Ola Englund Compares New Avenged Sevenfold to the Black Album: “What They’re Doing Here Is Something Different”

Metal heavyweights Avenged Sevenfold finally dropped “Nobody,” their first new music in seven years, last week. The song drew a mixed reaction from fans because of the differences in style and production than previous releases from the band.

In a recent video for his YouTube channel, The Haunted guitarist Ola Englund discussed “Nobody” and praised the new single, giving Avenged Sevenfold credit for exploring new musical directions and having the desire to change things up. He even went so far as to compare Avenged Sevenfold to one of their biggest influences.

“It’s a pretty dark video and song, man… It feels very fresh to be Avenged Sevenfold; I know they switched up the style a little bit. ‘Hail to the King’ [2013 studio album] was very [like Metallica’s] ‘Black Album’, they basically toned down everything.

“What they’re doing here is something different – again. Kudos to them for wanting to develop and change their sound. A lot of bands don’t – and that’s okay too…

“The song is really cool. It’s really dark, though, and it ends in this really cool guitar solo that goes into a string section. I think it’s really cool that Avenged Sevenfold released this as their first single for the upcoming album.

“It’s taking a little bit of a risk; it’s a pretty huge leap in the sound, in my opinion. So, kudos to them. I think the song is pretty cool, the video is kickass.”

Along with the new album announcement and new track, the band wasn’t quite done with the reveals, as they announced two major shows on either side of the U.S. The first show will take place at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles on June 9, while the second will occur at New York City’s Madison Square Garden on June 23. Tickets for either show will be available via Ticketmaster.