Adios!

Drummer Mike Portnoy is no longer with Avenged Sevenfold. He says, "Sadly my time with Avenged Sevenfold has come to an end. The band has decided to carry on into 2011 without me. I had a great time with them throughout 2010, but it was their choice to end the relationship at the end of 2010 as was the initial plan. I had an awesome time on stage with the guys every night and have so many cool memories from the experience with them. I am proud to always be part of the Avenged Sevenfold family and history. I also adore the Avenged Sevenfold fans and totally appreciate the way they welcomed me aboard and were so loving and supportive during my time with the band... thank you!"

Super Top Secret Shows

Avenged Sevenfold recently flew to Iraq's warzone where they played a series of top secret shows. Lead singer Matt Shadows says playing for the troops was "best experience" of his life. "Iraq, it was unbelievable. The troops are out in the middle of this s**thole and they were so grateful and so excited to have us there. They're on these bases living in tents and getting mortars shot at them every night, and then they're like, 'Avenged Sevenfold's here playing a show for us!'. It's one of those things where if it makes them excited for one night at least and gives them something they can talk about as friends and brothers and sisters out there, then we've totally done our job. It was the best experience I've ever had in my life."

Rock the Vote

Images of Avenged Sevenfold, Stone Sour and Disturbed are featured on a political flyer in Kentucky. On one side of the ad, local lawyer Jim Daley states: "It's a fact: Steve Franzen [Daley's opponent] has made a living defending criminals charged with: child pornography, unlawful transactions with minors, custodial interference, assaults on police officers, drug trafficking, and the list goes on ... Now he wants you to trust him to be your County Attorney? He's gotta be kidding."

The other side features images of members of the above-mentioned bands taken from their publicity stills with the warning, "On November 2 tell Steve Franzen you don't trust someone who makes a living defending criminals to serve as your County Attorney."

Franzen says, "I think the whole thing is despicable, frankly. Supposedly they're my clients, but I haven't seen any of these people. I don't know anything about them, other than I'm told they're professional rock musicians."