Avenged Sevenfold frontman M. Shadows has defended the recent video message he sent to two freed Israeli hostages.
Talking to Rolling Stone, the heavy metal singer says the message, which he recorded for Avenged fans Evyatar David and Guy Gilboa-Dalal after they were released by Palestinian nationalist terrorist group Hamas earlier this month, was not a “political” act but a “human” one.
Shadows explains: “It’s not something that I’m going to worry about; I know that it’s the right thing to do. I think you have to stick to your moral compass, but I’ve definitely heard it from both sides.
“To me, that video is just a human doing something for another human. It’s not making a political stance. It’s not sticking it in someone’s eye. It really is about two human beings that have been through hell. And if we can’t agree on that, it’s really hard to agree on anything.”
He goes on to add, “We’ve [Avenged] done things for a lot of different people across different cultures and different religions. And at the end of the day, if they’re fans, we really want to reach out and we want to support them in some sort of way. And so it just seems unfair – [this idea that] ‘if you’re not on my side, then you’re an enemy.’ It’s really kind of gross.”
David and Gilboa-Dalal, along with 249 other Israelis, were taken hostage when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023. 1,200 died in the attacks and, although tensions between Israel and Palestine had been ongoing for decades, the conflict escalated further. Between October 2023 and September 2025, more than 64,000 Palestinians were killed in Gaza, according to The Guardian.
The UN Human Rights Council described Israel’s actions in Gaza post-October 2023 as genocide, though Israel has denied having genocidal intent. A ceasefire went into effect on October 10 this year, and all 20 remaining living Israeli hostages have been released by Hamas. However, a Gaza medical office claims that Israel has already violated the ceasefire agreement 47 times and killed 38 Palestinians.
Gilboa-Dalal was 22 when kidnapped by Hamas and has said that Avenged’s music helped him during his time in captivity. After his and David’s release, Shadows said in his video message: “So excited to hear you are home. The things you guys have been through are unspeakable, terrible.”
The singer reveals to Rolling Stone that two “friends” of Avenged died in Hamas’ October 7 attacks. “It was two girls that we know – sweet, innocent people,” he says. “Terrible things happened to them and they didn’t make it out.”
However, he reiterates that his video to David and Gilboa-Dalal was not politically motivated.
Shadows also expresses his “respect” for Disturbed frontman David Draiman, who courted widespread controversy when he put photos of himself signing an Israeli Defence Force (IDF) artillery shell onto Instagram in June 2024.
In July this year, at Ozzy Osbourne’s retirement concert Back To The Beginning, fans booed Draiman, with multiple outlets connecting the reaction to his endorsement of the IDF; the singer responded by saying his detractors that day were “a few Jew-hating morons”.
Earlier this month, a planned Disturbed concert was cancelled by the mayor of Vorst, Belgium, following threats of protest action outside the show.
Shadows says of Draiman: “I really respect David, not just for where he stands, but that he believes in something and he’s full-force into it.”
Avenged released their latest album, Life Is But A Dream…, in 2023 and will embark on a South American tour in January. The tour was originally scheduled to kick off this September but was delayed after Shadows suffered vocal issues.
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