Quotes from M. Shadows

I got an email saying we were nominated for a Grammy, and I instantly thought it was a joke. So I started Googling the nominees, and there we were!

Music and space collide for me, as I find them incredibly stimulating.

One thing I loved when I was growing up, you maybe saw one review from a magazine like 'Rolling Stone,' but now there are 150 reviews before an album even comes out. There are so many opinions out there, but the only one that really matters is your own.

I used to get a huge kick out of walking into a record store and finding something I didn't know was out.

One thing that was frustrating to us, always, was having to do so much press building up an album, and you're asked so many questions about, you know, is it more melodic, is it heavier, are you doing your old stuff, is it new?

I think the cool thing about being alive in 2017 is that you can literally put out music as soon and as frequently as you want to because of streaming services.

Our band has always been really big on imagery. We've kind of used that as one of our strengths; we tend to do that pretty well.

The world is changing, and the way we consume music is obviously changing. I was one of the biggest CD advocates you will find, but when Apple music and digital options came out, like for everyone else, it was more conducive to my lifestyle.

The 'Black Album' was my real first introduction to Metallica. I was, like, 12 or 13 at the time. We were just getting into music, and I liked that album a lot, but it didn't necessarily change my life. But when I started picking up all the other Metallica records, 'Master of Puppets' was the one to me that stuck out with its songwriting.

We just found that in 2016, if you announce a record, and it's coming out in three months, and you're just giving people breadcrumbs, it's the most boring, drawn-out experience.

I go online, and I love watching heavy metal bands and guitar players play heavy metal versions of the 'Zelda' theme, and people do all the 'Zelda' music, which is one of my favorite soundtracks.

Usually, when you're putting out a record, you have reviews from people a week before, and you have a vibe 'cause everyone's heard it - you've heard feedback from everyone, and they've listened to your single for a couple of months. Radio's playing it.

I think Kanye West is brilliant at what he does: he's got a different live show, different merch for every tour, different vibes, and he just puts out great records.

Growing up, I was always playing with video games.

The metalcore has been left behind. It's not something that any of us find enjoyment in listening to, so it's obviously not the direction we would write songs in.

Everyone has an opinion, and everyone should be entitled to say whatever they want.

We go out there and kill it every night, and you can see what this means to people.

We're trying to change the whole way our merch is viewed, in terms of just not a bunch of skulls interlaced; you know, every album can look the same, so they're going to be stylized and different.

We write when the time comes, and we try to be exciting, and stuff that excites us usually makes the record.

When we were growing up, we listened to all sorts of music, but the first band that really grabbed all of us live was AFI.

Sometimes, I feel like my lyrics meander a little bit, and our songs are so big I need to write more words than are necessary.