Independence Day: Avenged Sevenfold Cuts the Cord as Slipknot's Ranks Shift and Metalcore's Next Wave Arrives

There's a particular kind of tremor that runs through the US metal scene when one of its biggest bands stops asking permission. This week, that tremor belongs to Avenged Sevenfold, who confirmed what fans had suspected for a while: they're done with record labels, period. Layer in a surprise alter-ego EP, a 25th anniversary retrospective on the album that started it all, a possible lineup shakeup at Slipknot, and a fresh wave of metalcore bands staking their claim, and you've got a snapshot of an American heavy music landscape that's simultaneously nostalgic and restless.