Since 1999, Grammy-nominated metal band Avenged Sevenfold have been gaining legions of fans with their electric performances. Now, they're delivering a new way to experience their live show through the power of VR. With the help of AmazeVR, the band launched their new Looking Inside VR concert, which gives fans a wild journey through four songs.

On Tuesday, we had the chance to speak to Avenged Sevenfold vocalist M Shadows for a brief interview at the launch party for the VR concert. This is a transcribed version of the interview found on our new episode of the MP3s and NPCs podcast.

MP3s and NPCs: Avenged Sevenfold have been involved in a plethora of video games whether you've licensed music or made music for games. What made you decide to hop into the growing world of VR?

M. Shadows: Actually, I've been using a VR headset for a few years now. And initially it was just curiosity Just seeing what was going on. We were playing some PGA golf games in there and going to some, you know, kind of Metaverse -esque parties and hanging out with some friends. So when this whole opportunity came, we actually made a VR music video on this record about a year ago. And then when this whole opportunity came, we were interested in it, but we wanted to make sure it was a great team and that was going to be done right, right? Because sometimes stuff looks a little pre-baked, and once we had checked out AmazeVR, we knew that was going to be the ticket.

MP3s and NPCs: What was it like having to pick a setlist for this experience?

M. Shadows: I think we were pretty safe with it. You know, we're obviously promoting a new record, and the new record also plays into the concept of what we want to creatively express at this point. So we wanted to do two new songs, and we wanted to do two songs that are staples in our set list that obviously are fan favorites or at least the most well-known.

So, we picked "Hail to the King" and "Nightmare" as well as "Mattel" and "Nobody" from the new record just to give a little bit of the whole discography of Avenged. It's hard when you have eight records over 25 years, but, those are the four that we decided felt current but also had, like, our foot in the nostalgia as well.

MP3s and NPCs: What was the filming experience like?

M. Shadows: It wasn't so bad, but, you know, now seeing the full product, it's a learning curve, right? So, I would do some things a little different. I think the band would, too. But I think having Lance really direct us and make us aware of some of the pitfalls we were maybe falling into, or maybe some of the things that we wanted to be aware of. Really trying to paint a picture of what the finished product would look like and where we wanted to be looking, and we didn't want to be looking off screen at teleprompters or even when you're off screen, you're not really out of the view of the person watching. So, having a good director was, like, really, really important. So, we were kind of trusting him. And then it was kind of like shooting a music video but also understanding that one take was gonna be the thing that people saw so very interesting and a little different, and we learned a lot.

The Looking Inside VR concert is available right now here. Users can gain access to one free song and purchase the entire thing for $12.99. Avenged Sevenfold are currently on the road plugging their new studio album Life Is But a Dream…Tour dates and tickets can be found here.