The Stage Avenged Sevenfold

• 1 The Stage 08:32
• 2 Paradigm 04:19
• 3 Sunny Disposition 06:41
• 4 God Damn 03:42
• 5 Creating God 05:35
• 6 Angels 05:41
• 7 Simulation 05:31
• 8 Higher 06:29
• 9 Roman Sky 05:00
• 10 Fermi Paradox 06:31
• 11 Exist 15:39
• Total Runtime 01:13:40

Info for The Stage

„The Stage“ is the follow-up to Avenged Sevenfold’s 2013 release, Hail To The King, which entered The Billboard 200 at No. 1. Co-produced by the band and Joe Barresi (Queens of the Stone Age, Tool), „The Stage“ is a work of immense scope and ambition, featuring 11 panoramic tracks tied together by an Artificial Intelligence theme. Inspired by the writings of Carl Sagan and Elon Musk, the album is the band’s first thematic release. While the term “AI” conjures up images of robots and fantasy films, the band steers clear of a science fiction storyline. Instead, the album sees them taking a futurist’s look at the accelerated rate at which technology’s intelligence is expanding and what that means—good and bad—for the future.

The album’s epic 15-minute-plus closing track, “Exist,” features a guest appearance by award-winning astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson giving a spoken word performance he penned specifically for the album.

M. Shadows, vocals
Zacky Vengeance, rhythm guitar, co-lead guitar, backing vocals
Synyster Gates, lead guitar, backing vocals
Johnny Christ, bass
Brooks Wackerman, drums

Avenged Sevenfold
The members of metalcore outfit Avenged Sevenfold (or A7X) were still attending high school in Huntington Beach, California, when they formed their band in 1999. Nevertheless, it didn't take long for M. Shadows (vocals), Zacky Vengeance (guitar), Synyster Gates (guitar), the Reverend (drums), and Johnny Christ (bass) to make an impression with their aggressive hybrid of metal, hard rock, and punk-pop. The band made its official debut in July 2001, releasing Sounding the Seventh Trumpet on the Goodlife label before moving to the Hopeless roster for 2003's Waking the Fallen. Warner Bros. took interest in the band's aggressive sound and issued its breakthrough release, City of Evil, in June 2005. The album reached number 30 on Billboard's Top 200, propelled in part by the Top Ten success of the single "Bat Country." The accompany music video was heavily rotated on MTV and Fuse, where live appearances also helped boost Avenged's growing profile, and the band ultimately won the Best New Artist Award (though they were hardly newcomers) at the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards.

As demand for their music increased, Avenged Sevenfold canceled their tour dates for fall 2006 and set to work on a fourth studio album. Boasting a grittier sound than previous releases, the self-titled/self-produced disc appeared in October 2007, debuting at number four on the Billboard Top 200 and spinning off the radio single "Almost Easy." The album also fared well in England, where three songs cracked the Top Five of the U.K. rock charts, and Avenged Sevenfold helped support the release by touring North America on the Taste of Chaos tour. Released in September 2008, the CD/DVD package Live in the LBC and Diamonds in the Rough captured the band during a tour stop in Long Beach. In 2009 the band announced plans to begin work on its third studio release. That same year, drummer Jimmy "The Rev" Sullivan passed away at the age of 28. In 2010 the band released Nightmare with replacement drummer Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater). In 2011, they recorded the song "Carry On" for the Call of Duty Arms: Black Ops II video game, before releasing 2013's Hail to the King, which featured new drummer Arin Ilejay of Confide.

This album contains no booklet.