Are Avenged Sevenfold releasing their comeback single this week? If unconfirmed internet reports are to be believed, the Orange County band are about to unleash their first new material since 2013’s Hail To The King.
Blabbermouth reports that the single will be called The Stage, and that it will drop without any prior fanfare on Friday 14 October. Naturally, Avenged Sevenfold themselves are keeping schtum, but the appearance of their Deathbat logo on the sides of buildings in London, Paris and Toronto earlier in October kickstarted the rumour mill.
As if one leak wasn’t enough, Fozzy frontman Chris Jericho apparently let slip details of the new AX7 album. In a now-deleted Instagram post, Jericho indicated the new album is titled Voltaic Oceans and would be released on December 9.
While the band or their label haven’t confirmed the release of the single or the album, Jericho is close to the band and has recently acted as a kind of unofficial spokesman – he was the first to draw attention to the Deathbat logos on the side of buildings.
If Avenged are planning to do a Beyoncé and surprise-release the single and album, it will be the first time a major-league metal band has gone down that route, and it could potentially open the floodgates for more to follow. Can we expect the new Tool album to emerge unannounced this side of Christmas? Stranger things have happened.
