“We’re Not Making Art By Committee”: M. SHADOWS Says AVENGED SEVENFOLD Doesn’t Care What You Think

In the age of streaming algorithms and generative AI, artists are increasingly faced with the challenge of staying true to their creative instincts while navigating public expectations. For Avenged Sevenfold, that tension is front and center in their most recent and polarizing release, Life Is But A Dream…

The album, which took four years to craft, represents a deep dive into the human condition. Produced by Joe Barresi alongside the band and mixed by Andy Wallace in the Poconos, Life Is But A Dream… is anything but conventional. It’s an existential odyssey, exploring themes of mortality, purpose, and the value of existence—subjects far removed from the safer ground many rock bands tread.

In a new interview with Rock Feed, frontman M. Shadows explained that the band never approached this record with fan approval in mind. Instead, they embraced a riskier, more introspective path.

“Dave Farrell from Linkin Park — we were at dinner probably a year ago and we were talking about Life Is But A Dream…, and he said… We were in this really nice restaurant, and there was a bunch of people around. And he says, ‘If you were to take your record right now, or any record that you love, and show it to everybody here, how much weight would you put behind any of these people’s opinions?’ And the answer’s zero,” M. Shadows said (via Blabbermouth)

That anecdote set the tone for Shadows’ broader philosophy on feedback—one that favors boldness over consensus.

“And so, at the end of the day, we’re not making art by committee,” he explained. “This isn’t art by committee. It’s not, like, everybody give us your ideas and we’re all gonna kind of morph the same thing. We have A.I. to do that now; you’re gonna be able to take your favorite records, and A.I. can spit out something sort of like it. But you need artists and creatives to keep pushing the boundaries. Some things are gonna work, some things aren’t. But at the end of the day, even if something doesn’t work, it might spark in someone else, ‘Oh, that was bold. Where can I push limits a little more?’ And I think that’s how this whole space thrives.”

In a landscape where instant reactions and hot takes often dominate, M. Shadows has made peace with letting all of it go — good and bad.

“So for me, I couldn’t care less about other people’s opinions, but one rule I made myself a long time ago is I listen to the positivity equally to the negativity, meaning I don’t care about either. If a review is a 10 out of 10, cool. It could be bought and paid for. Cool. It doesn’t matter. If it’s a zero out of 10, it also doesn’t matter. So I think that you can’t just walk around with all your good stuff and then ignore the bad. You have to kind of ignore them both, in my opinion.”