How far can a band evolve before it loses its identity?

Take Slipknot as an example. They have experimented a lot throughout their career, including more melodic songs and more diverse albums, but when you listen to them you can still immediately recognize that it’s Slipknot. You don’t feel like you’re listening to a completely different artist,.

On the other hand, there is the last Avenged Sevenfold’s latest EP. To me, it feels so far removed from what people associate with Avenged Sevenfold that it almost doesn’t feel like the same band anymore.

I’m all for artists experimenting and exploring different genres, but at some point I wonder if those ideas would work better as a completely separate side project instead of being released under the name of a famous band. Using the band’s established reputation and fanbase to promote something that has very little connection to its original identity feels questionable to me.

Where do you think the line is? How much can a band change before it stops being that band?