Avenged Sevenfold Unveil Cover of the Beach Boys’ ‘God Only Knows’
Avenged Sevenfold have unveiled a cover of the Beach Boys’ “God Only Knows.” Avenged have also shared a visualizer for the track, showing the band recording and playing live.
“God Only Knows” is the fourth b-side to be released from Avenged’s The Stage sessions. “Retrovertigo,” “Dose” and “Runaway” have also been unleashed, expanding on A7X’s seventh studio album.
Avenged’s cover of “God Only Knows” remains pretty mellow throughout, remaining more true to the original than some fans may have expected. The band even took a crack at some multilayered vocals, further implementing the Beach Boys’ classic style.
“Of all these new songs we’ve recorded, this one was the most difficult in terms of figuring out an arrangement,” says vocalist M. Shadows. “Figuring out the middle vocal melodies was also challenging. We wanted to make the song a little darker by adding a flanger and some haunting vocal nuances. The Beach Boys have always been an influence, so it was fun to tackle this one from arguably the best album of all time, Pet Sounds.”
In other Avenged news, vocalist M. Shadows was the latest “victim” of Gojira drummer Mario Duplantier. In the newest “Evil Mario” video, where the percussionist “kills” fellow musicians in weird and wonderful ways, Duplantier set his sights on Shadows, launching a wrench from an incredible distance and cracking Shadows in the head. Not even new A7X drummer Brooks Wackerman could save his singer from this horrid fate.
Avenged Sevenfold just finished up their dates on Metallica's WorldWired tour, having supported the thrash legends on tour for over three months. A7X's only 2017 gig left will be at Houston Open Air on Oct. 15.
Check out Avenged Sevenfold’s take on “God Only Knows” in the clip above. To buy the Beach Boys cover, click here.
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