Avenged Sevenfold has been working on their new album throughout the pandemic, and according to vocalist M. Shadows in an interview with the 93X radio station is about 70% done. Shadows said the band can't complete certain aspects of the record during the pandemic, like string sections or working with producer Andy Wallace, so they're just going to have to wait.
"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."
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."
