Avenged Sevenfold and artist Wes Lang team with Beyond the Streets for 'Life Is But A Dream...' the art exhibit

Posted by Ramon Gonzales in Culture on May 29, 2023

See the collection of visual work that helped shaped the band’s first album since 2016.

For the final week ahead of the first album in seven years from Avenged Sevenfold, the band has continued their inventive rollout with the announcement of an exclusive art exhibition for Life Is But A Dream…

Teaming with contemporary art renegades Beyond the Streets, the band along with revered artist Wes Lang showcased a comprehensive curation of works detailing the creative inception of the album. Lang’s work is featured as the album’s key art and will be an integral part of the band’s complete aesthetic for their upcoming tour cycle and stage show.

In an interview with GQ, M. Shadows explained how the visual component of Avenged Sevenfold is equally as important as the songs on the record. He explained, In the past, [the art] always came a few months before the record was done. This one was a lot different. We’d been working on this stuff for a year out. A lot of the reason this record’s taking so long to get out is that we wanted to make sure all these other elements lined up, not just the music you’re going to be hearing.”

“Rock is not the coolest music to listen to now. It’s not at the forefront of culture, so we need to stake our claim right now and do something different instead of resting on our laurels and trying to rekindle that 2019, 1999 flavor. For us, it’s important to move forward, and the art was a huge part of that,” added Shadows.

Thus far, the album has been previewed with the pair of contrasting singles in “Nobody” and the Bungle-esque “We Love You”. Given the stylistic range of the tracks, the band is clearly motivated to explore new creative terrain and not rest on their laurels. Sourcing inspiration from Lang’s visual representation, the music and the visuals work in tandem for the band’s important return. The exclusive exhibit underscores that by detailing the merger of sight and sound.

The band will begin their two-part Life Is But A Dream… North American tour next month with support from Alexisonfire and Falling In Reverse. Preceding the tour, Avenged Sevenfold will play two arena sets, one on June 9th at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles and the second on June 23rd at Madison Square Garden in New York. A complete list of dates and tickets can be found – HERE

Life Is But A Dream, the eighth studio album from Avenged Sevenfold arrives June 2nd.

Pre-order the album – HERE

See the gallery of images from the band’s exhibition showcasing the art of Wes Lang that inspired the album, Life Is But A Dream… All photos by Maurice Nunez.