Avenged Sevenfold Announce Hail To The King Release Date

By Andy Lyons /

On June 26, Avenged Sevenfold led fans in an online scavenger hunt that resulted in the band's new album cover art, title, and release date being announced. Their sixth studio album, titled "Hail to the King," will be released on Aug. 27, and the day before the band will play a free show at the Hollywood Palladium to celebrate the album release. "Nightmare," the band's previous album, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and has sold 765,000 copies to date, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Like that album, "Hail to the King" will be produced by Mike Elizondo. Their previous album was released just under five months after The Rev passed away. Mike Portnoy, formerly of Dream Theater, filled in the position to record and toured with the band. Two songs, including the emotionally charged "Fiction" which features The Rev on vocals and piano, and "Save Me", were dedicated to their fallen bandmate. It was surprising as a fan to see the group bounce back so fast and it helped deal with the emotions of losing such an important member of the group. Drummer Arin Ilejay filled in the drummer slot as the band toured to support "Nightmare" and is now the band's permanent drummer. "Hail to the King" will be the first album without any musical contributions from The Rev.