M. Shadows Performs With Avenged Sevenfold @ Soundwave 2014, Brisbane / Photo: Rebecca Reid

Avenged Sevenfold Have Sacked Their Drummer

July 24, 2015

It looks like Avenged Sevenfold have a vacancy behind the drumkit, after giving stickman Arin Ilejay his marching orders.

The split appears to be down to creative differences, with the band releasing a statement via their official website revealing that they’ve decided to move in a “different direction”. It reads:

Hello Everyone –

We are writing this to inform you all that we will be moving forward without Arin IIejay as our drummer. Arin has been nothing but a positive energy and monster drummer for us over the past 4 years. We love the guy and always will. We are and will always be grateful to him for helping us to move forward through some very dark times. Creatively though, we felt we needed to move in a different direction. While we can’t say more at this time, we are excited for the future and looking forward to sharing our plans soon with the greatest fans in the world. As always we appreciate your understanding and unwavering support.

With Love –

Matt, Zack, Brian, Johnny

The band first recruited Ilejay following the tragic death of founding drummer The Rev in 2009, and a stint with Dream Theatre demon Mike Portnoy (The Rev’s favourite drummer) subbing in for the recording of their monster album Nightmare.

As Loudwire points out, Ilejay first joined Avenged as a touring member, but soon became a permanent fixture, recording on their most recent LP, 2013’s Hail to the King and performing with the band on their headlining run at Soundwave 2014.

Ilejay has yet to release his own statement, while the band have not released any more details as to what their future plans might be, although their statement does seem to suggest that a replacement drummer might already be waiting in the wings.

We’ll keep you up to date with any new info as it develops.

Gallery: Avenged Sevenfold @ Soundwave 2014, Sydney / Photos By Yael Stempler