Avenged Sevenfold are currently touring in support of their highly successful 'Hail to the King' album, but the band already has an eye on the future. In a new interview with Billboard, guitarist Zacky Vengeance reports that the band is setting aside some time later this year to start on their follow-up to the popular album.

He explains, "I think once we get home [from touring], the ideas are going to start brewing. I know Syn's [Gates] been writing a ton purely for fun, trying different styles, recording backstage to keep himself busy. I've been thinking of all sorts of ideas, listening to tons of different music to get inspiration, as have all of us."

The guitarist adds that the summer has also provided them with plenty of inspiration, as the band has toured with some great acts as part of the Rockstar Energy Mayhem Festival. "Being on tour, I'm so inspired," says Vengeance. "Seeing bands like Body Count with Ice-T out there, they're so old school and riff-based and over the top and slightly offensive, it's f---in' awesome. So there's tons of inspiration that I know we'll be drawing from."

Vengeance says that the plan is to take "a real quick trip to Japan" after Mayhem concludes this summer, then take some time off of the road to start work on their next studio album.

In the interim, fans can also look for the band's 'Waking the Fallen: Resurrected' reissue hitting stores on Aug. 26. Read more about the reissue in the Billboard piece here.

In other Avenged Sevenfold news, the band's 'Hail to the King' album has been certified gold by the RIAA. The disc has shipped in excess of 500,000 copies. Congrats to the band on the feat.

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