M. Shadows Admits That A7X May Have Leaned In Too Hard Sounding Like Metallica On ‘Hail To The King’

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James Hetfield: Metallica Facebook / M. Shadows: Avenged Sevenfold Facebook
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The other day, Avenged Sevenfold frontman M. Shadows defended the band’s 2013 album Hail To The King. Over on Twitter, a fan said that they feel the record deserves a lot more love; in replying to this, Shadows wrote the following:

“Hail to the King (the song) streams more than double any other tracks we have weekly. The album is on track to out-sell all the others…yet a portion of the fan base acts like it was a failure by all accounts.”

One of the big reasons that Hail To The King has gotten some shit from folks is because – to some – the band leans in a little too hard when it comes to their influences. For example, the track “This Means War” sounds very much like that of the Metallica song “Sad But True.” There is also their song “Shepherd of Fire,” which sounds similar at times like that of Metallica’s “Enter Sandman.” This criticism has been expressed by several people, including that of Machine Head frontman Robb Flynn.

Shadows’ defense of Hail To The King was picked up by several media outlets; over on Twitter, Shadows shared Loudwire’s reporting of the story, and a fan replied to his tweet with the following:

“Loved the record. Still do. Although I must know one thing, was Sad But True and Enter Sandman running through your minds when recording Shepherd of Fire and This Means War?”

It is here where the Avenged Sevenfold frontman decides to own up to this controversial point and replied to the fan with the following: “Yes, in hindsight we cut a little too close. But all you can do is learn and move on.”

Fair enough. Below we have included the band’s songs “This Means War” and “Shepherd of Fire” – do you think these tracks sound like Metallica’s “Sad But True” and “Enter Sandman,” respectively?