Avenged Sevenfold On How Ennio Morricone Was "One Constant Influence On Our Entire Career"

Following in the footsteps of Metallica, Slash and System Of A Down's Serj Tankian, Huntington Beach metal titans Avenged Sevenfold have paid tribute to late composer Ennio Morricone, whose work, they say, was “one constant influence” on their entire career.

In an Instagram post paying their respects to the 91-year-old musical legend, Avenged point to multiple songs across their discography for fans to recognise Ennio’s “most obvious influence” – from Sidewinder on 2005's City Of Evil, to Roman Sky on the band's most recent LP, 2016's The Stage.

“One constant influence on our entire career would have to be that of Ennio Morricone,” they write.

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“He truly did what no others could. He had the ability to define countless important movies by their soundtrack. He was unmatched in his ability. Just this weekend we had his brilliant soundtrack for Once Upon A Time In The West playing on repeat.

“Look no further than Sidewinder, Dose, and Roman Sky to hear the most obvious influence he had on us. He will be missed. His art will be remembered and cherished. Rest in Peace.”

Speaking to Kerrang! about the influence of Ennio’s work on Metallica, bassist Rob Trujillo shared: “I believe a lot of Metallica’s music is built on layers and chance and taking risks. The compositions of layered guitars; the dynamic of that ingredient is really, really cool and that’s the same thing with classical music. Ennio did it incredibly well and he’s a genius at that.

“I know Orion is a Metallica piece, but to me it has the beauty of an Ennio Morricone composition – the layers and the journey it takes you on, the highs and the lows.”

System Of A Down's Serj, meanwhile, wrote on the day of Ennio’s passing: “A very sad day for music. Adieu Maestro. One of my favourite film composers of all time.”

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