Heads up, Avenged Sevenfold fans. It looks like there's some new music on the way, and you better prepare for some "very wacky ideas," according to lead singer M. Shadows.
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In a new interview with Metal Hammer, Shadows, real name Matthew Sanders, says the California band is excited to show fans what they've been working on as the follow up to 2016’s The Stage.
Describing the "many influences" of Avenged Sevenfold's next offering, Shadows revealed that they would be finishing the orchestral arrangements included within the album this month. “The record’s been recorded for a year, but we haven’t been able to put the real strings on it, because we couldn’t fly out to Prague. When an orchestra have to social distance and they aren’t sitting next to each other, they can get out of tune, and we have just finally got to a place where we can use this 70-piece orchestra as we intended. We finish the record in February, mix it in March.”
Additionally, Shadows says the new material is "very influenced" by Kanye West. "The thing about Kanye is that he is pulling from such great soul music. I didn’t grow up with that stuff - my dad listened to Boston and Alice Cooper, I didn’t get that taste of black music and old soul. So, diving deep into jazz musicians… we’re not trying to do a jazz record, but the chord changes and progressions are so eye-opening to us."
Shadows also explained that the next release will be Avenged Sevenfold's last under Warner Bros. Records. "I don’t know exactly how it comes out, but the record after that, we have no label,” he says. "At that point we start implementing all the new ideas of going straight to the base of people that really care more. The new frontier excites us; expect very wacky ideas!"
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Speaking of "wacky ideas," the last we heard from M. Shadows and company was back in January of 2021 when they were tapped to help out Cali-Punks NOFX with their latest album and provide a more "metal" take on their pop-punk anthem "Linoleum.' The music video features footage scraped from various clips of bands, names included, who have covered the song over the last 27 years -- together with Avenged Sevenfold themselves, of course.
Since then the band has launched an NFT-based fan club, called the Death Bats Club, which offers perks to token holders such as access to exclusive events, lifetime tickets, lifetime meet and greets, exclusive merch, discounts, and more. Full details can be found here.
While you're in a headbanging mood -- take a look and favorite some of Audacy's all-new exclusive Rock stations like Alterna 00s, Masters Of Metal, IndustriALT, Don't Metal In My Affairs, Venom, Arena Rock, and The Roots of Rock for those who crave the early days.
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