AVENGED SEVENFOLD Singer: Republican And Proud

July 29, 2006

Steve Knopper of Newsday.com eports that AVENGED SEVENFOLD wants to warn liberals about something. The metal band's song "Blinded In Chains", which begins with the line "And we're at it again — I turn around another -- war, man," has absolutely nothing to do with the war in Iraq. Or any other war involving guns and bombs. "If I read it, I'd probably get that interpretation, too. I could probably have done a better job," says singer and lyricist M. Shadows, sheepishly. "I've definitely looked at that song and seen where people are coming from."

In fact, "Blinded In Chains" is about the philosophical war between Republicans and Democrats. The former are excessively closed-minded, says Shadows, 24, and the latter are "a bunch of -- idiots where everyone looks at Michael Moore and does what he says." If from that statement you can't glean the band's politics, consider that AVENGED SEVENFOLD sells American-flag T-shirts proclaiming, "Love It Or Die".

"Most people know we're kind of one of the only bands around right now that will admit that we're Republican," says Shadows, who performs at Saturday's Ozzfest on Randall's Island. "When we went on the [punk-rock] Warped Tour last year — all of those bands, they're not only anti-war, they're anti-everything our country stands for. We were like, ' -- this.' We're going to wear our America shirts.

"Kids would eat it up. They loved it," adds Shadows, born Matt Sanders. He acknowledges he's not especially pro-war. "Ninety percent of those bands are talking -- about [President] Bush to 16-year-old kids who can't vote and are just ranting because it's the cool thing to do. It's one of those things where we went out there and did the complete opposite."

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