Avenged Sevenfold “honoured” to receive Grammy recognition

Avenged Sevenfold frontman M Shadows says he and the band are “honoured” to receive a Grammy nomination for their track The Stage.

They were recently named in the Best Rock Song category and will go up against Metallica, Foo Fighters, Nothing More and K. Flay at the annual ceremony at New York’s Madison Square Garden on Sunday, January 28.

Shadows tells Billboard: “We’re just really excited and honoured. We’re really excited to be even talked about in the same breath as Foo Fighters or Metallica.

“It’s the big boys club, so it’s nice to even be noticed and it makes us feel really good about the whole rollout of this record and what this record is about.

“We know it didn’t go over everyone’s head and there’s people who appreciate it, and that’s cool to us.

Shadows reports that he’s happy The Stage has been shortlisted in the rock category rather than heavy metal list because metal still doesn’t get the recognition it deserves when it comes to TV coverage.

He says: “I’ve said the Grammys messed up metal because it’s not on TV. What I’m saying is, when you’re in a metal category, it’s not televised and it doesn’t move the needle forward for metal artists, and I wish they had more respect for the genre. So we’re actually really excited to be in the rock category.”

Avenged Sevenfold will head out on the road across the US early next year and will also headline the UK’s Download festival in June – with Shadows also hinting at “a really big summer tour.”

As for a follow-up to 2016’s The Stage, Shadows reports: “We’re really excited where our head space is. Just musically we feel like we want to express ourselves with an album and maybe not go drag The Stage out too much longer.

“There’s no new songs. We’ll probably talk for a couple of months before we even start writing. There’s just so many cool new influences and all these new things we’ve been talking about, sparking us to think about different things outside of the box.

“I’m sure we’ll throw those ideas around. I already know it’s going to be different and cool, and that’s just exciting for me.”

Last week, A7X released the acoustic album Live At The Grammy Museum which was recorded at the venue’s Clive Davis Theater in Los Angeles in October.

Avenged Sevenfold The Stage World Tour confirmed 2018 shows

Jan 12: Nashville Bridgestone Arena, TN
Jan 14: Grand Rapids The Van Andel Arena, MI
Jan 16: Reading Santander Arena, PA
Jan 17: State College Bryce Jordan Center, PA
Jan 24: Green Bay Resch Center, WI
Jan 25: Peoria Civic Center, IL
Jan 27: Sioux Falls Denny Sandford Premier Center, SD
Jan 31: Biloxi Mississippi Coast Coliseum, MS
Feb 02: North Little Rock Verizon Center, AR
Feb 03: Evansville Ford Center, IN
Feb 06: Wichita Intrust Bank Arena, KS
Feb 08: Lincoln Pinnacle Bank Arena, NE
Feb 09: Cedar Rapids US Cellular Center, IA
Feb 11: Fargo Fargodome, ND
Jun 08: Download Festival, UK

Avenged Sevenfold - The Stage album review

Scott has spent 37 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in 2014 before moving into e-commerce in 2020. Scott maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, highlights deals, and reviews headphones, speakers, earplugs and more. Over the last 12 years, Scott has written more than 11,500 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog. He's previously written for publications including IGN, Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from news and features, to tech reviews, video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.