AVENGED SEVENFOLD Singer Says Heavy Metal Is 'Misrepresented In A Big Way' At GRAMMY AWARDS

M. Shadows spoke to Meltdown of the WRIF station about AVENGED SEVENFOLD's Grammy nomination for "Best Rock Song" for the title track of the band's latest album, "The Stage". It's the first-ever Grammy nod for the Southern California-based group, whose video for "The Stage" has amassed over 22 million views.

"Honestly, and everyone says it, but it's just nice to be in the conversation with especially METALLICA and FOO FIGHTERS," M Shadows said (hear audio below). He went on to say that "it's crazy" to be nominated for an album that came out more than a year ago behind which AVENGED SEVENFOLD has yet to properly tour the U.S. "It gives us this extra push going into this [next] touring cycle, which I think we needed, which is cool," he explained. "You've got the ['Live At The Grammy Museum' release], you've got the deluxe [reissue of 'The Stage'] record, you've got the Grammy nod and now we get to start the cycle. So we're gonna kind of hit this as hard as we can for the next year and then we'll move on to the next thing. But it's pretty exciting to get this little shot in the arm."

M. Shadows was also critical of the Grammy organizers who continue to include heavy metal in the 70 categories that aren't televised during the performance-heavy broadcast.

"My whole thing was that metal… if you're getting the 'metal' award, they don't actually televise it, so no one sees it — it doesn't move the needle at all. And I think that's what the Grammys have to get that right.

"When you look at metal, it's probably one of the healthiest genres when you look at it in a worldwide perspective — every single country listens to metal," he continued. "And whether it's mainstream or not, it's irrelevant. People will watch your program if you're giving awards to bands that deserve it and it's actually on TV, and it helps those bands push the needle forward."

Shadows said that AVENGED SEVENFOLD is "fortunate this year to be in the 'rock' category" because "Best Rock Song" is among the categories that are included on the telecast. "And I think that's the whole point — you wanna get nominated for a Grammy and you wanna get noticed by people and seen on TV," he added. "It helps everybody when the bands can get bigger. So the 'metal' award still is a problem because literally no one's gonna see those bands or know that they're nominated, and that's an issue. I think it needs to be on TV."

The winners of the 60th Grammy Awards will be revealed on January 28, 2018 in a two-part ceremony, with the majority of the 84 awards handed out in a non-televised event that afternoon while a dozen or so are doled out on the CBS awardscast that evening.

"You've gotta think there's 15 different categories for classical, there's, like, 17 categories for jazz," M. Shadows said. "It's a crazy thing that they have to try to balance. But I think metal, out of all the genres, is just misrepresented in a big way. And I think they can put that on TV and get some mainstream exposure for bands like MASTODON and MESHUGGAH. I think it's cool."

He then jokingly added: "If I ran the Grammys, it would probably go bankrupt."

AVENGED SEVENFOLD has just released an acoustic album, "Live At The Grammy Museum". The performance was recorded on October 19 at the Clive Davis Theater in Los Angeles. A portion of the proceeds from the digital-only release will benefit the education initiatives of the Grammy Museum, which seek to inspire youth via the enduring qualities and cultural significance of music.

The band will release a deluxe edition of "The Stage" on December 22. The new version will feature seven additional studio songs plus four previously unreleased live tracks recorded during recent shows at the O2 Arena in London.

AVENGED SEVENFOLD recently confirmed the details of an early 2018 North American headlining tour with BREAKING BENJAMIN and BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE. The trek will begin on January 12 in Nashville, with shows booked so far through February 11 in Fargo, North Dakota.

Interview (audio):