Avenged Sevenfold hail Brooks Wackerman’s studio contribution

Bassist Johnny Christ says Avenged Sevenfold took a “reverse process” approach to latest album The Stage, thanks to the arrival of new drummer Brooks Wackerman.

The record was sneak-released last month as the band made a point of exploring new ways to express themselves both onstage and off.

In the behind-the-scenes video above, Christ says: “Having Brooks when we were writing was great. A lot of the riffs would actually come off of beats and ideas he would bring to the table.”

He adds that writing became “more of jamming and playing off of each other, rather than coming up with parts and fine-tuning them – getting the feel of it first and then going back.

“It was kind of a reverse process from the album before.”

Earlier this month frontman M Shadows discussed the sneak-release decision, saying: “A lot of bands, you’re hearing what people are saying, and you’re hearing the vibe of the record before you even get to hear the music.

“That’s just wrong to me. I want people to make their own decision. Listen to the music and figure it out for yourself, instead of being fed the press release. It’s so boring at this point.”

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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.