Avenged Sevenfold: Ego death by 5-meO-DMT

M. Shadows aka "Nobody," Rock Feed, May 17 and June 2, 2023; Eds., Wisdom Quarterly

M. Shadows explains Avenged Sevenfold's new album Life is But a Dream…

(Rock Feed) This is an exclusive and short preview of an upcoming career-spanning conversation with vocalist M. Shadows of Avenged Sevenfold (who's playing LA with Pussy Riot on June 9th) as he discusses the band's highly anticipated new album Life is But a Dream…

What'll the Future Buddha say?

[(WQ) Would the "spirit molecule" DMT (Bufo) shaman who dosed the singer or existentialist philosopher Albert Camus who inspired the band be happy to be represented this way? When he starts talking about Buddhist practices (misunderstood as nihilistic or just Eastern philosophical pop-Zen), the oppression of moralizing religions, and taking the entheogen (psychedelic hallucinogen) 5-MeO-DMT with an ayahuasca-style shaman in a real ceremony, he really gets our attention.

• What are the "Buddhist practices" M Shadows is referring to? They are the form (rupa) and formless (arupa) meditative absorptions called jhanas.

Modern Vril rocker Avril wants in on A7X fame

Finally, there's a way for people of ordinary consciousness to see the grand picture and the impersonal nature of our place in the universe/multiverse. But when people look back, reflect, and try to make sense of the vision, they necessarily misunderstand.

It's the problem of language (subject-object duality, verbs taken as nouns), Cartesian thinking, ego, Western assumptions about life, the "eternal" soul (transitioning gandhabba), the skeleton (rupa), the "self" (the Five Aggregates clung to as self), and the meaning of it all getting in the way.

Our favorite new A7X track

The best song on the album is "Mattel," Jordan agrees (H&F Show, KLOS)

The Path of Purification

But we cling -- constantly oppressed by three ancient things -- craving (lust), aversion (disliking), and ignorance (wrong view, delusion, confusion) -- to our views. Rarely or never do we see the three things that would free us and resolve all confusion:

1. letting go,
2. altruistic-love, and
3. wisdom (aka nongreed, nonhatred, nondelusion).

And what is the ultimate wisdom? Enlightenment/awakening/nirvana manifested as final liberation (moksha). There are Buddhist paths to liberation, but will rockers or their fans ever know that?]

(Rock Feed) Full conversation with Avenged Sevenfold's M. Shadows

After nearly 7 years of silence, the band gets back to rocking: "Game Over"

Avenged Sevenfold in Hollywood, June 9, 2023

Tickets to see Avenged Sevenfold 2023 summer tour: avengedsevenfold.com/tour (lineup appearances not cancelled even if someone or the band itself joked in a viral message that it was). Guitarist Brian/Synyster Gates really makes the band so Rock Feed might have talked to him instead.

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(DragonForce) Let's look at the music M Shadows is talking about w/ Herman Li