Life Is But a Dream...

Writing and recording for Life Is But a Dream... commenced in 2018 and was completed in 2022. The band had finished recording much of the album's material by the end of 2020, though the COVID-19 pandemic prolonged the album's recording stage, primarily due to concerns about traveling. The band also expressed dissatisfaction towards the idea of releasing the album without being able to promote it with a tour. Lead vocalist M. Shadows claimed the album was 70 percent complete in February 2021, with items such as mixing and recording orchestral sections still needing to be done. The band recorded with 78-piece San Bernardino Symphony orchestra at the Sony Scoring Stage in Culver City, California. Andy Wallace, the band's longtime mixer, finished mixing the album in September 2022, with Wackerman stating on social media that the album would now be ready for release in 2023. == Composition ==

Musically, Life Is But a Dream... has been described as avant-garde metal, and progressive metal. Lyrically, the album was inspired by the writing and philosophy of Albert Camus, with existentialism and absurdism being two major themes throughout the album. Shadows and guitarist Synyster Gates created a demo for "Nobody" after being inspired by a painting, also titled "Nobody", created by Wes Lang, who later led the art direction and created the cover art for Life Is But a Dream... M. Shadows has also stated about the band's direction that the album's music was greatly inspired by electronic music and hip hop. Shadows and Gates were also largely inspired by their experiences with psychedelic drugs, particularly 5-MeO-DMT. == Promotion and release ==

Avenged Sevenfold began teasing new material in February 2023 with an online scavenger hunt that began with their social media accounts being supposedly hacked, claiming that certain upcoming appearances at music festivals were canceled. The scavenger hunt was centered around a Reddit user named "Libad5343", the suspected hacker of the band's social media accounts, and their blog, which included articles written with ChatGPT and images generated by DALL-E 2. The lead single, "Nobody", was released on March 14, accompanied by a stop motion music video directed by Chris Hopewell. On the same day, the band also revealed the details for Life Is But a Dream..., including its release date and cover art, which was designed by Wes Lang. Three weeks before the album's release, certain fans were able to hear the album early at an "immersive" paid listening event. The event took place at Area15 in Las Vegas, from May 11 to May 14, 2023. The band announced on May 11 that they would also play a surprise concert, their first in 5 years, at Area15 the next day. The concert featured the live debut of the two singles, as well as album opener "Game Over". Life Is But a Dream... was released on June 2, 2023, through Warner Records in both digital and physical formats. It is the band's first studio album to be released through Warner since Hail to the King (2013), as they released The Stage (2016) through Capitol Records following a legal battle with Warner Music. Life Is But a Dream... includes 11 different color variations for its vinyl release, most of which are exclusive to a respective retailer. ==Critical reception==

Life Is But a Dream... was well-received. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 87, based on four reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". Accolades == Track listing ==

Avenged Sevenfold • M. Shadows – lead vocals (1–10) • Zacky Vengeance – rhythm guitar, backing vocals (1–10) • Synyster Gates – lead guitar (1–10), piano (1–3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11), Mellotron (1, 6), flute (1), Rhodes piano (2, 5, 10), Wurlitzer organ (2), synthesizers (6, 7, 10), Hammond organ, harmonica (6), lead vocals (6) • Johnny Christ – bass (1–10) • Brooks Wackerman – drums (1–10) Additional musicians • San Bernardino Symphony – orchestra • Anthony Parnther – orchestra conductor • Noah Gladstone – orchestra contractor • Jason Freese – synthesizer (3–5, 8–10) • Brianna Mazzola – background vocals (8) • Taura Stinson – background vocals (8) • The Rev – bridge melody (2), lyrics (6) Additional personnel • Avenged Sevenfold – production, orchestration • Joe Barresi – production, engineering (all tracks); additional mixing (1, 2, 5–7, 10) • Andy Wallace – mixing • Dan Malsch – mixing • Bob Ludwig – mastering • Adam Michalak – orchestral recording • Jun Murakawa – additional recording • Nick Fainbarg – additional recording • Brian Rajaratnam – recording assistance • Bruce Jacoby – drum technician • Wes Lang – cover art • Ines Velasco – orchestral transcriptions • Marc VanGool – guitar technician == Charts ==

Weekly charts Year-end charts == References ==