Not Ready to Die
{{Infobox song
| name = Not Ready to Die
| cover = Not_Ready_to_Die.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = Avenged Sevenfold
| EP = Black Reign
| released = May 2, 2011
| recorded = April 2011
| studio =
| genre = Heavy metal
| length = * 7:05 (single version)
- 6:08 (radio edit)
| label = Warner Bros.
| writer = * M. Shadows
- Synyster Gates
- Zacky Vengeance
- Johnny Christ
- Kevin Sherwood
| producer = Mike Elizondo
| prev_title = So Far Away
| prev_year = 2011
| next_title = Buried Alive
| next_year = 2011
}}
"Not Ready to Die" is a song by American heavy metal band Avenged Sevenfold. It was created specifically for the video game Call of Duty: Black Ops (2010), appearing as an easter egg in the game's "Call of the Dead" Zombies map. The song, along with the 3 other originals the band wrote for the Black Ops series, was later released on the Black Reign EP in 2018.{{Cite web|url=https://www.kerrang.com/the-news/avenged-sevenfold-announce-new-ep-black-reign/|title=Avenged Sevenfold Announce New EP, Black Reign — Kerrang!|website=Kerrang!|language=en-US|access-date=2018-09-18}}
Background
"Not Ready to Die" was written for map "Call of the Dead" from the zombies gamemode in Call of Duty: Black Ops. The lyrics of the song are based on the story and lore of the game, which singer M. Shadows is a big fan of.{{cite web |title=AVENGED SEVENFOLD’S M. SHADOWS TALKS "CALL OF DUTY" AND NEW SONG "NOT READY TO DIE" |url=https://www.revolvermag.com/culture/avenged-sevenfold%E2%80%99s-m-shadows-talks-%E2%80%9Ccall-duty%E2%80%9D-and-new-song-%E2%80%9Cnot-ready-die%E2%80%9D |website=Revolver |access-date=20 April 2023 |date=3 May 2011}} This song would mark the first collaboration between Avenged Sevenfold and the Black Ops franchise, with the band contributing 5 more songs to the series. The bridge of the song features an interpolation of "Damned", the Black Ops Zombies theme song.
The song was written in four days between the band's Nightmare After Christmas and Welcome to the Family tours, and was recorded in April 2011.
Chart position
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Chart (2011)
! Peak |
|---|
| {{single chart|Billboardcanadianhot100|73|artist=Avenged Sevenfold|access-date=December 29, 2015}} |
| {{single chart|UKrock|1|artist=Avenged Sevenfold|date=2011-05-08|access-date=December 29, 2015}} |
| {{single chart|Billboardhot100|70|artist=Avenged Sevenfold|access-date=December 29, 2015}} |
Personnel
Credits adapted from Tidal.{{cite web |title=Credits / Not Ready to Die |url=https://listen.tidal.com/album/6646174/credits |website=Tidal |access-date=14 April 2023}}
Avenged Sevenfold
- M Shadows — lead vocals
- Zacky Vengeance — rhythm guitar, vocals
- Synyster Gates — lead guitar, backing vocals
- Johnny Christ — bass guitar, backing vocals
Additional musicians
- Arin Ilejay — drums
Production
- Mike Elizondo — production
- Adam Hawkins — mixing engineer
- Ted Jensen — mastering engineer
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Avenged Sevenfold}}
{{Call of Duty series}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Avenged Sevenfold songs