Avenged Sevenfold frontman M Shadows says the way the band chose to launch new album The Stage followed a path set out by Kanye West, Beyonce and Radiohead.
And asked whether his band are the heavy metal Kanye West, he tells Metal Hammer: “I think there are a lot of similarities.”
The Stage was sneak released by Avenged Sevenfold, with just one track and limited information made available before it was unleashed in a surprise move on October 28.
The band even enlisted the help of Fozzy frontman Chris Jericho to disseminate false information about the release date and album title to help put up a smokescreen around the actual release.
And with West, Beyonce and Radiohead all having previously dropped albums with little promotion, Shadows says he doesn’t mind being compared to Kanye when it comes to their marketing methods.
He adds: “I know that people will see that and it’ll be some kind of quote so someone can get some clicks off it, but the way we do merchandise, the way that we’re going to be doing our live show, the way we’re gonna release our records, the way that we’re going get music to people, is very much in that vein.
“We’re not going back to the old ways.”
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Guitarist Zacky Vengeance recently told Metal Hammer that the band had plans for a “fucked up” video for new track God Damn, insisting he had no interest in traditional music videos.
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, UK
Jan 12: Newcastle Metro Radio Arena, UK
Jan 13: Birmingham Genting Arena, UK
Jan 15: Sheffield Arena, UK
Jan 16: Manchester Arena, UK
Jan 18: Nottingham Motorpoint Arena, UK
Jan 19: Cardiff Motorpoint Arena, UK
Jan 21: London O2 Arena, UK
Jan 22: London O2 Arena, UK
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
Avenged Sevenfold: 'We had the f**king balls to do something different'
