Avenged Sevenfold

American rockers Avenged Sevenfold have defended their decision to move away from their 'metal' roots to make a more mainstream album. The band has been criticized for adopting a more popular sound for their self-titled fourth album in a bid for worldwide success.

However frontman M. Shadows insists he is a genuine fan of mainstream pop music.

He says, "We've always been very ambitious in terms of our goals and our dreams of where we want the band to be. We're interested in making something palatable that still has heavy guitars. We like pop music and we want to get more people listening."