Avenged Sevenfold posted the following blog with an update from M. Shadows:

Hello everyone -
I realize that with the last record we stayed away from personally updating you guys with loads of information about how we were doing and about how the tours were going. We stayed away from doing too many interviews, radio and T.V. spots, trying not to overexpose ourselves. Not seeing ourselves everywhere and hearing about stupid shit we’ve said has generally made us happier people, much unlike the “City of Evil” record cycle. But I feel in doing so we have stopped communicating with the people that truly care about this band, the fans. So I’m gonna try to make these updates a little more frequently.

First I wanna say we had a great time touring this record. From the first tour in clubs, to headlining “Taste of Chaos”, to going out with Iron Maiden in Europe, to finishing it up with Buckcherry, Papa Roach, Burn Halo, Shinedown, Saving Abel and Rev Theory. We’ve made some great new friends and just had a great time playing to you guys every night. Rock on the Range and opening for Metallica in Mexico City were just added bonuses. We are gonna start rehearsing here in a couple days to get ready for Sonisphere over in the U.K and Ireland. We are looking forward to that.

We have been relaxing after almost 20 months of straight touring, but we have also been throwing around a lot of ideas for the new album. I think after we get back from the U.K. we will be able to fully get into this writing process. I’d hate to say more and start speculation and rumors this early in the process so thats all I’ll say about the album. Time flies and you’ll have a new record on your ipod before you know it, so be patient.

Since we’ve been home I’ve been working on a song with Slash for his solo album. It’s a killer track and he plays some of the most technical stuff I’ve ever heard from him. But since it’s his record and not mine, more updates will have to come from him. “Waking the Fallen” went gold today and though we don’t talk about record sales much, this feels like a huge accomplishment. That record sold 3,000 copies the first week and is now well over 500,000 copies. In a day when music is virtually free, its a huge testament to the fans we have and the dedication they have given us for 10 years. Thanks guys and girls, we look forward to 10 more!

-Shadows