They were more glam rock/ metal but it was the same scene I guess so they're considered hair metal.
Pantera and Alice In Chains also started as hair metal but no one knows any songs from those eras lol
Avenged Sevenfold's first album is so drastically different from the later stuff (to the point where you could almost argue it's a different band) but it is still metal. So by their own criteria they should count.
But they're such a gay band with an annoying sound/ look that I knew they'd try...
There are a lot of bands that I think these guys would hate that fit that criteria, which made me lol
Like Avenged Sevenfold legit started as metal, then changed singers (and later style) a few albums later.
Mr. Bungle is another one, where their debut is fairly straightforward speed metal/...