Avenged Sevenfold's M. Shadows Reacts To Robb Flynn's Blog
He dismisses it as “just a joke”
Avenged Sevenfold frontman M. Shadows has dismissed Robb Flynn’s goading comments about the band as “just a joke.”
Earlier this week, Machine Head lynchpin Flynn wrote a lengthy Facebook post poking fun at A7X’s “covers album” ‘Hail to the King’ and accusing them of “blatant jackery” of Metallica, Megadeth and Guns N’ Roses.
In an interview with Canadian radio station 106.9 The Bear, M. Shadows says he only became aware of it when Fozzy frontman/professional wrestler Chris Jericho sent it to him.
Refusing to get drawn into a slanging match, Shadows said: “Chris Jericho sent it to me. He’s, like, ‘Dude, look at this B.S.’ (He was) going crazy. And I was, like, ‘Ah, Chris, I love you.’ But I read it, and I read it as a joke.
“I have met Robb on numerous occasions and he’s always been cool to me… I really don’t know what to say about it other than I agree with him on the Metallica Sad But True thing — that was obviously an inspiration for that song. Everything else, I kind of think he… If it is a joke, it was kind of overboard, ’cause it doesn’t make sense in my mind.”
According to Blabbermouth, he continued: “I have no ill will towards those guys (Machine Head). I’ve met Phil Demmel a couple of times; he’s cool. Robb is cool. And I think the guy has the right to go make… if it’s really a joke, in his mind… Some people might see it as being as an underhanded… joke. But, to me, if he just wants to go in there and write whatever he wants, I think that’s totally cool. Everyone has an opinion and everyone should be entitled to say whatever they want. So it’s no skin off our backs.”
“I think all the bands he said we were very inspired by…Sabbath, Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones. I think when you take a record like this and the way metal has become very blast-beat, screamy-oriented, when you kind of take things back and go to a more classic-rock feel, you’re gonna feel the similarities to what we were trying to do; we were trying to make an Avenged Sevenfold album from the early ’90s and late ’80s.
“It was just something that really intrigued us and interested us. And so, for me, I think all those bands have always been an influence — you can hear that on City Of Evil. And Metallica has, obviously, influenced every single band that picked up a guitar and plays metal. So, yeah, all those bands, plus all the old greats.”
Avenged Sevenfold ‘Hail to the King’