Second Heartbeat

---

title: "Second Heartbeat" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["2003-songs", "avenged-sevenfold-songs", "melodic-death-metal-songs"] topic_path: "arts/music" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Heartbeat" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::data[format=table title="Infobox song"]

Field	Value
name	Second Heartbeat
type	song
artist	Avenged Sevenfold
album	Waking the Fallen
released	August 26, 2003
recorded	April – June 2003
studio	* Third Stone, Hollywood, California
* melodic death metal{{cite web	title
length	7:01
label	Hopeless
writer	Avenged Sevenfold
producer	* Mudrock
tracks	{{Hidden
title	12 tracks
::

| name = Second Heartbeat | alt = | type = song | artist = Avenged Sevenfold | album = Waking the Fallen | released = August 26, 2003 | recorded = April – June 2003 | studio = * Third Stone, Hollywood, California

• Mates Inc, Hollywood, California | venue = | genre =
• Metalcore
• melodic death metal
• Alternative metal | length = 7:01 | label = Hopeless | writer = Avenged Sevenfold | producer = * Mudrock
• Fred Archambault | tracks = {{Hidden | title = 12 tracks | text =

1. "Waking the Fallen"
2. "Unholy Confessions"
3. "Chapter Four"
4. "Remenissions"
5. "Desecrate Through Reverence"
6. "Eternal Rest"
7. "Second Heartbeat"
8. "Radiant Eclipse"
9. "I Won't See You Tonight Part 1"
10. "I Won't See You Tonight Part 2"
11. "Clairvoyant Disease"
12. "And All Things Will End

"Second Heartbeat" is a song by American heavy metal band Avenged Sevenfold, and is the seventh track on their second studio album, Waking the Fallen. The song is one of the most popular from the album, and is praised by fans and critics alike.

Background

An early version of "Second Heartbeat" was recorded in 2002, and appeared on the compilation "Hopelessly Devoted To You Vol. 4". This early version was shorter and faster. The band showed this version of the song to producer Mudrock to convince him to produce their second album, which he would end up doing. It was later included on the 2014 Waking the Fallen: Resurrected reissue. In the band's early career, it was a live staple.

Critical reception

"Second Heartbeat" is widely regarded as one of the band's best songs. In 2020, Louder Sound and Kerrang ranked the song at number two and number ten, respectively, on their lists of the 20 greatest Avenged Sevenfold songs. Return of Rock also ranked it as the best song from its parent album.

Personnel

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

• M. Shadows – lead vocals
• Zacky Vengeance – rhythm guitar
• The Rev – drums
• Synyster Gates – lead guitar
• Johnny Christ – bass guitar

Production

• Andrew Murdock – producer, mixing engineer
• Fred Archambault – co-producer
• THE GATEKEEPERS - recording
• Ai Fujisaki – assistant engineer
• Tom Baker – mastering engineer
• Mike Fasano, Bruce Jacoby, Al Pahanish – drum tech
• Stephen Ferrara – guitar tech
• Larry Jacobson Company – management
• Ryan Harlacher – booking
• Scott Bradford – legal representation

References

References

1. (2003-06-24). "Avenged Sevenfold website".
2. "Avenged Sevenfold Waking The Fallen (2003)".
3. White, Adam. (May 24, 2002). "Hopelessly Devoted To You Vol. 4". Punknews.org.
4. "Various – Hopelessly Devoted To You Vol. 4".
5. "The 20 greatest Avenged Sevenfold songs – ranked".
6. "AVENGED SEVENFOLD 'WAKING THE FALLEN': HOW BAND'S BIGGEST RISK LED TO HUGE SUCCESS".
7. "Throwdown select Mudrock to produce album".
8. "The 10 Best Avenged Sevenfold Songs Of All-Time".
9. (29 April 2014). "Avenged Sevenfold - Second Heartbeat".
10. "AVENGED SEVENFOLD ALBUMS RANKED: FROM WORST TO BEST".
11. Alderslade, Merlin. (February 5, 2020). "The 20 best Avenged Sevenfold songs ever". [[Metal Hammer.
12. Law, Sam. (May 29, 2020). "The 20 greatest Avenged Sevenfold songs – ranked". [[Kerrang!.
13. (October 4, 2021). "Waking the Fallen Songs Ranked".
14. (2014). "Waking the Fallen: Resurrected ''liner notes''". Hopeless Records.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::