Musician

I just don't have time to really sit there and worry about someone disliking what we put so much effort into.

We have a song, 'Welcome to the Family' - we realized for the first time in our lives that people go through this every day around the world. There is someone very close to them that they're losing, every day. That song is, 'We know how you're feeling.'

It wasn't until high school that I realized Avenged Sevenfold was picking up locally.

We definitely want to make sure that what we are making is something that we are proud of and something that we are inspired to write.

Kerrang asked us to do a heavy metal tribute to one of our favorite heavy metal bands. We had already been jamming out on 'Walk,' so we're like, 'OK. We'll record it for you guys.'

If we're compared to Metallica, the greatest metal band in the world, I think that's actually a pretty damn good compliment.

It's a trip now that other bands are saying that they look up to us. In my mind, I'm still 18 years old trying to emulate Pantera in my bedroom.

We've always kind of tried to keep the mystique. We don't wanna give everybody everything. You give 'em too much, it's just white noise. When we do say something, we want it to be an event. When we go out and do things, we want it to be an event and kind of keep everything else behind closed doors.

We were very proud of everything that we accomplished with 'Hail To The King,' but when it was time to write a new record, it was like, 'Well, we accomplished that. Let's see what else we can do,' and took it to the next level.

We're always trying to do something better than the last record; to do something different and evolve as a band.

I've always had influences from all over the place, like Mr. Bungle and Primus. As a band, we try not to focus too much on where it's coming from, because we're always listening to music.

You really have to play with the space in a riff so it can be allowed to breathe.

We always mess around with riffs and stuff and kind of jam out during sound checks, but we never actually started playing covers live until we started goofing off a little bit more on stage.

We were about ready to go out on the road with Maiden, and Kerrang asked us to do an Iron Maiden tribute song. While we were home, we recorded that. And that was it.

If we're compared to Metallica, the greatest metal band in the world, I think that's actually a pretty damn good compliment.

It wasn't until high school that I realized Avenged Sevenfold was picking up locally.

Everyone has their own opinions, and they're entitled to them.

Everyone knows Mike Portnoy's reputation. He's a great drummer, and he helped us out in a great time of need. He really helped us get back underneath our feet and continue this band.

When it comes right down to it, no, we're not religious at all.

It's a trip now that other bands are saying that they look up to us. In my mind, I'm still 18 years old trying to emulate Pantera in my bedroom.