M.Shadows, lead singer of Avenged Sevenfold, was recently interviewed on The Bob Lefsettz Podcast. Among other topics, M.Shadows talked about the current state of metal as a genre, saying that in the end the genre is not going anywhere.
He added that even if the genre isn’t going anywhere, there may be a little more innovation. He said: “A lot of bands in my generation are just treading the same waters that Metallica’s already done.”
He added: “I think the purely metal scene is always going to be there. Like you said, it’s always got a pulse. I don’t think the innovation is there, and I don’t think the ability for fans to have an open mind for when something is innovative, something is different, is there. I think the great songwriting has been lost a little bit, as well as some of these eccentric pieces of music.
“When Metallica came out there was nothing like that. It seems like a lot of bands in my generation are just treading the same waters that Metallica’s already done, and I think when you see great artists, a lot of them aren’t in the metal scene. There’s a lot of great art out there, and I would argue there are some amazing pop, some amazing hip hop, some amazing R&B, and some artists that are doing truly eccentric stuff.”
He added that on Twitter people send him songs and most of them sound the same: “I think that hurts metal in a way, because I think a lot of times it’s just this regurgitated sound that people will praise, and then it goes away, because if you’re not in the scene, you don’t care”.
M.Shadows said bands like Deftones and Ghost are bringing something new to metal, but overall there isn’t the experimentation he’d like to see.
Avenged Sevenfold are working on the new album, which is expected to be released in late 2022 or early 2023.
