Avenged Sevenfold has made it very well known that they couldn't finish their new album due to the ongoing pandemic, and wouldn't bother touring until it was completed. Now in an interview with Loudwire, vocalist M. Shadows has revealed the band plans to really crack down on getting the record done starting this January. Shadows added that the pandemic is still absolutely screwing up the completion of their new live show, though they would love to kick things off at Aftershock in October.
"It's just that we have to be very careful about getting everything going, building a whole new stage set, hiring everybody, renting buses and then having one person get sick and the tour gets canceled and we get to be on the hook for everything. And it's not that we don't wanna do it.
"People compare us to bands that are going and playing clubs. It's not the same thing. Getting an arena tour going and playing these festivals, it's just not the same thing. And also we wanna be mentally ready.
"These are all gonna sound like crazy excuses, but these are real. We have a huge stage that we wanna get built. We can't get people to work. We can't get the supplies we need to build it, which there's a supply chain problem as well. Go look at the Long Beach, at the port right now, and these boats are just stuck out there. And so we have all these things going on where we're not gonna come back on stage and have the stage from The Stage record and then just go, 'Well, same show four years later. Sorry, guys. The record's not done 'cause we couldn't finish it.'
"So, I would just say starting in January, we are gonna put our nose to the grind and we are gonna finish this record. And then we're doing a couple of shows in Europe. And then I would love to — and I don't wanna step on Danny Wimmer's toes here — but I would love to start at Aftershock and then book a tour out from there.
"So, we're gonna be doing stuff. But, yeah, it's just kind of making sure we're mentally there and we put our best foot forward when we do come out and make sure that it's all good."
Shadows previously said the new album should be out before or during Summer 2022. He's also stated that "it's a completely new direction, and it sounds nothing like anything we've done."
[via Blabbermouth]
