Watch a painted-up Avenged Sevenfold cover Misfits' Last Caress in brand new video

Avenged Sevenfold cover Last Caress — (Image credit: Avenged Sevenfold/YouTube)

Cali metal icons Avenged Sevenfold have continued a newfound Halloween tradition by posting a surprise cover of a Misfits classic - and they've done a hell of a good job with it.

The band - in this case reduced to a power trio of guitarist Zacky Vengeance, also on vocals, bassist Johnny Christ and drummer Brooks Wackerman, who joined the band in 2015 - don some Misfits-esque facepaint and, in the case of Christ, even a cheeky devillock as they smash through a rousing version of Last Caress. The same trio released a cover of another Misfits classic this time last year in the form of Hybrid Moments, with Vengeance showing once more that he does an outstanding impression of Glenn Danzig's unmistakable, Elvis-esque croon.

"Hello Boils and Ghouls," say the band in a statement accompanying the cover. "Last year a few of us gave you a cover of Hybrid Moments by the Misfits. We had so much fun that we wanted to keep the tradition alive this Halloween with one Last Caress. Beware…"

Last Caress, written by Danzig and originally featured on Misfits' 1980 EP Beware, became one of the band's hallmark anthems, helped by a famous cover Metallica put out as part of their 1987 release The $5.98 E.P. - Garage Days Re-Revisited. That cover was doubled up with a version of another Misfits song, Green Hell, though it remains Last Caress that Metallica have played the most of the two by far - over 800 times, in fact.

Watch Avenged's take on Last Caress below. A new album - the band's first in over six years - is expected at some point next year.

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Merlin was promoted to Executive Editor of Louder in early 2022, following over ten years working at Metal Hammer. While there, he served as Online Editor and Deputy Editor, before being promoted to Editor in 2016. Before joining Metal Hammer, Merlin worked as Associate Editor at Terrorizer Magazine and has written for Classic Rock, Rock Sound, eFestivals and others. Across his career he has interviewed legends including Ozzy Osbourne, Lemmy, Metallica, Iron Maiden (including getting a trip on Ed Force One courtesy of Bruce Dickinson), Guns N' Roses, KISS, Slipknot, System Of A Down and Meat Loaf. He has also presented and produced the Metal Hammer Podcast, presented the Metal Hammer Radio Show and is probably responsible for 90% of all nu metal-related content making it onto the site.