In tomorrow's Kerrang! magazine Avenged Sevenfold give us an exclusive track-by-track account of their new self-titled album (due out in the UK on October 29 through Warner Bros). The 10-track affair is the Huntington Beach quintet's most avant-garde offering to date, taking in classic rock, heavy metal, country and the weird soundscapes of Tim Burton's musical collaborator Danny Elfman.
"We're a pretty eclectic band," guitarist Synyster Gates tells Kerrang!. "The album is self-titled because we all came together as a band on this one and we've really been able to draw from all of our different influences."
"Some of them we haven't introduced before because we didn't think they fitted the profile of Avenged Sevenfold as a 'rock band' or whatever, but it was something we had to do," he continues. "We're a pretty fearless band and we had 20 songs to record; some country songs, some eight-and-a-half minute theatrical songs, some slowed-down groove-orientated songs, so we just picked the 10 very best songs that each of us could not live without for the album."
Gates also reveals that, unlike previous albums, the band produced the album themselves.
"We have a great relationship with our label, Warner Brothers, and we were open to ideas," he says. "We met with a bunch of amazing producers, but then we got stoked on actually producing it ourselves. So we all had a really big talk about kicking each other's asses in the studio and not slacking off. We're our own harshest critics so it had to be right. And, listening back to it now, we're all just so proud of it and we can't wait for the fans to hear it!"
Be sure to pick up a copy of tomorrow's Kerrang! magazine for the full interview.
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