Avenged Sevenfold – Nightmare Review

Nightmare

It’s your fucking nightmare…

A7x Nightmare Cover And Tracklisting

Nightmare

Avenged Sevenfold have revealed the cover art and tracklisting for their forthcoming album Nightmare

1. Nightmare
2. Welcome To The Family
3. Danger Line
4. Buried Alive
5. Natural Born Killer
6. So Far Away
7. God Hates Us
8. Victim
9. Tonight The World Dies
10. Fiction
11. Save Me

Nightmare features Mike Portnoy on drums, after the tragic death of The Rev.

Mike Portnoy To Tour With A7x

Mike Portnoy is to play drums with Avenged Sevenfold for the rest of 2010.

A statement from Portnoy read:

“After having had such an amazing experience recording my drum tracks for the new Avenged Sevenfold album, we all knew it would be awesome if I’d be able to do some touring with the band after its release…
I am happy to say that the timing worked out perfectly that my touring cycle with Dream Theater (and Transatlantic) was coming to an end just as A7X’s was scheduled begin! (well, perfect for everyone except my poor family!) : )
Although I wish I could stay on board with A7X in a more permanent capacity, the reality is that I am committed to Dream Theater as my main priority (that is my baby after all!), and I will need to resume work with DT to start a new album at some point in 2011….
However, I will be able to join my brothers in Avenged Sevenfold for at least the duration of their touring throughout 2010…and hopefully this will give them the time to continue to heal and get comfortable back on the road….
You can look at me like the band’s “rebound drummer” to buy them some time until they are comfortable and ready to make a commitment to somebody new for full-time relationship in their future! In the meantime, I am real excited to hit the road with the boys…to bring my drumming from their new album to life on stage and to honor The Rev with all of their older material….
(Hey, do I get to have a cool, bad-ass stage name now???) : )

C-ya out there”

Zacky Vengeance wrote:

“After being so kind and caring to help us in the studio, the rumors are in fact true and Mike Portnoy will indeed be helping us on the upcoming UPROAR tour later this year. We hope to see you all out on the road. We are very grateful to Mike for dedicating his time and talent to help us get back on the road so we can be where we need to be the most which is with our fans.”

Avenged Sevenfold will be part of the Rockstar Uproar touring festival, featuring:

Disturbed, Avenged Sevenfold, Stone Sour & Halestorm on the main stage and HELLYEAH, Airbourne, Hail The Villain & New Medicine on the Jagermeister sponsored second stage.

Mike Portnoy On Playing With A7x

Mike Portnoy has commented on Playing drums on the new Avenged Sevenfold album:

“Even under normal circumstances I would’ve been happy to help the guys out in any way I could, as I think AVENGED SEVENFOLD are a great band…but under these incredibly sad and tragic circumstances, I must say I am truly honored to have been asked to play with them… and I didn’t even have to think twice about saying yes.

These guys are a true family and it is an incredibly emotional experience to be here with them for the first time without their lost brother. But they have welcomed me into the family with open arms and there’s a real excitement to make the record they had set out to make…

I am treating my participation on this album with the utmost respect for Jimmy’s memory and am remaining as true as possible to the drum parts that he wrote for the songs and the record he wanted to make.

I want their fans to realize that I’m not trying to step into or fill The Rev’s shoes…I’m just merely lacing ’em up for him!”

A7x New Album Drummer Revealed

Avenged Sevenfold have announced that Mike Portnoy of Dream Theater will play drums on their upcoming album:

“We want our fans to know that with Jimmy in our hearts, our journey to record has officially began

Jimmy helped leave this world an amazing gift and now it’s our job to make sure to deliver that gift to our fans.
We asked Jimmy’s all-time favorite drummer Mike Portnoy to record on behalf of him. Mike said it would be an honor and without question that’s what Jim would have wanted.

It’s comforting to us that someone like Mike, who is undoubtedly revered as one of the best drummers in the world, held such respect and adoration for the Rev’s abilities.

Even though it will never be the same without our brother by our side, his essence lives in our hearts and through the music he helped create. He was a legend before any of the success or any of that bullshit and we are fucking excited to lay this down for our fans, and especially for Jimmy.”

M Shadows Message About The Rev

M Shadows posted the following message on the official A7x website:

I don’t know how to start this or know where to begin. First I would like to thank all the fans for their support through the passing of Jimmy. It has been comforting to see his fans, our fans, and everyone in general give their support. Jimmy was my best friend, as he was best friends with many other people including the members of Avenged Sevenfold. He was hands down the greatest person I have ever known. I told him I loved him everyday. He demanded your love and was never afraid to give it back. I have walked side by side with Jimmy, everyday, for the last 18 years of my life. I have no memories before Jimmy, and it’s going to be damn hard to move forward without him here. It still doesn’t seem real. He was my best friend, songwriting partner, band mate, confidant, and most importantly, he was my brother. The crazy thing about Jimmy was that everyday was a crazy story. We have told our favorite Jimmy stories for the last 2 weeks and never have we repeated ourselves. This guy was magical. The out pour of art from his soul was unlike the world has ever seen. Unless you spent a day with Jimmy, or 18 years, it’s impossible to explain, so I’m not going to try. He inspired people in different ways. He wasn’t just a drummer, he honestly didn’t care so much for the technical side of drums, cause he could play anything he wanted. He was all about creating beautiful songs, original fills and hopefully touching people with his art and mind. He told all of us for years, including his parents, that he knew two things in life. He wanted to be a rockstar, and that he wasn’t going to live past 30 years old. He was right on both accounts, but I know Jimmy, and if he knew how much pain this would cause for the ones he left behind, he would have done anything he could to stick around a little longer. Jimmy gave so much and in the end it was his time to go. All my reasons for wanting him to stay are selfish and I know he is in a better place then this, so in a way I’m joyful that my best friend is now at peace. He made it to the other side first and I can’t wait to hang with him again. I have so much to say but can’t find the words so I will wait until time can allow me to find a way to express myself. As for the rest of us, it has become clear what we need to do. We had just finished writing a record with Jimmy. I can’t promise what the future holds because right now it’s too painful to think about, but we know we need to record and put out this record in honor of Jimmy, for Jimmy. He would call me every night to talk about songs and tell me “this shit is gonna change the world.” I agreed with him, unfortunately I didn’t know it would be on these terms. Please be patient with us for we cannot imagine how hard this is gonna be to get through, we just know we have to do it for his legacy. After that, who knows? But I know Jimmy will help us make that decision when the time comes. I love you Jimmy and I feel like the luckiest man in the world to have known you and spent 18 years of my life with you. Rest in Peace my friend.

M. Shadows

RIP THE REV

Top 10: Albums Of The Decade

The past decade has brought us some fantastic music from bands new and old. I’ve had the hard task of compiling a list of the top 10 albums of the past decade, here it is:

Sad A7X News

I woke up this morning, and looked at Twitter, one of the trending topics was “RIP Rev” my heart immediatly sank.

James Owen Sullivan, better known as The Rev, drummer for Avenged Sevenfold was found dead in his home at the age of 28. The band released the following statement:

“It is with great sadness and heavy hearts that we tell you of the passing today of Jimmy ‘The Rev’ Sullivan. Jimmy was not only one of the world’s best drummers, but more importantly, he was our best friend and brother. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Jimmy’s family and we hope that you will respect their privacy during this difficult time.”

RIP Rev, may you rock in peace.