Multi-platinum rock band Avenged Sevenfold recently released a new single, “Mad Hatter”, recorded for Call Of Duty® Black Ops 4, the next highly-anticipated entry to the top-selling franchise scheduled for release on October 12th. The band has opted to release a new version of the song today (September 24th) following fan complaints about the original version's mix.

Vocalist M. Shadows issued the following statement:

"Hey Guys and Gals - I hope you are all doing well. I just wanted to update you on a situation with 'Mad Hatter'. We saw some complaints about the mix and we totally agree with you! We were pushing the limits in a lot of different ways and once the compression of streaming services and radio got a hold of it the clarity become muddied. I heard it on the radio and was like 'Oh Shit!' The good news is we live in a world were you can quickly fix your mistakes and we have done just that. On Monday, all streaming services and radio will switch to this new version with more clarity but we wanted you to get it here first. Check out this link. We hope you enjoy and have a great weekend."

“Mad Hatter” is the fourth consecutive Call Of Duty: Black Ops collaboration between developer Treyarch and Avenged Sevenfold following “Not Ready To Die (featured in Call Of Duty: Black Ops) “Carry On” (Call Of Duty: Black Ops II) and “Jade Helm” (Call Of Duty: Black Ops III exclusively).

On September 21st, the band released all four songs on an EP titled Black Reign (Warner Bros. Records), which can be saved on Spotify by clicking here.

“Mad Hatter” was recorded in LA this past March and co-produced by the band and Joe Barresi, who produced Avenged Sevenfold’s critically acclaimed album, The Stage, and its Grammy nominated title track.

“Black Ops 4 looks insane and is something completely new for fans, so we felt that we should take a similar leap with the music and go for something bigger, darker and more cerebral,” says Avenged Sevenfold lead vocalist M. Shadows.

About the “Mad Hatter” creative process, Shadows says, “Watching the initial trailers and looking at production sketches reminded me of the ‘S-Town’ podcast and its main protagonist, John B. McLemore, who was rumored to have suffered from mercury poisoning, or Mad Hatter disease. The idea of Mad Hatter and what it does to the brain is as frightening as the images we were shown. So I decided that the lyrics would shadow McLemore’s life. The result is a thick-grooved song that’s dynamic and has a weightiness to it.”

“We have a very deep relationship with the team at Treyarch,” he adds. “We’re proud to be part of the family and extremely excited for people to enjoy this next chapter and our contribution to it.”

“As fans of the game and as world class musicians, Avenged Sevenfold has demonstrated an innate ability to convey the emotion and raw power of the Call of Duty Zombies experience,” said Jason Blundell, Director of Zombies at Treyarch. “We’re introducing fans to a new cast of characters in Black Ops 4 and delivering the biggest Zombies experience to date. With IX we knew we needed something epic and A7X delivered.”

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 is published by Activision and developed by Treyarch with additional development support from Raven Software and PC development with Beenox. The title is scheduled for release on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC on October 12th.