Zacky Vengeance

I think people have the right to love whoever they want, and I think that women have the right to do whatever they wish to their bodies given the circumstances.

We're trying to do something nobody else is doing right now.

All the song choices that we've picked are unique in their own right. They're fun, and it's really just to engage our fans.

We like to be in touch with our fans, but we're also very private. 'Cause, to us, it's not about Zacky or M. Shadows or Synyster Gates. It's about Avenged Sevenfold; it's more important than any one of us.

Only a world spinning out of control could inspire the music and vision we have now.

We're focused on making our fans happy, keeping each other happy, so we can do this forever.

We had to take full advantage of the fact that we wanted to be one of the most creative bands out there that's getting backed by one of the biggest companies.

We're not the kind of people to just take a break and say everything's going good, you know, let's rest on our laurels, act like rock stars - we take it very seriously, and we certainly aren't just celebrating and doing a victory lap.

When we were trying to come up with a concept for our music video for 'The Stage' we basically run through a lot of different ideas, and ultimately, I sat and studied the lyrics that Matt had written - and they really resonated with me.

Basically, everything I've learned on guitar, I've learned from listening to my favorite albums. I never had any formal training. My teachers were Dimebag Darrell and Slash and the guys in Rancid and Slayer.

We're not a Screamo band.

That is one thing about playing with Guns N' Roses and Metallica: everyone wants to interview you.

I think everyone's trying to come up together and bring up other bands along the way, and we've always been really blessed to have bands like Metallica and Iron Maiden take us under their wing and say nice things about us.

Everything an artist does is scary, but we do it anyway. If someone tries to steer you off-course, push them outta the way and get back on course. Never giving up - that's what I truly believe all the greatest bands have done.

To be honest, we never, ever let business weigh down the creativity of this band.

What makes Avenged so exciting to me musically is that people either love us or hate us, but nobody sounds like us.

When we were recording, sometimes I wondered if what we were doing would even be possible to play live.

We have been harnessing every aspect of what makes Avenged truly unrelenting and building off of that.

I think, as long as people have a strong opinion, whether they love or hate us, I think we're doing something right.

That's what bands like Pink Floyd and bands like Rush and even the Metallica of this world have, which is long, ambitious songs that pull in all different directions.