This Means War (Avenged Sevenfold song)

"This Means War" is a song by American heavy metal band Avenged Sevenfold from their 2013 album Hail to the King.

"This Means War"
Song by Avenged Sevenfold
from the album Hail to the King
Released	August 23, 2013
Recorded	2012–2013
Genre	Heavy metal
Length	6:09
Label	Warner Bros.
Songwriter(s)	M. Shadows Zacky Vengeance Synyster Gates Johnny Christ
Producer(s)	Mike Elizondo

Various publications have lambasted the track for its uncanny similarities to Metallica's 1993 single "Sad but True".^[1] The song was singled out by Machine Head's vocalist Robb Flynn as a ripoff.^[2][3] Users on Ultimate Guitar voted the song into the site's "Worst Guitar Riffs" list.^[4]

Although the song was not released as a single, it placed on several American Billboard rock charts and received a music video. Directed by Andrew Baird,^[5] it was released July 5, 2014.^[6] The unreleased director's cut of the music video was released in 2017.^[7] The song was featured in the video game WWE 2K15.

Personnel

Avenged Sevenfold

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

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2014) Peak position US Rock & Alternative Airplay (Billboard)[8] 24 US Hot Rock & Alternative Songs (Billboard)[9] 36 US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)[10] 4 Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[11] 44 Year-end charts Chart (2014) Position US Hot Rock Songs (Billboard)[12] 100

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[13]	Gold	500,000‡
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.