Three years ago, Avenged Sevenfold were headlining the rock’n’roll mecca of Download Festival at Donington Park in front of a giant skeleton king and walls of flames. So what the hell are they doing in Prog magazine? Well, having spent over 15 years establishing themselves as one of the biggest entities in heavy metal, the Orange County five-piece stunned the headbanging community last year with their seventh album The Stage – a 70+ minute space age epic that transcends genres and leaves their previous riffier offerings in a quivering pile on the floor.
This isn’t Avenged’s first dalliance with the progressive world. Following the death of original drummer James Owen ‘The Rev’ Sullivan in 2009, Mike Portnoy joined their ranks for live shows and sessions for 2010 album Nightmare. But this isn’t Dream Theater, this is a cosmic journey through the eyes of men who are ready to flee the shackles of metal and dive into the great beyond.
