Avenged Sevenfold produce a stellar tribute to their fallen drummer

Avenged Sevenfold produce a stellar tribute to their fallen drummer.

By Jamie Everitt

Type of Article: Album Review

After a somewhat disjointed self-titled album, Avenged Sevenfold took it upon themselves to produce an album that would emulate the quality of their previous work. This simple goal, however, hit a significant roadblock when the founder and drummer of the band, Jimmy “The Rev” Sullivan was discovered dead last December at the tender age of twenty-eight.

Although the Orange County boys had a nightmare of their own to contend with, they enlisted the services of the Rev’s favourite drummer, prog. metal legend Mike Portnoy, and were determined to put out the record they had started. The result of their effort is their fifth studio album, Nightmare, which proves to be an inspiring tribute to their fallen friend.

The first and most important thing to say about the album is that it doesn’t disappoint. With expectations from the fans and aspirations from the band members so high, it was important that even the smaller things stood out. In this respect, Nightmare sings a sweet tune; the cover art, for instance, is one of the best I’ve seen in recent times. Probably the most important thing for the band to achieve in this album was a demonstration of how much the Rev meant to them as a person and how much his passing has affected them. The Rev was also dearly loved by his fans, and the whole pantheon of emotions on display should allow the fans, as much as the band members, to come to terms with his death. From the wistful desperation portrayed in So Far Away to the rage expressed in God Hates Us, and Save Me, which feels like a call for deliverance, one can really get a sense of the grief surrounding the Rev’s death. If the lyrics are a little clichéd at times, the mood and sentiments are heart warming (or chilling- depending on your viewpoint). Fiction, a piano oriented song completed by the Rev mere days before his death, serves as the Rev’s swan song and a tender farewell to those that journeyed with him throughout his life.

Although Avenged Sevenfold are famed for their unique sound, it is interesting and encouraging to note the influence of some of their contemporaries on the record. Save Me has a very progressive feel to it and Metallica’s influence can be felt strongly in Buried Alive and So Far Away. These are coincidentally two of the strongest tracks from the album, with the former featuring a guitar intro that Hammett and Hetfield would be proud of.

If there is one criticism of the album it would be that although Nightmare is a very solid record and has a large number of great songs, it doesn’t quite match the heights reached at times in earlier efforts, notably Waking the Fallen and City of Evil. God Hates Us, whilst extremely visceral, can’t be compared to Unholy Confessions, and the epics, Victim and Save Me, are vastly inferior to I Won’t See You Tonight Part 1. This might not be completely down to the band members themselves, but perhaps a result of the constraints placed upon them by the nature of the album and their desire to record a fitting tribute to their friend. Avenged Sevenfold seem to produce their best (and most epic) music when they are given free rein to go absolutely nuts. Whilst Nightmare is a great album, it does not quite ride the crests and waves that were so evident in City of Evil.