Indeed, the frontman worked incredibly hard on summing up these swirling thoughts in new and interesting ways throughout Life Is But A Dream… Partly inspired by Albert Camus’ 1942 novel The Stranger (though Syn stresses that it’s a “disservice” to Shadows if people think the album is exclusively pinpointed on that) as well as the work of outsider artist Wes Lang, there’s an absurdist lens with which he frequently used to write, but creativity hit him from plenty of other angles, too.

Ask Syn about his bandmate’s stirringly “real” vocals, and he quite literally gets goosebumps. And a bit sweary. Mills, Matt (June 2, 2023). "Loving the new Avenged Sevenfold album? Here are the 10 records you need to listen to next". Metal Hammer . Retrieved June 2, 2023. Synyster Gates – lead guitar (1–10), production, orchestration, piano (1–3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11), Mellotron (1, 6), flute (1), Rhodes piano (2, 5, 10), Wurlitzer organ (2), synthesizer (6, 7, 10), Hammond organ, harmonica (6), lead vocals (6) Iahn, Buddy (March 14, 2023). "Avenged Sevenfold announces eighth studio album, live US dates". The Music Universe . Retrieved March 15, 2023. I started playing with the idea of which is the dream, which is real and does it really matter?” asks Shadows.I went through a really major injury. An injury where most doctors told me I wasn’t going to sing again. I have to say, purely based out of finding the right vocal coach, working really hard at it and technique, I was able to do something that most doctors said wasn’t going to be physically possible.” a b Law, Sam (June 1, 2023). "Life Is But a Dream... – Avenged Sevenfold". Kerrang! . Retrieved June 2, 2023. Enis, Eli (May 13, 2023). "Avenged Sevenfold's First Show in 5 Years: See Videos and Setlist". Revolver . Retrieved May 16, 2023.

It was inspired by an old Folgers [U.S. coffee brand] commercial, which is so mundane and everyday, but we were like, ‘We need more syllables… the bestest!’” Shadows laughs. “We did pure stupidity for the sake of art in a cool way. Do we think ‘bestest’ is a word, no, but we think it’s kinda funny.” New Avenged Sevenfold album features music & lyrics written by The Rev". The Point. May 25, 2023 . Retrieved June 5, 2023. David, Maximo (May 31, 2023). "Album Review: Avenged Sevenfold – Life Is But A Dream..." Boolin Tunes . Retrieved May 31, 2023. And it’s musically inane throughout its entire runtime. “Life Is But a Dream…” is fifty minutes and some change, which is a little on the longer side but nothing crazy, but it feels SO much longer because they never get a handle on any musical idea or even just a catchy melody you would want to listen to more than once. Besides a tempo change and a synth solo, “Mattel” is a fairly standard heavy metal song for the band, but it sounds weirder than it actually is because they never land on a decent tune and the production is bad. That’s another thing, the mixing and production on this record is so god damn ugly, and not ugly in an edgy punk way, it’s ugly in a “we don’t know what we’re doing” way. Nothing’s leveled properly, the cymbals are often the loudest thing in the mix, M. Shadows is barely audible half of the time, the guitars sound dull, the drums sound like they were recorded in a closet on a single SM58, and I don’t believe for a second that anyone in that room had ever touched a synthesizer before in their life.He hadn’t always been so certain, though. Before the Huntington Beach metal heroes’ years-in-the-making masterpiece was given the mixing treatment, the frontman found himself questioning if they had even gone far enough (if you’ve heard recent single We Love You, you’ll already know what a genuinely hilarious thought that is). I don’t know how more real it gets than that,” Shadows says. “It definitely felt like the end of everything. But part of human evolution is that we’re able to carry on. At some point you just say that it’s OK to go outside, to talk to people, to write a song.” The album's second single, "We Love You", was released on May 12. [18] [19] Three weeks before the album’s release, certain fans were able to hear the album early at an "immersive" paid listening event. The event took place at Area15 in Las Vegas, from May 11 to May 14, 2023. [20] The band announced on May 11 that they would also play a surprise concert, their first in 5 years, at Area15 the next day. The concert featured the live debut of the two singles, as well as album opener "Game Over". [21] [22]