Avenged Sevenfold Reveal New Drummer 

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Avenged Sevenfold have confirmed that ex-Bad Religion sticksman Brooks Wackerman is their new drummer.

Announced on Chris Jericho’s Talk Is Jericho podcast (listen in full below), frontman M. Shadows and new drummer Brooks chatted about how the guys joined forces following

“To be honest, Brooks’ name has always been in the mix,”

“It was one of the names we were throwing around when Jimmy [The Rev] passed away in terms of who was going to step up for Nightmare. We felt Mike [Portnoy, ex-Dream Theater] was the right choice and we still feel that way. Mike just destroyed on the record. He was perfect. But at the time, our tour manager brought up Brooks’ name as well. But at the time he was also busy with Bad Religion and it was also… People were going to look at it differently because he was a punk drummer at this point.”

Listen to M. Shadows and Brooks talking to Chris Jericho below, and let us know what you think in the comments!

Don’t forget to check out Kerrang!’s 50 Greatest Rockstars In The World – featuring A7X frontman M. Shadows:

First there was Jason Aalon Butler. Then there was Ozzy. Simon Neil took the crown in 2013, before relinquishing it to Lemmy. But who will claim the throne for 2015, in our fifth annual countdown of modern rock royalty?

The KoRn man has been making a racket for over 20 years - so why is he only just re-entering this fine little list? Uhhh, did you even see the Prepare For Hell Tour with Slipknot earlier in the year? Yep, that\'s why.

Tay-Mo has slipped a fair few places back from 2014, but she still rules, and The Pretty Reckless have done a fine job of maintaining their hefty hard rock status, following the release of last year\'s Going To Hell. Nice one.

The menacing King 810 frontman built up his Flint band\'s reputation in super-speedy time this past year, following a cancelled Download 2014 appearance - but subsequent crushing headline shows, and a stint supporting the mighty \'Knot. Badass.

If we had a separate \'50 Nicest Rockstars\' list, the lovely Tay Jardine would be

way higher than she is here. But the WATIC woman\'s attitude has started to show through, as she threatened to steal the show on this year\'s Kerrang! Tour. Headliners next time, yeah?

Another very charming entry on this year\'s list, Gustav Wood and his mob of Young Guns kept us on our toes on the 2015 Kerrang! Tour, with their brilliant cameo each night. They\'ve got a huge new album coming real soon, too. Oh yes.

still waiting for a new Pierce The Veil album, but we\'ve had our fair share of Vic Fuentes live recently, thanks to the band\'s epic World Tour with Sleeping With Sirens. With Reading and Leeds on the horizon, 2015 is only going to get bigger for this dude.

With Avenged Sevenfold retreating out of the limelight after closing their Hail To The King chapter, we\'d be lying to ourselves if we put M. higher on this list. But the band\'s headline slot at Download last year is still etched into our minds, so this is still a respectable position for the cooler-than-cool metaller.

AS Ronnie has mostly been tucked away in the studio working on Falling In Reverse\'s Just Like You this year, we\'re predicting a return to the top for 2016. Come on now, it\'s Ronnie Radke we\'re talking about here...

DRONES IS COMING! DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL IS REALLY REALLY SOON! And that means Muse are coming back into our lives, which can only be a good thing. We like what we\'re hearing from Matt Bellamy and co. so far, so we\'ll see you in single figures next year, eh Matt?

What\'s Josh been up to this past year? Oh, not much, just a

colossal co-headline arena tour with Baltimore pop-punks All Time Low. And a slot headlining this year\'s Slam Dunk Festival. Nothing at all then, really.

You\'ll probably know Nothing More\'s Jonny Hawkins as the crazed-frontman supporting Halestorm on their recent UK tour. Y\'know, the half-naked dude who ran around on stage like a maniac, but still totally

It\'s been a quiet year for Limp Bizkit legend Wes, who drew up a brilliant Avenged Sevenfold-themed comic, insulted ShipRocked Festival (right before Limp Bizkit played a set on board) and hit the road with the brilliant Queen Kwong. So, not actually that quiet.

Look, if we\'re being completely honest with you here, there\'s probably never going to be a year when this man isn\'t in our Top 50 Rockstars countdown. It\'s Lemmy, for crying out loud! Lemmy is God.

In Body Count\'s Institutionalized 2014, we learnt that Ice-T doesn\'t like invalid passwords or vegans, but he

does like ham sandwiches and killing "motherfuckers" on his Xbox. He\'s our kind of man.

This handsome chap and his gang of Scots have had a relatively quiet year on our shores, but not a day goes by where we don\'t listen back to Biffy and think of

that legendary Reading Festival set. Come back soon for more, please Simon.

A couple of destructive headline tours. A new 5K-rated album, Bloodstone & Diamonds. A consistently magnificent beard. Need we say more? Put simply: Rob Flynn is the

Just before Christmas last year, the heavy metal icon found out that he had cancer. Bruce has been battling the disease well and doctors are "optimistic" about the singer getting back to full fitness, like the true rockstar that he is. Keep fighting, Bruce \m/

The Nine Inch Nails mastermind has slipped down several places this year, but that\'s mostly because we want another mind-blowing NIN arena tour like last year. Seriously, we still haven\'t even recovered from it.

We might still be waiting for a new Metallica album (honestly, guys, how long is it going to take?), but shredder Kirk has been a busy bee nonetheless, unveiling his own killer spooktastic horror film festival. Ooooooh.

Fresh from a triumphant UK tour - playing their biggest venues to date - we\'re wondering how long it\'s going to take for Austin Carlile and the rest of Of Mice & Men to join their buddies in Linkin Park in becoming a certified arena band. It\'s got to happen soon, surely?

No big deal here, Sam Carter and co. only released the best album of 2014, Lost Forever // Lost Together. They then went on to kick the crap out of America, destroy Reading and Leeds Festivals, and continually prove themselves at heavy music\'s brightest hope.

Shoutout to Weezer for making us realise that Everything Will Be Alright In The End, and releasing their best record since 2002\'s Maladroit. Seriously, how great is it to have Rivers Cuomo back in our ears? The best.

Somewhat unbelievably, the God of Fuck hasn\'t even been in our list for the last three years. Where\'ve you been, Mazza? Thankfully, with his 4K-rated new full-length, The Pale Emperor, our favourite twisted rockstar has returned. Music needs this.

With the small matter of a main stage appearance at Download Festival in June, 2015 sees Slash taking Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators even higher up the rock pile, and cementing them there for good. Awesome.

How do you follow-up a 5K-rated album (2012\'s A Flash Flood Of Colour)? Well, if you\'re Rou Reynolds, you release

another 5K-rated album, this year\'s The Mindsweep. If you manage to work the lyric, \'You fucking spanner!\' into a song, you\'re a certified rockstar in our books.

Fall Out Boy\'s American Beauty/American Psycho album is still on repeat on the K! stereo, but it\'s sometimes a little hard to concentrate on it when bassist Pete is dying his hair so often. Pink? Blonde? Blue? Who knows. Either way, it\'s to

Oh Frank, we really do love you. We can\'t even hide it. Whether it\'s a brilliant acoustic set in our office, disgustingly bloody videos, or crowdsurfing at his own sweaty punk shows for the cover of our magazine, no matter what he does, Frank is forever out-cooling everyone else. Hero.

Following last year\'s genuinely fantastic Redeemer Of Souls, we\'ve been itching for a full Judas Priest headline tour. And we haven\'t got one yet. Sniff. We are getting a main stage Download Festival appearance though, and that\'ll have to do for now.

22. Philip H. Anselmo, Down / Philip H. Anselmo & The Illegals

Same place as last year, eh? That\'s because Philip is immovable. Literally. Whether it\'s owning the stage under Philip H. Anselmo & The Illegals, crushing everything with Down, or working on his Housecore Records label, the Pantera frontman remains an unshakable legend.

While Jez might not look like your typical rockstar, the Ocala pop-punk fights for what he believes in, and that\'s one of the most important qualities one can have. After a lengthy court case, A Day To Remember won their dispute against Victory Records, and now Jeremy is free to hamster-ball over crowds forever. Yay.

In the depths of the black metal underground shines V. Priest, a man who once sent Kerrang! a picture of himself holding a human skull. If that doesn\'t scream \'rockstar\' at you, then we\'re not sure what will.

We still don\'t know just yet what\'s happening with Asking Alexandria following that whole Danny Worsnop situation, but let it be known that as long as Ben is still in the band, they\'ll

Speak of the devil! Danny\'s metalcore days are over for now, but the rocking frontman rages on with We Are Harlot - one of the most rock\'n\'roll new bands around. With a 5K-rated new album on his hands, the future is still bright (and probably a bit blurry) for Danny.

Oh, Billy. Since last year, The Smashing Pumpkins\' star has joined TNA Wrestling, slagged off his peers in Foo Fighters and Pearl Jam and called out critics who weren\'t raving about the Pumpkins\' latest album. Ouch.

From an induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (if that doesn\'t say rockstar, then what does?) to an acting appearance in Like Sunday, Like Rain, Billie Joe Armstrong has been keeping busy, while Green Day have been gearing up to "kick ass again". The anticipation for new Green Day tunes is killing us, to be honest. Oh maaan.

One of the hottest and rapidly-rising bands around, PVRIS changed the game with their stunning 2014 debut, White Noise. And, for a star who only recently visited the UK for the first time, Lynn Gunn has made quite the impression on us all. Keep your eyes peeled on this one.

The Against Me! musician continues to inspire us all, even a year on from last year\'s wonderful Transgender Dysphoria Blues. Laura was voted Kerrang!\'s Woman Of The Year in 2014, and she\'s holding on the title tightly this year, too.

15 years on from the release of Hybrid Theory, and Linkin Park are

still one of the biggest, most exciting bands in the world. And Mr. Bennington here is right at the forefront. What else need to be said, really?

FAITH NO MORE ARE BACK! And it\'s not just any old return - it\'s one of the most exciting comebacks from the past couple of years. Mike Patton is the king, and somehow he makes sarcasm and awkwardness ridiculously cool. What a dude.

Lzzy has always brought the house down with her unreal voice and killer guitar licks, but with Halestorm\'s latest album and supporting tour, Ms. Hale has stepped up to the next level. From here on out, the sky is the limit.

When we were invited to the Black Sabbath frontman\'s LA pad for a cuppa last year, we had no idea that our trip would involve Ozzy showing us a chandelier made of bats, before telling us to \'Fuck off\'. Yep, that is a thing that actually happened.

His band are one of the most polarising groups in rock, but Andy Biersack is a bona-fide rockstar. From triumphantly headlining Brixton Academy to battling against disgruntled punters on the main stage at Download Festival, Andy keeps his head held high, and inspires his audience. Respect.

The weird and wonderful frontwoman is a fearless leader, and far more formidable than many of her male counterparts. Oh, and her band are one of the best things to come out of the UK in quiet some time, too. \'Nuff said.

Like their pop-punk heroes in Green Day and blink-182, All Time Low aimed high in their career - and made it to the top in the coolest and most composed of manners. Well, with the occasional dick joke thrown in for good measure.

In any year, being Dave Grohl must be pretty sweet. But this past year? Dave has released a huge album - Sonic Highways - with Foo Fighters, unveiled an accompanying HBO documentary series, and performed for Prince Harry at London\'s Invictus Games. How

Mr. Way only just sneaked in to our list last year - but that was before he\'d gone solo and unleashed his Hesistant Alien on the world. Somehow, his solo venture turned him into an even bolder and brighter character than in his previous band - and that\'s no mean feat.

true rockstar, you don\'t let power failures affect you. And Hayley Williams proved that when Paramore\'s electricity died during their headline set at Reading Festival 2014. Was Hayley stopped in her tracks by the lack of power? Was she heck - the singer led the crowd a goosebump-inducing acoustic sing-along of The Only Exception, which we\'re still humming.

The only new music we got from Bring Me in 2014 was Drown - but what a colossal track that was, hmm? Oh yeah, and Oli Sykes and co. also performed

the gig of last year, at London\'s Wembley Arena. If you weren\'t there, we won\'t rub it in your faces. Actually... We will. HA HA HA!

Most people couldn\'t come out of a situation like Slipknot\'s - let alone emerge stronger than ever. But that\'s what Corey Taylor did. This past year, he helped pen the 5K-rated .5: The Gray Chapter, wrote another book, toured the world, released a covers EP with Stone Sour

and acted in Fear Clinic with Robert Englund. We\'re tired just writing that down.

Like Mr. Taylor in second place there, the legendary guitarist has been to hell and back recently. But he\'s come out on top, as always, and AC/DC\'s short-wearing riff-master is more than deserving of the number one spot on Kerrang!\'s Top 50 Rockstars In The World Right Now. Angus, we salute you.

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