Maps of Music

The Stage (2016)

Where the lyrics of The Stage take you, and where it was really made.

The first Avenged Sevenfold album in 11 years not released through Warner Bros. Records was also the band's first concept album.

Key places

Recorded at Serenity West in Los Angeles (2016)

Recording site Serenity West Recording — The recording list names Serenity West in Los Angeles as one of the album's recording places. The point uses the studio's location in the city. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recorded at Capitol Studios in Hollywood (2016)

Recording site Capitol Studios — The recording list names Capitol Studios in Hollywood as one of the album's recording places. The point marks the studio itself. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recorded at Joe's House of Compression in Pasadena (2016)

Recording site Becker Mastering — The recording list names Joe's House of Compression in Pasadena as one of the album's recording places. The point shows only the city centre. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• The Stage: seventh studio album by American heavy metal band Avenged Sevenfold
• Released October 28, 2016 through Capitol Records
• First Avenged Sevenfold album in 11 years not released through Warner Bros. Records, due to a legal dispute
• First concept album of the band, with artificial intelligence and self-destruction of society as its main theme
• Longest studio album of the band at 73 minutes and 35 seconds
• Contains the band's longest song to date, "Exist", at 15 minutes and 41 seconds

Background

• Written and recorded throughout 2016
• Musically different from earlier work, marking a progressive metal sound
• The band's logo, the Deathbat, was projected on major buildings around the world in October 2016
• Leading up to the first single "The Stage" and its music video
• Drummer Brooks Wackerman joined in November 2015 and is heard on this album, the band's first with him

Recording

• Joe Barresi and Avenged Sevenfold credited as producers
• Andy Wallace and Josh Wilbur credited for mixing
• Bob Ludwig credited for mastering
• Neil deGrasse Tyson appears as spoken word on the closing track "Exist"

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Formed in 1999 in Huntington Beach, California, by Matt Sanders, James Sullivan, Zachary Baker and Matt Wendt.
• Name taken from the phrase 'avenged sevenfold' in Genesis 4:24, referencing the story of Cain and Abel.
• Debut album Sounding the Seventh Trumpet was released in July 2001 on Good Life Recordings.

Members

• Current lineup: vocalist M. Shadows, guitarists Zacky Vengeance and Synyster Gates, bassist Johnny Christ, drummer Brooks Wackerman.
• Drummer James 'The Rev' Sullivan died in December 2009; Arin Ilejay later joined and left before Brooks Wackerman became drummer in 2015.

Career

• Shifted from metalcore on early albums toward hard rock, heavy metal and progressive metal.
• City of Evil (2005) was the major label debut and broke them internationally; the self-titled album followed in 2007.
• Nightmare (2010) debuted at number one on the Billboard 200; Hail to the King (2013) also reached number one.
• The Stage (2016) was a conceptual progressive metal album; Life Is But a Dream... (2023) is their eighth studio album.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Critics gave the album positive reviews
• Metal Injection went on to say that The Stage is a masterpiece, praising its composition and collection of sounds
• Angry Metal-Fi called the album the best sounding metal record of 2016, noting how the band broke free from the loudness war
• Ultimate Guitar praised the sonic experimentation, speedy metal riffs and deeper lyrical themes

Reappraisal

• Metacritic average score of 74 out of 100, based on 9 reviews
• PopMatters' Chris Conaton gave a mixed review, writing that the concept album does not break much new ground for the band
• Exclaim! gave a mixed review, comparing the album with the band's previous record Hail to the King

Records

• Debuted at number four on the Billboard 200 with 76,000 units
• 72,000 of those units were pure album sales
• Sold more than 170,000 copies in the US alone as of January 2017
• Won Metal Album of the Year at the 2017 Loudwire Music Awards
• Title track nominated for Best Rock Song at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards (2018)

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The band did not announce the album before release; vocalist M. Shadows told Rolling Stone that announcing it would take away the mystique of the record
• Lyrical content was inspired by the writings of Carl Sagan and Elon Musk
• The closing track "Exist" was made to sonically represent The Big Bang, with the first section depicting the universe's creation and the second the creation of Earth
• Neil deGrasse Tyson's spoken word on "Exist" was written specifically for the album
• In 2025, Yarden Bibas dedicated the song "Roman Sky" to his wife Shiri at her funeral, which pushed the song to the top of the Spotify charts in Israel

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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