AVENGED SEVENFOLD LANDS ON CAPITOL TOWER; ALBUM COULD TOP CHART

The surprise release of The Stage, Avenged Sevenfold’s seventh album and first for Capitol, was celebrated in sci-fi style Thursday night. The band performed atop the Capitol Tower during what was described as “a groundbreaking 3D/360-degree livestreamed virtual-reality event.”

The Stage—the first-ever unannounced release with a physical component—is the follow-up to 2013’s, Hail to the King (WBR), which debuted at #1 on sales of around 160k. If the new album performs anywhere near as well, Avenged Sevenfold could outsell Kenny Chesney and land at the top of next week’s chart. The Stage is #4 on the iTunes chart as of early Friday; Chesney’s Cosmic Hallelujah (Blue Chair/Sony Music Nashville) is #2.

Co-produced by the band and Joe Barresi (Queens of the Stone Age, Tool), the thematic album was inspired by the writings of Carl Sagan and Elon Musk.

The Facebook livestream is viewable here for throughout the day on Friday. Shown are drone-captured augmented-reality images of the Tower shot during the performance.