A7X album ready in 2016 says Shadows

Avenged Sevenfold aren’t planning to start writing their seventh album until next summer – meaning the follow-up to Hail To The King isn’t likely to be released until 2016.

But that’s because the band want to take the time and space they need to concentrate on creating their best work.

Frontman M Shadows tells Z-98: “The most important thing for us is to get that spark and that fire to want to start writing. We never write on the road. We always try to get a very clear idea of what we want to accomplish – then we attack it.

“I think after this tour we do in China, we’ll be back in the saddle, and by the summer we should be writing.”

Guitarist Zacky Vengeance recently said that life on the road was helping the creative process because it was exposing them to new influences.

He reported: “Synyster Gates has been writing purely for fun, trying different styles. I’ve been listening to different music to get inspiration, as have all of us. Once we get home the ideas are going to start brewing.”

Hail To The King, released in 2013, propelled A7X to number one in the UK and US. It was their first with Arin Ilejay, who replaced late drummer Jimmy ‘The Rev’ Sullivan following his death in 2010. The band just released a mobile game based on their DeathBat mascot, which Shadows describes as a journey through their career.

Not only is one-time online news editor Martin an established rock journalist and drummer, but he’s also penned several books on music history, including SAHB Story: The Tale of the Sensational Alex Harvey Band, a band he once managed, and the best-selling Apollo Memories about the history of the legendary and infamous Glasgow Apollo. Martin has written for Classic Rock and Prog and at one time had written more articles for Louder than anyone else (we think he's second now). He’s appeared on TV and when not delving intro all things music, can be found travelling along the UK’s vast canal network.