As one of the forerunners in the recent resurgence of metal, Avenged Sevenfold have captured the black spiked hearts of headbanging enthusiasts across the globe. Their lastest LP, Nightmare, debuted in July atop the Billboard 200 chart and the group have spent the last several months on the road selling out shows. Despite their momentum, the band now find themselves with one less member and some downtime in early 2011 after canceling their slot at Australia’s Soundwave Festival. Thank God for Christmas music, amirite?
Per West Coast Sound, drummer Mike Portnoy announced yesterday (via his Facebook) that he and the band were no longer together, claiming that A7X had decided to “carry on into 2011 without me” and that it was “their choice to end the relationship at the end of 2010 as was always the initial plan.” No word yet on a replacement, but we’re sure the band is bound to announce something soon, especially with a tour to pick up once more after Christmas.
And speaking of touring, it’s the second half of the KO combo of news that could be most worrisome to the band and loyal fans. In an official statement, the band announced that they would be backing out of their commitment to the 2011 Soundwave fest, citing that they “could not offer fans the live experience they have come to expect and didn’t want to disappoint them.” Despite the news, though, they did confirm they would, in fact, play the Land Down Under sometime in 2011. The band’s manager, Larry Jacobson, also released a statement to ensure the departure of Portnoy had nothing to do with the band canceling their Soundwave gig, calling it “completely unrelated” and blaming bad timing.
Regardless of the reasoning for the axed appearance, Soundwave promoters are less than pleased with the decision. According to Blabbermouth, AJ Maddah, who organizes the festival, took to Twitter to vent some of his frustrations regarding the situation. Maddah said the band had originally agreed to play an afternoon spot, but then sent word to organizers that they wanted a change in the lineup to bump them to a later slot, which would’ve moved metal legends Iron maiden down to their spot. Maddah continued, saying that while he respects the band and their accomplishments, he has “reached the point where I can no longer mess around 70 other bands and 180,000 ticket holders to appease this band’s nonsense.”
In better news, they get to see the Big 4 play next summer.
