AVENGED SEVENFOLD's M. Shadows On Being Misunderstood: 'People Are Just Getting It Now'

Summary

• M. Shadows says listeners are just now understanding 2023’s Life Is But a Dream…, but the band has already moved on.
• The Stage was also misunderstood at release, only to be praised years later for tackling AI and existential themes.
• Avenged Sevenfold drops albums without explanation, Shadows insists they release and move on, with no concern for delayed reactions.

M. Shadows isn’t mad. He’s just… already moved on. If Life Is But a Dream… finally makes sense to you in 2025, congrats on solving the puzzle.

The band, meanwhile, is off building a spaceship or plotting a musical about quantum spaghetti or whatever their next brainwave is.

As Shadows put it to Ryan J. Downey on the Fire With Fire series, “My brain right now is just somewhere way far away from that record.”

So yes, people are still arriving at the album like it’s some boutique pop-up shop. The band? They’ve already packed up and left.

“There’s still people coming into that record right now and going, ‘I get it now. I get it.’”

Takes some folks a minute. Or 730 of them.

Déjà Vu Vibes

Not the first time this happened. Back in 2016, Avenged Sevenfold dropped The Stage, a record full of high-concept sci-fi, AI doomsday vibes, and enough philosophical dread to make your Wi-Fi cut out in protest. Fans, understandably, stared at it like a math test.

“We were talking about all these things that literally just went [over people’s heads] when it came out.”

Cue the delayed reaction. Years later, people are connecting the dots and acting like they discovered gravity. Shadows, ever polite, doesn’t say “told you so”, but you can practically hear the eyebrow raise.

DIY or GTFO

Here’s the thing, they don’t explain this stuff. There’s no “for dummies” guide. No handy press release with bullet points. You either dive in or stay on the shore complaining that the water’s weird.

“We do it and we put it out and we don’t worry about it.”

You can binge ten think-pieces on what the lyrics might mean, or you can hit play and see where it takes you. A7X isn’t chasing likes or building “audience engagement funnels.” They’re just making stuff and seeing who survives the ride.

Chronically Early

Let’s be honest, Avenged Sevenfold has a bit of a habit of being early. Like, “shows up before the host finishes vacuuming” early.

They’re already messing with whatever comes after whatever came after Life Is But a Dream… while fans are just cracking the shrink wrap.

You don’t need to understand everything on first listen. That’s kind of the point. They’re not releasing IKEA instructions. They’re throwing musical curveballs and watching who flinches.

Catching Up Is Optional

Some bands play it safe. A7X clearly tossed the manual into a bonfire. AI, mortality, dancing skeletons with advanced degrees, it’s not exactly tailor-made for radio rotations or TikTok dance trends. Definitely not laundry-folding music.

They don’t seem too worried about who’s keeping up. If you’re just catching on, they’re already miles ahead, pedal down, eyes on the next bizarre concept.

So if the lightbulb just went on, good for you. But don’t expect them to stick around to explain the wiring. They’re probably off sketching out a jazz opera about the heat death of the universe.

Give it four years. You’ll probably love it.

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