Avenged Sevenfold say labels shouldn't rush bands to record

Synyster Gates (Image credit: Getty)

Avenged Sevenfold’s Synyster Gates says record companies shouldn’t rush bands “in and out of the studio.”

The group have consistently praised their new label Capitol Records for allowing them room for creativity and caring for their artistic “vision” after they’d split with longtime label Warner Bros and triggered a legal battle earlier this year.

Now guitarist Gates insists it’s important to give artists the chance to experiment and take time to create their own sound – as otherwise music as a whole will never progress.

He tells OverDrive: “I think that most of the other labels tend to ignore the genre and just don’t seem to have an interest in investing in new bands. The whole A&R process has really changed in the last 20 or so years.

“It’s such a shame really because there are thousands of really exciting and super talented bands out there just waiting to be discovered.”

Gates continues: “The bands that are signed should be giving a chance to experiment with their sound and not rushed in and out of the studio. In order to make a record sound amazing, or to achieve a groundbreaking new sound, there has to be a level of time to achieve that.

“If that means that there should be a bunch of different guitar amps used to get a particular sound or a little more time in searching for a different tone or effect that can influence a whole new sound, then that really needs to happen. At the end of the day, nothing will ever change if there is no effort being invested in trying to make a change and push things forward.”

They’ll tour the UK next month in support of their latest album The Stage. A new video of the band recording the release’s title track in the studio can be viewed below.

Avenged Sevenfold are the cover stars of the new issue of Metal Hammer magazine. Issue 291 is available now in print and via TeamRock+.

Avenged Sevenfold tour dates 2017

Jan 10: Glasgow SSE Hydro
Jan 12: Newcastle Metro Radio Arena
Jan 13: Birmingham Genting Arena
Jan 15: Sheffield Arena
Jan 16: Manchester Arena
Jan 18: Nottingham Motorpoint Arena
Jan 19: Cardiff Motorpoint Arena
Jan 21: London O2 Arena
Jan 22: London O2 Arena
Feb 12: Frankfurt Festhalle, Germany
Feb 13: Hamburg Sporthalle, Germany
Feb 15: Berlin Arena, Germany
Feb 16: Dusseldorf Mitsubishi Electric Halle, Germany
Feb 18: Amsterdam Ziggo Dome, Netherlands
Feb 20: Stuttgart Schleyerhalle, Germany
Feb 21: Milan Forum, Italy
Feb 23: Vienna Wiener Stadthalle, Austria
Feb 25: Munich Zenith, Germany
Feb 26: Zurich Halle 622, Austria
Feb 28: Lille Zenith Arena, France
Mar 01: Luxembourg Rockhal, Luxembourg
Mar 02: Paris AccorHotels Arena, France
Mar 04: Copenhagen Valby Hallen, Denmark
Mar 07: Helsinki Hartwall Arena, Finland
Mar 09: Stockholm Ericsson Globe, Sweden
Mar 10: Oslo Telenor, Norway

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Former TeamRock news desk member Christina joined our team in late 2015, and although her time working on online rock news was fairly brief, she made a huge impact by contributing close to 1500 stories. Christina also interviewed artists including Deftones frontman Chino Moreno and worked at the Download festival. In late 2016, Christina left rock journalism to pursue a career in current affairs. In 2021, she was named Local Weekly Feature Writer of the Year at the Scottish Press Awards.