Avenged Sevenfold recently recorded all the orchestral parts for their new album with a 78-piece orchestra. Drummer Brooks Wackerman and vocalist M. Shadows provided a few photos of the sessions at the time, with Wackerman adding that the new record is "unlike anything we've ever released." Avenged Sevenfold made it well known that part of the reason they couldn't complete work on their new album during the pandemic was because they couldn't safely get an entire orchestra into a room, so this was pretty exciting news.
Now in an in interview with The Bob Lefsetz Podcast, Shadows has laid out the band's plans so far to get the record done. Shadows said Avenged Sevenfold plans to get back to work on it in May, get it mixed in August by Andy Wallace (Slayer, Sepultura, Faith No More), and out either late 2022 or early 2023.
"Status is interesting. We recorded an album, you know, a few years ago. We haven't finished it yet. We kind of took some time off for family, COVID, weird touring circumstances, some changes within our team… And we are still currently with one record left on Warner Brothers Records. We'll be finishing that record up – I think we have May locked out [for when] our producer can get back to work on it, and then we're going to mix with Andy Wallace in August.
"And then we're going to figure out if it's the first quarter, or fourth quarter, or what we're going to do. So, the status is that, and then we're going to be booking tours, put the tickets on sale when the record comes out, and the whole nine yards."
The new Avenged Sevenfold record will be the band's first since The Stage in 2018. Shadows previously revealed that the new record is "very influenced by Kanye West," in that he pulls from great artists that Avenged Sevenfold isn't normally influenced by.
"There are so many influences… We're 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 [and] 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."
