Carry On (Avenged Sevenfold song)

"Carry On" is a song by American heavy metal band Avenged Sevenfold. The song was released on iTunes on September 24, 2012.^[4][5][6]

"Carry On"
Single by Avenged Sevenfold
from the EP Black Reign
B-side	"Instrumental"
Released	September 24, 2012 (2012-09-24)
Recorded	August 2012[1]
Genre	Power metal[2][3]
Length	4:15
Label	Warner Bros.
Songwriter(s)	M. Shadows Zacky Vengeance Synyster Gates Johnny Christ
Producer(s)	Mike Elizondo
Avenged Sevenfold singles chronology
"Buried Alive" (2011) "Carry On" (2012) "Hail to the King" (2013)
Audio sample
file help

Music style and lyrical themes

The song is a fast, up-tempo song inspired by "classic metal" and thrash metal.^[7]

In an interview with the band's lead singer M. Shadows about the song's meaning he said, "I wanted to be more vague. Sometimes, I feel like my lyrics meander a little bit, and our songs are so big I need to write more words than are necessary. I wanted to leave these lyrics more open-ended. I felt that the term 'Carry On' was perfect not only for the characters but for AVENGED SEVENFOLD moving forward. I stuck with that. I just wanted to write some epic lyrics you could think about when you were driving down the street or on your horse."^[7]

In popular culture

The song plays after the end credits of Call of Duty: Black Ops II in a non-canon music video, showing the band as well as two characters from the game, Raul Menendez (voiced by Kamar de los Reyes) on guitar (guitar played by 'Scarlett') and Sergeant Frank Woods (voiced by James C. Burns) on drums, as the song plays a montage of cutscenes and gameplay elements. It is also used in the reveal trailer for the game's Zombies mode.

Record Store Day release

For Record Store Day 2013, the band released the song on a 12-inch picture disc. The A-side has the album artwork, while the B-side has the band's Deathbat logo in black on a white background.. The numbers '75' and '60' are written above the wings.

12-inch picture disc

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Carry On"	M. Shadows Synyster Gates Zacky Vengeance Johnny Christ	4.15
2.	"Carry On (Instrumental)"	M. Shadows Synyster Gates Zacky Vengeance Johnny Christ	4:15
Total length:			8:30

Personnel

Avenged Sevenfold

• M. Shadows – lead vocals
• Zacky Vengeance – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
• Synyster Gates – lead guitar, backing vocals
• Johnny Christ – bass, backing vocals
• Arin Ilejay – drums

Charts

Chart (2012–14)	Peak position
Czech Republic Rock (IFPI)[8]	11
UK Physical Singles (OCC)[9]	53
UK Rock & Metal (OCC)[10]	2
US Bubbling Under Hot 100 (Billboard)[11]	25
US Heatseekers Songs (Billboard)[12]	18
US Digital Song Sales (Billboard)[13]	70
US Hot Rock & Alternative Songs (Billboard)[14]	20
US Rock Airplay (Billboard)[15]	18