After saying that songs by the heavy metal band Avenged Sevenfold helped him endure captivity, Guy Gilboa-Dalal met the band’s frontman, M. Shadows. “I have no words to describe how unreal this meeting was for me,” he wrote on social media.Barri: “When I saw Nerdit’s profile, I liked her right away and we started texting. At the time, I was working for a tech company and had relocated to Portland, in the U.S. I had planned to return to Israel after a year, but once I met Nerdit, everything changed. There was an instant connection between us.”
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Guy Gilboa-Dalal and M. Shadows, lead singer of Avenged Sevenfold
(Screenshot, Instagram)
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“I’m addicted to music,” said Gilboa-Dalal, who was released from captivity in Gaza last October after 738 days. “For me, music has always been something beyond words or sounds. Music accompanied me - and still accompanies me — at every moment of my life. It brings out the strongest emotions I’ve ever felt. I feel a deep, personal connection to songs, and sometimes it feels like they understand me in the most accurate way possible.”
“I love so many genres of music, and each one fits exactly the vibe I’m in at that moment,” he continued. “While I was in captivity, I thought about all the songs I love, analyzed the lyrics and their meanings, and from many of them I drew strength. But here is one band in particular — my favorite band since I was a little kid: Avenged Sevenfold.
“The guitar sounds, the lyrics, the singer’s voice and the drums — it’s something else. In my hardest moments in Gaza, the music was always with me, in my head. But Avenged has the kind of songs that saved me. On the first night after I came back from captivity, I turned on a speaker and Avitar and I listened to Avenged. I was so emotional that I was shaking just hearing this music again. When I was 17, I was lucky enough to attend their first and only show in Israel. Today I met M. Shadows, the band’s lead singer, and I have no words to describe how insane this meeting was for me.”
Days after their release, Gilboa-Dalal and Avitar David received a moving video message from M. Shadows - the stage name of Matthew Charles Sanders - whom they both admire. In the video, he said: “Avitar and Guy, we’re so excited to hear that you’re home today. We followed your story closely. We knew you were huge Avenged Sevenfold fans, and we appreciate that so much.
“What you went through — things that can’t even be talked about — are horrible. We hope to see you soon. Be safe, spend time with your families, get some rest, and we’ll see you soon. Welcome home.”
The video, initiated by Avenged Sevenfold’s Israeli fan club, was met with great emotion by Gilboa-Dalal at the time. “Is he going to meet me?” he is heard asking in a video response. “Yesterday we listened to one of their songs, and it was better than the two years I imagined it. I can’t believe he made this video.” Now, as promised, the meeting finally took place.