Avenged Sevenfold’s Life Is But a Dream… Tour

Comix and JRC Production Services worked closely with Avenged Sevenfold to deliver refreshingly perplexing visuals to match the band’s eclectic sound.

Over the past few years, Comix have collaborated with JRC Production Services and Avenged Sevenfold singer M. Shadows to develop screen visuals for the band’s latest tour supporting their eighth studio album, Life Is But a Dream…, which began in June 2023 and ran through March 2024. As Comix Creative Director Josh Gallagher recalled, Shadows’s core vision was one of absurdism and disorientation that would leave audiences tongue-tied.

With an endless range of references, Comix knew they’d want to leverage Notch’s Virtual Background feature to maintain as much negative space as possible, ensuring every element of the design would be implemented neatly alongside the others. The team also combined the Face Tracking Geometry node and AR Body Tracker with a homemade Light Wrap setup.

As Lead Notch Designer Emil Bardh explained, “Techniques and optimisation hacks learned during the bygone Flash era came in handy when combining screens with pre-rendered EmberGen volumetric fire and smoke.” With Notch, they could also, for example, show live footage behind a fence in front of a burning house or pour pre-rendered acid over the live feed, taking their collage technique to the furthest possible degree.

The tour has received a lot of attention and acclaim from publications such as Forbes, where Quentin Singer remarked, “To say the least, the production A7X has on display for this album cycle is some of the most awe-inspiring visuals of any rock show right now, and it’s easily the best of the band’s career.”

“Avenged Sevenfold’s live performance is central to their artistic approach, so it was crucial to integrate the band into the visual journey of these songs. Notch played a central role by allowing us to use complex camera-driven effects on many, many songs without compromising on the clarity of each band member’s face and personal expression.”

Josh Gallagher, Creative Director, Comix

Additional press coverage:
Forbes, Variety.

Credits
Lighting Design: Ben Ward
D3 Programmer: The Hive 
Camera Director: Hector Alfaro 
Video and Notch Design: Comix 
Production Design: Jordan Coopersmith (JRC Production Services)

Notch Design: Comix
Video Content Creation: Comix
Management: Velvet Hammer
D3 Programmer: Rich Porter (The Hive)