicles which produce thick ter ...

power-ballads. It was described on the latter list as "the most powerful (ballad) in (the band's) repertoire."

Charts

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes. Avenged Sevenfold *

– lead vocals * Zacky Vengeance – guitars, backing vocals *

– drums, percussion, backing vocals *

Synyster Gates Brian Elwin Haner Jr. (born July 7, 1981), better known by his stage name Synyster Gates or simply Syn, is an American guitarist, best known for being the lead guitarist and backing vocalist of heavy metal band Avenged Sevenfold. He ranks No. ...

– guitars, piano, 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 Production *

Andrew Murdock Andrew Murdock (born January 24, 1962), also known as Mudrock, is an American record producer specializing in rock and metal genres. He is best known for producing Godsmack's ''Godsmack'' and ''Awake'' albums. More recently, Murdock has produc ...

– producer,

mixing engineer A mixing engineer (or simply mix engineer) is responsible for combining ("mixing") different sonic elements of an auditory piece into a complete rendition (also known as "final mix" or "mixdown"), whether in music, film, or any other content of a ...

* Fred Archambault – co-producer * THE GATEKEEPERS - recording * Ai Fujisaki – assistant engineer * Tom Baker –

mastering engineer A mastering engineer is a person skilled in the practice of taking audio (typically musical content) that has been previously mixed in either the analog or digital domain as mono, stereo, or multichannel formats and preparing it for use in distr ...

* Mike Fasano, Bruce Jacoby, Al Pahanish – drum tech * Stephen Ferrara – guitar tech * Scott Gilman – orchestral arrangements and performance * Larry Jacobson Company – manegment * Ryan Harlacher – booking * Scott Bradford – legal representation

References

{{Avenged Sevenfold 2003 songs Avenged Sevenfold songs Songs about suicide