Taylor points to the success of the recent Knotfest festival as a true indicator of the thriving rock and metal scene. He was responding to Kiss star Gene Simmons' controversial comment that "rock is dead," which sparked a string of musicians to defend the genre.

Taylor tells KLAQ: "I think people put too much on sales, because that doesn't relate to how many people hear it. In this day and age it's more about getting people to hear the music.

"I love the fact that we had the highest sales in the first week for a metal band the whole year, in a long time. I'm proud of that. But at the same time that doesn't relate to how many people have heard it and bought specific songs.

"We had three million views for the Knotfest live streams and you don't get awards for that. We had so many million views of The Negative One video and The Devil In I video, and you don't get awards for that.