AVENGED SEVENFOLD's latest album,"Hail To The King", was certified gold on July 16 by theRIAA(Recording Industry Association Of America) for shipments in excess of 500,000 copies. Released last year, it was the band's second straight CD to debut at No. 1 on theBillboardchart, following 2010's"Nightmare".

The latest effort was recorded after theAVENGED SEVENFOLDbandmembers immersed themselves in the music of two classic LPs:METALLICA's Black Album andGUNS N' ROSES'"Appetite For Destruction".
"TheBLACK SABBATH,AC/DC,ZEPPELINInfluence comes through,"AVENGED SEVENFOLDlead guitaristSynyster GatestoldTimesLeader.comabout"Hail To The King". "We wanted to create space rather than just fill up every song with four bridges and three choruses and vocal harmonies everywhere, with guitar duels going on. The goal was to focus on the songwriting and the arrangements."

"Hail To The King"markedAVENGED SEVENFOLD's full-length debut with new drummerArin llejay, whomGatesdescribed toTimesLeader.comas "one of the most tasteful drummers I've heard in my life! He's got that caveman, barbaric huge groove philosophy that we were trying to go for on this record. He's really got it in his heart and soul. We took the approach of wanting a hungry young kid who could suddenly come out of nowhere and play in front of 50,000 people. He really stepped up."

AVENGED SEVENFOLDguitaristZacky VengeancetoldBillboard.comthat the band will take "a real quick trip to Japan" afterRockstar Energy Mayhem Festivalends on August 10 and then plans to come off the road in order to start working on a follow-up to"Hail To The King".

"I think once we get home, the ideas are going to start brewing,"Vengeancesays. "I knowSyn's been writing a ton purely for fun, trying different styles, recording backstage, keeping himself busy. I've been thinking of all sorts of ideas, listening to tons of different music to get inspiration - as have all of us. And being on tour, I'm so inspired. Seeing bands likeBODY COUNTwithIce-Tout there, they're so old-school and riff-based and over the top and slightly offensive and it's fuckin' awesome. So there's tons of inspiration that I know we'll be drawing from."

AVENGED SEVENFOLDandKORNare co-headlining this year'sRockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival, which kicked off its annual run on July 5 in Devore, California.

Other acts on the bill includeASKING ALEXANDRIA,SUICIDE SILENCE,TRIVIUM,MISS MAY Iand more.
AVENGED SEVENFOLDwill reissue its breakthrough second album,"Waking The Fallen", in a new special edition on August 26."Waking The Fallen: Resurrected"will include a total of 23 tracks, including 11 never-before-heard songs, new artwork, the original first cut of the music video for"Unholy Confessions"and a 30-minute film featuring the present-day band.

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