Tickets for our “End of The World Tour” with Prophets of Rage this summer just went on sale today. Buy a ticket or ask me anything. Or both.
http://avengedsevenfold.com/

EDIT: Thanks so much for the great questions. See you guys this summer at The End of the World Tour.

My Proof: https://imgur.com/a/NRPFT

Comments: 2886 • Responses: 46  • Date: 

iammshadows2855 karma

My gaming rig travels everywhere.

EDIT: this was meant to answer someone’s question: “what’s one thing from home you always need on the road?”

AccomplishedGain1580 karma

Why are there interstate highways in Hawaii?

iammshadows2501 karma

This keeps me up at night.

nukingrabbits973 karma

You all have kids. Surely Disney will be part of their lives. If you had to cover one Disney song, what would it be?

iammshadows1246 karma

Yes... Love Disney with the kids. I'm not sure about what song we would cover... suggestions?

avenged-eightfold938 karma

Matt, you’ve been very open about your experiences with depression and anxiety. I struggle with these issues as well and your music has helped me through so much. How do you manage your mental health while on tour?

iammshadows2212 karma

Meditation - very little drinking - eating healthy - lots of sleep and working out.

I hope that helps... worst feeling ever.

bellshadows168 karma

Hi Matt!

I just want to say I love A7X with my whole life, but there is problem, because I live in South America, so for that I have a big hope to see you in Ecuador someday, Is there any chance for that?

Love you so much!!!

iammshadows310 karma

We try to go anywhere fans want us to play, but unfortunately it’s not always possible.

joeA7xSlash642 karma

Hi Matt! What are some of your favourite albums of 2018 so far?

iammshadows2040 karma

I've heard the new Atreyu and its great... but you haven't. :)

AVNGDSVNFLD620 karma

How do you get a crowd “back into it” if they come out and are quiet and not as engaged as your other crowds?

iammshadows996 karma

Bad Crowds are tough... you just gotta push through it and hope the are listening more than expressing themselves through movement.

AVNGDSVNFLD567 karma

What’s a new character that you want introduced in the upcoming Super Smash Bros?

iammshadows1039 karma

The Deathbat!

apolloxpudding514 karma

Longtime fan here! It seems that a lot of bands that started their careers in the late 90s-early 2000s are now touring their early albums, playing them in their entirety. Can nostalgics like me hope to see A7X do a City of Evil tour one day?

iammshadows1177 karma

Probably not. At least not anytime soon. I don't have much interest in revisiting old albums in full when we are continuing to tell our story through new music.

SckidMarcker485 karma

Hey Matt. I missed the last AMA by about an hour so I would be thrilled if you could answer a few questions.

  1. Why haven't you guys played Natural Born Killer live?

  2. Also I have a question about when you guys were starting up. There seems to be rumors and contradictory opinions on whether or not you played guitar for the band before Syn joined. Is that true or false?

  3. .I know you all have moved on to greater musical things but have you ever considered doing a remaster/remix of Sounding The Seventh Trumpet?

  4. What is the weirdest influence that Brooks brought to you guys that ultimately stuck on and influenced your music?

iammshadows637 karma

most of the band members are not huge fans of that song... feels a little generic.

I've always written on guitar for the band... but never played the guitar in the band

I like the mix on sounding... if anything could use a remix is WTF.

he has a strange mind... and I love that

_SynysterGates_428 karma

What are the chances of Roman Sky being played live?

iammshadows707 karma

decent to good

CaptnWhoopass413 karma

Hey Matt!

  1. A lot of us at r/avengedsevenfold and r/trivium would kill to see a tour of the 2 bands together. Is this a tour you can see happening in the future?

  2. Any up and coming bands you've been listening to that are worth checking out?

Thanks in advance!

iammshadows641 karma

I'd love to go out with Trivium at some point... their new album is great. very proud of them.

nukingrabbits347 karma

What's one song from before The Stage that you've never played live, but would like to?

iammshadows1126 karma

Sidewinder or And All Things Will End

Vaginal_Stank309 karma

Matt!! I've seen you live three times and have been listening to you for over a decade now!

My question is this: as your old muses fade or go Grey, how do you keep pushing yourself to be inspired, create new music, and really dig deep with your vocals?

iammshadows422 karma

we continue to just make music that makes us happy and only put out records when we are inspired... so that makes it easy

sourpatchkid123284 karma

If you could instantly go on tour with ANY band, past or present, who would it be?

iammshadows834 karma

We’re pretty excited for this summer with Prophets of Rage. Past though... Pantera.

Deathbatjor271 karma

Hi Matt,

Do you have time to just type Hi?

iammshadows1115 karma

No.

BowlesOnParade240 karma

Since you guys are going out on tour with Prophets of Rage, will we be seeing you guys sharing the same stage at the same time at all? I'd love to see Tom's guitar take on some of your songs or see how you guys would do with a classic Rage song. Could be some cool potential on stage collaborations.

iammshadows321 karma

Interesting... what would people want to see?

THEcasanova283 karma

Would love to see you and Tom crush Bulls on Parade

iammshadows761 karma

You sure you want to hear me rap?

GoGoGodzillaaa239 karma

Hey Matt! Thanks for doing this. Couple of questions for ya.

In terms of production for the upcoming tour, what can we expect? Will the set up be anything like A7X’s arena tour from earlier in the year? Or will it be vastly different? Also excited to see how the setlist will differ!

And with Black Ops 4 announced, I think I speak on behalf of a lot of the community when we say we’d love for you guys to record another original song for the game/for Zombies! Think you guys would be interested in that?

Thanks again Matt!! See ya in August!

iammshadows349 karma

Production will be bigger and badder than ever!

Of course we’d be interested, we love the COD family!

smartfishy212 karma

Hi, Matt! How are you doing? :)

Would you guys ever consider doing a "by request" kind of tour? with any song, no exceptions. I always wonder how amazing it would be to hear Save Me in person, or any other "lengthy" song that I've never heard live or heard of you guys playing live.

Thanks for doing this AMA, love you guys! ♡

iammshadows446 karma

We have given people choices on tours and they choose the hits. I love save me as well and maybe at some point it will be added back in.

Chantel84171 karma

What is the funniest thing that has happened to you recently?

iammshadows408 karma

oh man.. w synyster gates and Tal Cooperman in vegas last weekend... details withheld

BaconBoy2015168 karma

Hey Matt! I know you’re a big gamer. Have you been playing any Fortnite?

Also, any word on playing Sidewinder this upcoming tour? ;)

iammshadows867 karma

Not a Fortnite player... My son plays that though... dad plays PubG!

noomert145 karma

Hi Matt!

  1. Are there any classical composers that inspire you?
  2. If so, who and what song of them would you recommend?

Thanks a lot for doing this AMA!

iammshadows359 karma

Gustav Holst - Planets

Pacoloco909139 karma

What’s up Matt? How’s it going? What are your workout plans? And what’s your workout playlist?

iammshadows285 karma

weird one... weezer - make believe

LordOverload134 karma

Hey Matt, I’m a huge fan! Can’t wait to see you guys in Holmdel this summer! A couple of questions for you:

Are you planning to compose any music or have any part in the soundtrack for Black Ops 4?

Also, can we expect to hear any songs in this summer’s set list that you guys don’t normally play? Like maybe something from Waking the Fallen or even Sounding the Seventh Trumpet?

iammshadows282 karma

Black Ops 4 is gonna rock. Hopefully they ask us to do something and we can find the time. Who knows? Haven't gotten into the setlist with the guys yet. STST is pushing it though.

KevinTitor125 karma

Hi Matt, I have 3 questions so without further ado,

1) Do you have experience with meditation, or maybe with other less legal ways of changing conscious experience :)

2) Are you aware of Symphonic metal and rock and do you see Avenged Sevenfold experimenting with that kind of music on the future albums?

3) On which things have your views changed in the last few years, be it scientific, political, musical or any other topic?

iammshadows957 karma

Yes - I meditate and have done plenty of LSD growing up. I recommend both... ( LSD at your own discretion )

We've always added that element to our music in a more subtle way.

I'm ever evolving in my stances. I follow were the science leads us. Im not a conspiracy theorist and I love changing my opinion on issues because it means I'm learning more. One example of me changing my stance is when I was younger I was quoted as saying I didnt think gays should be allowed to get married.. Totally uneducated prick stance from me which I fully disagree with at this point. We live and we learn and thats all you can try and do.

King_Tryndamere90 karma

Hey man,

I saw you live in Cedar Rapids Iowa. You guys were great. Best band IMO!

My question is, What did you think about the new Star Wars? Hate it or love it?

Also, do more covers! They are great!

iammshadows147 karma

Haven't seen it. thanks!

vikingbiitch87 karma

Hail to the King: Deathbat is still a kickass game three and a half years later, but I'm sad because the game isn't working properly with newer phone updates (the background music is gone, one of my favorite things about the game). Is there any chance you could maybe get the game dudes to fix it with a little update? Pretty please?

Also, I know music is your priority and I understand that creating games takes time and costs a lot, but do you have any plans or ideas about a sequel to Deathbat? Possibly Captain Cosmonuts teaming up with king Andronikos on some fabulous but highly dangerous buddy cop-esque adventure? 🤔

iammshadows217 karma

I tried very hard to update the game but because of the IOS stuff it has made it impossible.. we would have to start from scratch because they wont allow certain plug - ins that we were using. total bummer.

I'd love to make a new game.

kollnoscopy81 karma

Thoughts on a DVD in the future? Or perhaps even just doing a pro-shot live stream of one of your shows?

I Love watching fan-shot live shows on YouTube but the quality is sub-par and fans singing poorly in the background can easily ruin it. Not sure of the practicalities of a dvd in this digital landscape but I think a live stream would be a great compromise. Any thoughts?

Love you guys!

iammshadows543 karma

I wanna do something for Netflix for free.. DVD's are the past... streaming is the future

MCJizzrag78 karma

If a gun was held to your head which band member would you blow?

iammshadows418 karma

I'd blow em all... wait, what?

causeiwontsing77 karma

I just really wanna know what happened to the audio at lunatic luau last year. It was so awful. Also, are you guys coming back to va beach like you said you would in 2018?

What’s it like for all of you to be fathers now? What has changed the most?

What song do you wish you didn’t have to play every night on tour? (The big hits everyone loves.)

What’s your least favorite song from your discography in general?

iammshadows237 karma

As most of you know our long time sound guy (shirt) died of cancer and we had to scramble to fill the spot. We have it situated now but it was a bad situation for us not only losing a friend but an essential part of the crew. From the Luau thru Metallica we were not dial in like we usually are.

Being a father is the best

Lelouch140661 karma

Hey Matt, your Croatian friend here. How are you? :)

I'm gonna try not to be too much of a pain in the ass with the questions lol...

  1. Are you aware of the Voltaic Oceans twitter account that posts about VO every day for a whole year now? And if so, is it real? It's been tweeting about 3 phases, same thing that deathbot was saying.

  2. I know that asking about the next album is bothersome, but I'd just like to know if the next album is going to be a bit heavier than The Stage? I know you're going to keep it progressive, but I'd LOVE it if it's a bit heavier as well. Progressive and heavy is the way to go haha. Of course, you're going to do whatever you want, but you know us fans. :P

  3. Lastly, do you ever visit my A7X Croatia instagram page? You might see some trying-to-be-funny memes of you and Johnny haha.

iammshadows167 karma

  1. Not sure who runs VO twitter but it's not us. It's not real.
  2. I have no clue what direction the next album will take us in.
  3. While I do check out our AvengedSevenfold reddit, I don't have any social media so rarely check out instagram. I wanna see em. I'll check it out.

taylor7x60 karma

Will this tour have an emphasis on The Stage with the whole stage design? I am so excited to see you guys in August, it's been 4 years!

iammshadows118 karma

We’re excited to have you back at a show! We always try to put an emphasis on production and blowing stuff up. This summer will be no different.

Thermals_the_hero59 karma

Hey Matt! Do you prefer Left or Right Twix?

iammshadows149 karma

left

sexykoala55446 karma

Hey Matt! Thanks for doing the AMA!

  1. Do you ever think you’ll make another album with City of Evil’s speed?

  2. Have you guys ever thought about just producing an album of covers of all your guys favourite songs?

Thanks Matt!

iammshadows140 karma

Maybe - really not sure at this point.

we sorta just did that

Maclammy44 karma

Hey Matt, I have 3 questions for ye.

• I don’t intend to throw the A7X reddit under the bus with this, but what is your thoughts on people asking you to scream more (and A7X to go heavier in general as well)?

• As a Calgarian, I noticed that the last 3 times you toured Alberta, Calgary was skipped. Why is that?

• Since you apparently hooked Matt Heafy up with Ron Anderson, do you feel proud/responsible for him getting back to strength in Trivium?

Thanks for taking the time to do this AMA. Thanks for also being a fucking badass throughout the years as well. :)

iammshadows117 karma

no its all good... I love the A7X reddit... I just think there are different opinions on this. I personally don't listen to much screaming at all. Im not sure were or why I would try and be something that I don't care for. We are just going to try and continue to write the music that we love to listen to. I think some bands do it great so we will leave it to them.

im not sure about calgary... we try and hit up as many places as we can while still staying sane...sorry :(

Ron is brilliant... he can get people to their full potential... everything Matt did was because he has an incredible work ethic... you can lead a horse to water..

Dominator45543243 karma

Will you guys continue evolving the stage setup and set list for The End Of The World tour? And any updates on a new album?

iammshadows75 karma

The setup is constantly evolving, like The Stage! We like to keep people in their toes. For setlist you’ll just have to come to a show and see.

fishyhead1143 karma

I like to say Thank you for the FREE concert at Camden New Jersey A7X that was a FANTASTIC SHOW! My question is that i'm been singing the last two years and i'm trying to become a better singer, any tricks or tips you can give me that can improve my performance? Thank you again M. Shadows.

iammshadows225 karma

Yes - Dont listen to people that just want you to scream.. :)

syngatesthe2nd42 karma

Hi Matt! I didn’t get my questions answered last time you guys did this so I’m crossing my fingers. But first I wanted to say thank you for being an important influence in my musical life.

I have two questions:

  1. Could you give me some advice on writing vocal melodies or talk about the process the band goes through in writing those? I'm terrible at writing them myself and I figured you could help.

  2. I'm sure it’s hard to strike a balance between playing the hits vs. deeper cuts, especially when you feel like you evolve with each album, sometimes past those earlier songs. However, do we have any chance of hearing a reaaally deep cut (say a song like Turn the Other Way or especially The Wicked End) again live? Just once for us crazy fans?? Do you even remotely still like those songs haha?

Thank you! P.S. Please find your way back to Spokane sometime, you've got tons of fans here!

iammshadows91 karma

thanks man!

  1. I like cool chords that may be a challenge to write to and then seeing if I can bring it all together vocally. For instance, the chorus of Sunny D has incredibly difficult chords to sing over. We experimented with all sorts of starting notes and then picked the weirdest one. If the chords are complex I would try and go for more simple melodies.... when the chords are held longer you can go a little bit crazy.

kinda answered that above

DeadHead46839 karma

Very pumped to see you on tour this summer. So out of every venue you’re performing at, which one are you looking forward at playing at the most?

iammshadows97 karma

The Forum in Los Angeles will be awesome. A hometown show where the showtime Lakers played. Can’t wait for that one.

ficho1936 karma

Back in 2012 Dr. Disrespect came on your stage and challenged you in Call of Duty match. Did that match ever happen and if yes, who won?

iammshadows87 karma

I played with the Doc everyday for a long time. He's on PC now so we dont play as much but we still talk. So happy for his success. Great guy.

madsbrads2551530 karma

Me and my boyfriend are long term fans we love you guys so much but we’ve never had the chance to see you! Are you planning on coming to Australia soon?

iammshadows64 karma

Love OZ but just dont see a path there at the moment

Nickvengenz30 karma

Hey Matt! Huge fan of yours for 11 years now, and I’ve seen you guys nearly EVERY time you’ve come around to NJ/NY (I’ve even seen you guys at Mohegan Sun). Words can not explain how much your band has impacted my life. And i just want to ask, plain and simple, because (your words EXACTLY) “if you don’t ask it won’t happen!”

Anyway, I’ll be coming out to see you guys in Holmdel, and i can not be more excited! can we meet up?

iammshadows56 karma

We try to meet as many fans as we can. Our fan club Deathbat Nation runs contests for most shows and will do it again for The End of the World Tour.

SenaUW10 karma

Hey Matt! Thank you for taking your time once again for a proper Reddit AMA. Without losing time, let's go to our questions:

  1. The reception for The Stage, as well as its evolved counterpart, has been phenomenal so far. If you had a chance to change anything about this cycle - be it production, promotion, tour, etc. - would you do it?

  2. In last October, you performed an intimate set at the GRAMMY Museum® and released a digital-only album/EP out of it. You also started publishing video footage of said set, but stopped at 3 out of 5 tracks, with "Exist" and "So Far Away" going unreleased. Can we expect getting these two in the future at all?

  3. During this last tour you rotated "Chapter Four" and "Burn It Down" in a sort of 'medium cut slot', with "Second Heartbeat" serving as a rare third option. What was your impression of the crowd's reaction during these songs? I'd personally love to hear more of that stuff (and many others share this wish), but the audience's energy seems to be a big enough deal for you to axe underwhelming tracks.

  4. What lessons did you take from your time with Metallica?

  5. Speaking of Metallica, I remember reading a story about how the band once tuned in a radio station, heard "The Frayed Ends of Sanity" and was shocked thinking that it was some really crazy stuff. Do you react like that when hearing some of your old stuff?

  6. This one is about the band's vault. How likely would it be for us to be able to hear unreleased material (demos, live audio, instrumentals, etc.) from WBR-era Avenged? I imagine the label could be an obstacle due to your not so friendly relationship as of late, but some fans would do anything to get their hands on some rare stuff.

  7. Getting a bit deeper in the vault, hopefully you'll know what I'm talking about. You recorded Sounding the Seventh Trumpet in November 2000 and went back to the studio in February 2001, this time accompained by Synyster Gates, to rerecord "To End the Rapture" and "Warmness on the Soul" for use on your debut single/EP. The original "To End the Rapture" was released on Goodlife's STST, but do you know what happened to the original "Warmness on the Soul" which went unreleased?

  8. To wrap this up, have you ever gotten so tired of performing a certain song that you considered retiring it for a while? You've been playing the likes of "Unholy Confessions" and "Bat Country" for over an almost uninterrupted decade, so I'm curious about this.

Again, thanks a lot for this AMA session, we really appreciate it. And by the way, congrats for your GRAMMY nomination! We sure would've loved to see you win it, but things don't always work like we hope. There's always a next album though, and you'll hopefully get beyond the nomination then. Peace out!

iammshadows58 karma

  1. I wouldn't change a thing but I would love to check out how the record would do if we would have promoted it differently... be interesting to see the effect it had.

  2. Im sure tour got in the way of Rafa editing more. I'll look into it.

  3. Entertaining a large crowd and putting out albums is two different things... When entertaining and playing live we vibe off of the crowds energy. There is def a drop in energy when we play anything deeper and it gets harder and harder to get the crowd back if you go to far left field. Most of the hardcore city of evil or WTF fans dont come to our shows in the same numbers as nightmare and beyond fans do. Thats why we reserve a few slots and mix it up but too much can be a disaster when there is 20k people there who just dont care about that.

  4. they play to their audience... stadium show they play the big hits... they are also willing to innovate still... lars is always trying to come up with cool new things for the fans... i love that

  5. Yes... not sure what we were thinking half the time... there is some terribly constructed stuff with did on city of evil that somehow works and is super fun.

  6. we dont have much rare stuff to be honest

  7. I have no clue

  8. yes and no.. I feel changing up the production gives it new life. If the crowd loves it then I love it.

Rly_Do_Not_Want9 karma

What's your favorite Tarantino movie?

iammshadows37 karma

I love them all... right now I've been watching hateful 8 a ton