Avenged Sevenfold has been working on their new album throughout the pandemic and recently said they were about 70% done.
While vocalist M. Shadows said the band can't really finish the record until they can all get together, that still hasn't stopped them from recording certain elements. For example, here's drummer Brooks Wackerman laying it down in the studio! Wackerman is an incredible drummer and honestly, we need to see way more of the dude playing throughout this process.
As far as how the album will sound, Shadows has previously stated that the new material sounds nothing like their 2016 album The Stage.
"The record sounds nothing like The Stage — it's a completely new direction, and it sounds nothing like anything we've done. That's all I'll say about it: it's over the top, and it's very eclectic and wild."
In another interview, Shadows said "We're working on stuff. We have pretty much 70 percent of the record done. We have some things we can't finish right now 'cause of COVID — string players, et cetera. We know Andy doesn't wanna travel, or his management doesn't want him to travel because of COVID. So there's just a lot of things going on."
Shadows also said the band doesn't want to release an album until they can tour, which makes sense.
"It doesn't make sense for us right now to put out a record and not be able to tour it. The world has changed. Putting out a record on Spotify without touring for a rock band, it just doesn't make sense to us. So we're gonna wait till everything is back, then we'll come out with the record, finish it up, and all will be good."