In terms of new music, Avenged have said that although the follow-up to 2016’s The Stage won’t see the light of day until touring returns, they’ve nevertheless been busy “meticulously” working on it through lockdown, while also noting the “silver lining” of getting to spend more time than normal at home with family.
“It has been incredibly hard to record the way we want,” the band explained via a message to fans. “For instance, the drum room we required for the album was shut down due to protests outside the building for weeks. String sections and outside musicians have still not been able to be recorded due to COVID-19 restrictions. We are not willing to sacrifice the sound we are going for to work around this. We will wait. There are other issues on the horizon but we are documenting it all for a later release when we can tell the whole story. At the end of the day it wouldn’t matter anyway. We don’t feel comfortable working on an album this long and then releasing it with no tour in sight. Part of the music we make needs to be expressed through live interaction.
“The good news is we also feel recharged and stronger than ever as a unit,” they continued, taking a more positive tack. “Just because we aren’t updating everyone at every step doesn’t mean that we aren’t working. The news gets tiring. Social media gets tiring. Everyone on the food chain fighting for attention and relevance seems trivial. We have chosen to shut our mouths, dig deep and give you something that we feel can add to the collective human conversation. At the end of the day the music will come when it comes. Until then we hope you and your families all stay safe and sane.”
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