AVENGED SEVENFOLD Frontman Hits Back At Media For 'False Narrative' About 'The Stage' First-Week Sales

AVENGED SEVENFOLD singer M. Shadows has hit out at "web sites that depend on clicks for revenue" over their coverage of the No. 4 debut of the band's new album, "The Stage", on The Billboard 200 album chart. The surprise release of the disc, which was announced the night it went on sale, earned the lowest sales of an AVENGED SEVENFOLD album in eleven years. It sold 76,000 copies in its first week, 73,000 of which were physical.

"The Stage", AVENGED's debut for Capitol Records, sold less than half as many copies in its first week as the group's two previous efforts, 2010's "Nightmare" and 2013's "Hail To The King".

The group made the album available at midnight on October 27 with almost no promotion beforehand, save for the arrival of a new song one week earlier.

While artists like Beyoncé and Kanye West have staged similar stunts to great success, M. Shadows admitted to Inc. that AVENGED had "mixed feelings" about "The Stage"'s unconventional rollout, saying: "We know we could have done a boring lead-up and taken the number one spot. When you do a three-month buildup, you roll pre-orders, singles, etc. into your first week. The way we did it, our numbers are just for one week. Like Kanye: his first week numbers were low compared to what they could have been had he done the traditional release."

Now, in a new statement posted on AVENGED SEVENFOLD's Facebook page, M. Shadows clarified his comments while firing back at some of the web sites that he claims try to "sell their false narrative about A7X" and "The Stage"'s early success.

He wrote: "One thing I have noticed in the last couple of years is that websites that depend on clicks for revenue tend to love weaving narratives that benefit their bottom line. You see it largely in politics and now you see it in metal. I admit that I think these websites are entertaining and don't hate or even dislike the people that run them or their visitors. None of this is to be taken too seriously but when I am sent the same articles over and over that are meant to sell their false narrative about A7X, then I think it's time for the band to speak up.

"This is in no way aimed at our fans. By the looks of the comments on these sites you have already figured this out. This will undoubtedly be seen as justification for the album from the people that just hate A7X. Thats OK; we don't play music for them. So let's break this down.

"76K records sold in the first week by a heavy metal band in 2016 is supposedly a failure (USA only). Actually, 76k records on a surprise release with zero promotion and a single that had been out for 13 days with a running time of 8:30 is a failure. This kind of talk is insane and is the exact sort of narrative that plagues the failing music industry. This is the sort of talk that pressures artist to write their songs around 'what works financially' and not 'what they really want to create.'

"People want different. People want innovation. People want art. If this wasn't a huge risk, then everybody would be doing it. I haven't seen the hip-hop community or country music community questioning Jeezy or Kenny Chesney about why they didn't sell more albums and crush a heavy metal band with a surprise release by more then 3K records. Sure, we sold WAY less than 'Hail To The King'. But we feel this is a different circumstance.

"When 'Hail To The King' was released, Apple Music did not exist. It now has around 15 million subscribers. Spotify has 40 million subscribers these days. And when these websites try to sell you on the streaming metric, it's a little more complicated than that. There are plenty of studies done as to why rock doesn't have as many streams as hip-hop. You need 1500 streams to equal 1 album. Who has time to stream a song like 'The Stage' or 'Exist' that many times? These two songs alone equal 25 minutes. So should we write 3-minute songs so we can get more streams? Fuck no. That's ridiculous.

"When I said I had 'mixed feelings' about the results, I simply meant that there is a part of me that knows a traditional release would have been easier and we could all parade around with another meaningless number 1. But 'mixed feelings' in no way indicates that I think this was the wrong approach.

"I love that we did this for the fans. I love that we did this for our sanity, and regardless of how you feel about the music, there is no doubt that this has been exciting.

"Anyone with a brain knows judging an album's merit or overall lasting impact on first-week sales is simply crazy. Hell, I have never judged an album based on sales, period. But I'm not you, and you have to make your own decision.

"I just want other artist to be themselves and not be gun-shy of new ideas just because some things work and somethings don't.

"Regardless of this rant, I want the fans to know we will not change. Evolving album, innovative live show, and playing by our rules will never waver. We have never felt so much love on a release and we truly do appreciate it. We will see you on the road!

M. Shadows added in a postscript: "What will the title of the clickbait read this time? Let's take bets!"

The singer told The Pulse Of Radio that the band did the surprise release partially out of a desire to let fans hear it and form their own opinions. "It's almost like the jury has already, you know, decided if they like a record or not before it even comes out, because there's so many reviews and opinions," he explained. "And we just wanted people to hear it for themselves and make their own opinions."

AVENGED SEVENFOLD is locked in a legal battle with its former label, Warner Bros. Records, over what the label claims is a breach of contract. The relatively soft sales of "The Stage" could reduce the damages that the band may have to pay to Warner if the label wins its case.

Photo credit: Rafa Alcantara of TWENTYFOURCORE