Avenged Sevenfold is officially back in full gear thanks to the announcement of their first new studio album in seven years and a supporting tour. Sonically, this new album could be very different from previous A7X LPs. The reason for that is due to psychedelic drugs.

Singer M. Shadows touched on this on the latest episode of the band’s TRAX podcast. He said (h/t Metal Hammer), “Me and [Synyster Gates] were exploring deeply in psychedelics throughout the last few years. One of those things in particular was 5-MeO-DMT. I had a very tough experience in like, you know, type A personality [whose] ego gets completely demolished. You see yourself leave your body and we can get into that more, but one thing that I came out of that realizing was that life is so short.”

The singer and guitarist took a variety of things away from their trips. However, the main takeaway was this desire not to be afraid to step outside of their rock/metal comfort zones.

” … It was basically this psychedelic experience that took us into this, ‘Be bold. Don’t do psychedelics and make Pink Floyd. No, do your own thing and make your own stamp,’” said Shadows.

A7X’s new album Life Is But A Dream… comes out June 2 and is available for pre-save/pre-order here. Special album-themed merch available at A7Xworld.com. Tickets for their North American tour go on sale to the general public on Thursday, March 30 at 10 AM local time via LiveNation.com. A full list of tour dates is below.

Avenged Sevenfold – “Life Is But A Dream…Tour Pt.1” – Tour Dates

7/18 – Camden, NJ – Freedom Mortgage Pavilion
7/19 – Mansfield, MA – Xfinity Center
7/21 – Québec City, QC – Videotron Centre
7/22 – Montreal, QC – Bell Centre
7/24 – Ottawa, ON – Canadian Tire Centre
7/26 – Clarkston, MI – Pine Knob Music Theatre
7/28 – Tinley Park, IL – Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
7/29 – Minneapolis, MN – Target Center
7/31 – Winnipeg, MB – Canada Life Centre
8/02 – Saskatoon, SK – SaskTel Centre
8/04 – Edmonton, AB – Rogers Place
8/05 – Calgary, AB – Scotiabank Saddledome
8/07 – Vancouver, BC – Rogers Arena

 

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