Did AVENGED SEVENFOLD Copy MACHINE HEAD's Logo?

San Francisco Bay Area metallers MACHINE HEAD have posted the following message on their official Facebook page:

“Last night, the BLABBERMOUTH.NET Facebook posted a side by side photo of AVENGED SEVENFOLD‘s new stage set against MACHINE HEAD‘s 16-year-old lion crest. Unquestionably, lion crests have been around for ages, but there are some uncanny similarities to MACHINE HEAD‘s distinct lion crest.

* Lions (with axes)
* Roman numerals at the bottom
* Band symbol in the center
* Black-and-white juxtaposition in the center

“Head Cases, tell us what think.”

AVENGED SEVENFOLD singer M. Shadows told the Worcester/Boston, Massachusetts radio station WAAF that he isn’t bothered by recent comments from MACHINE HEAD frontmanRobb Flynn, in which Flynn called the band’s new “Hail To The King” CD a “covers album.”Flynn specifically called the band out for songs like “This Means War”, which bears a strong resemblance to METALLICA‘s “Sad But True”, along with others.

Shadows told WAAF‘s Mike Hsu (hear audio below): “I think, more than anything, [Robb‘s comments] brought a lot of attention to the record.

“I saw a lot of people saying, ‘Oh, well, I didn’t like AVENGED before, but now I’m gonna check it out, and I like this record.’ So that was kind of funny.

“But, you know, [I’m] just trying to be displomatic about the whole thing.”

He continued: “I don’t really care what anyone says, but when people ask you about it over and over, you have to have some sort of response. And my response is just, look, I know the guy. He can say whatever he says. He’s a grown-ass adult. He’s 40-something years old and has an opinion on our record. I guess he can write and say whatever he wants.”

Flynn didn’t pull any punches in his critique, writing, “Congratulations to AVENGED SEVENFOLD On their latest ‘covers album’ coming in at #1. Who knew that re-recordingMETALLICAGUNS N’ ROSES, and MEGADETH songs could be such a worldwide hit!!?? Ba-dap Psssssss!!”

“Hail To The King” sold 159,000 copies in its first week of release, giving the California band their second straight chart-topper after 2010’s “Nightmare”.