Nightmare is the fifth studio album by American heavy metal band Avenged Sevenfold. Released on July 27, 2010 through Warner Bros. Records, it was produced by Mike Elizondo and mixed in New York City by noted engineer Andy Wallace Nightmare is the first Avenged Sevenfold record without founding member James "The Rev" Sullivan performing drums due to his death in December 2009, although he had a large role as a songwriter. He also recorded vocals for the track entitled 'Fiction' and used as a tribute to him.[1] Mike Portnoy, formerly of Dream Theater, performed as the drummer for the album in his place and will as of now play with the band on all upcoming tours. It is unknown if he will join the band full-time. In support of Nightmare Avenged Sevenfold, along with Disturbed, became co-headliners for the first annual Uproar Festival. This was the band's first tour without Sullivan.
| Nightmare | ||||
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| Studio album by Avenged Sevenfold | ||||
| Released | July 27, 2010
(See release history) | |||
| Recorded | November 2009 – April 2010 | |||
| Genre | Heavy metal | |||
| Length | 66:47
70:44 (iTunes edition) | |||
| Label | Warner Bros. | |||
| Producer | Mike Elizondo | |||
| Avenged Sevenfold chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Nightmare | ||||
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Nightmare debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 selling 163,000 copies, surpassing its predecessor in first week sales. This debut ended Eminem's five week reign atop the Billboard 200, and pushed Recovery to No. 2. It is the first album by Avenged Sevenfold to top the Billboard 200 chart
Nightmare is also the first Avenged Sevenfold record to feature the redesigned font of the band's name.
Background
In late 2009, two years after Avenged Sevenfold released their self-titled album, and four years after they had issued their breakthrough studio set, 2005's City of Evil, the band started working on their next record, their "most personal and epic that will definitely take you on a very dark journey." Around late 2009, the band worked on the album's production until the death of their drummer.
For on December 28, 2009, the body of James "The Rev" Sullivan was discovered inside his home. This tragic incident made the band suspend the work of the album for some time. Sullivan died from combined effects of pain relievers and alcohol.In the later months, Mike Portnoy of Dream Theater (a major influence on The Rev and the rest of the band) agreed to step in and complete the recording of the drumming tracks for the 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. [...] Although I wish I could stay on board with Avenged Sevenfold in a more permanent capacity; I will need to resume work with Dream Theater 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. | ” |
After a couple of months, more notices about the album became available; a short message from Zacky Vengeance was posted on the official Avenged Sevenfold Twitter on April 17, 2010: "Tracking is complete. There are no words that will ever describe the feeling of listening to this album while driving home alone at 4 am."
Johnny Christ stated in an interview with Ultimate Guitar about the writing process and subject matter of Nightmare:
| “ | We definitely had made the decision that it was going to be a concept record. We wanted to have a dark concept record, sort of like The Wall or Operation: Mindcrime. At the same time we wanted to incorporate some of what we had done in the past with the guitar work. We wanted to make it heavier in general. Throughout all of that, the songs that came out were musically already as dark as we wanted them to be. Then lyrically it took a different turn when Jimmy passed. The lyrics then became mostly – not 100 percent – but mostly to do with his death and his life. | ” |
M. Shadows and Synyster Gates, in an interview with The Pulse of Radio, confirmed The Rev's special appearance in the record. According to the band members, he left a couple of vocals (to their fortune, clear and in key) before his death, which they used on the record. With his drum fills and vocals intact, the record shows itself like the band's last record with their drummer. The same band members revealed some details about the new record in an interview to Hard Drive radio:
| “ | [...] The new album, Nightmare, is dedicated to The Rev's memory and although it's not exactly a concept album, it does center around The Rev. The eeriest thing about it is there is a song on the album called "Fiction" (a nickname The Rev gave himself) which started out with the title "Death". And it was the last song The Rev wrote for the album, and when he handed it in, he said, 'That's it, that's the last song for this record'. And then, 3 days later, he died." | ” |
Release and promotion
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The first single, "Nightmare", was released digitally on May 18, 2010.review for the song was released on May 6, 2010 on Amazon.com, but was removed soon after for unknown reasons; However, on May 10, 2010, a 30-second audio uncensored sample was again revealed, but this time at SoundCloud and on the band's official website. The band also posted, the same day, a video of the song on their official YouTube channel with animated lyrics, which received over 275,000 plays in 24 hours.
On June 3, 2010, the band revealed a "Limited Edition" of Nightmare for pre-order available only on their website, which contains:
Full Nightmare album on CD.
Expanded booklet featuring lyric sheets from the band and exclusive artwork.
Housed in a synthetic leather bound book with special silver plated Nightmare crest.
Limited 24″ x 36″ lithograph entitled Death Bat Anatomy, featuring original artwork on special textured paper embossed with a silver colored Death Bat.
Instant download of the new single, Nightmare.
Since May 27, 2010, the band revealed the album cover piece by piece like a jigsaw puzzle over a period of eighteen days, revealing the complete cover on June 15, 2010, along with the track listing.
On June 29, 2010, the band made available an iTunes pre-order of the album, which contains:
Full Nightmare digital album.
Bonus track: "Lost It All"
Exclusive photos.
"Nightmare" music video.
Behind the scenes footage from "Nightmare" music video shoot.
Written treatment for "Nightmare" music video.
"Nightmare" lyric video.
Audio interview with album producer, Mike Elizondo.
Type-set lyrics with hand-written notes for bonus track, "Lost It All".
Sketches of album art concept.
The song "Buried Alive" was posted on the band's Facebook page on July 14, 2010, but experienced loading issues due to a large number of users trying to access the video, and was taken down momentarily. The problem was resolved on July 15, 2010, and was posted on YouTube as a lyric video which also contained a small animation. On July 19, 2010, a preview of "God Hates Us" was released onto the band's official website. It could be heard by holding the cursor over the flickering deathbat logo at the top of the front page. The front page has since been redesigned and the preview can no longer be heard there.
On July 20, 2010, previews to each song on the album were released by Barnes & Noble. On July 21, 2010 the song "So Far Away" was released by KROQ radio exclusively for one day.[25]
On July 27, 2010, the band played main stage at the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival in Mansfield Massachusetts in support for their new album. Zacky Vengeance said on the Mayhem podcast "We needed to play for the fans on the day of the release and we thank all the bands for letting us in for the show."
Nightmare debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200. On that day, the band released a post on their website and elsewhere; "Today we raise our glasses to Jimmy who is smiling down on us all for sending him off with the #1 album in America. TONIGHT WE DRINK TOGETHER IN CELEBRATION OF SUCCESSFULLY MAKING IT #1!!! and the blood sweat and many tears it took us and our fans to get to this moment. This #1 belongs to every member of the A7X family. Pause....and Enjoy – love A7X"
On October 19th, 2010, Nightmare's second single was released; "Welcome to the Family."
The band recently announced that beginning in January 2011 they will be touring throughout the US with Stone Sour and Hollywood Undead for the "Nightmare After Christmas Tour"
Reception
Nightmare has received mainly positive reviews from notable music critics, averaging a score of 62 aggregate from professional critics on MetacriticThe summary stated: "Following the unexpected death of drummer Jimmy Sullivan, the metal band's latest release is a reflection on death and despair that fits the menacing mood, which has shaped its sound over the years."
Ultimate Guitar gave Nightmare one of the most positive reviews among other critics. Amy Sciarretto stated "In the wake of their drummer's tragic and untimely passing, Avenged Sevenfold rise to the occasion and make one of their strongest albums in one of the most vulnerable periods in their history."
Aaron Titan of 411mania.com admitted he is an Avenged Sevenfold fan and summarized his review saying "If you’re a fan of Avenged Sevenfold, Nightmare is a must-have for you, and immediately! If you didn’t like this band before, this one MAY change your mind, but you’ve gotta’ come into the listening experience with an open opinion about A7X. As a fan of this band, I loved this album and feel it is their best work to date. If Avenged Sevenfold can continue to heal and find a permanent drummer sometime down the line – Mike Portnoy is a great choice if that stars can align for that to happen – I see them becoming one of the elite hard rock/metal (what’s in a label anyways?) acts of this era. This album is incredibly moving and is better than any tribute to the late Rev I could have possibly imagined. I gave this album a very high rating because of how moved I was by its content, songwriting, and just the truly amazing performances of everyone in the band. I will hold this album dear to my heart for a long time and think many other fans will as well."
Kerrang! Magazine gave the album 4 K's out of 5 concluding: "Where Avenged [Sevenfold] go from here is still in the lap of the gods. Whatever their future, though, Nightmare marks the point at which the Huntington Beach crew put away childish things and became men. Wherever he is now, their brother must be immensely proud."
About a month and a half before the record had released, Faye Lewis of Rocksound.tv, gave the record a highly critical review, saying that the title track "Nightmare" was the only highlight, which generated much criticism. Rocksound later issued an apology for the review and took it down from their site. In their letter of apology they said: "Rock Sound recently published a track-by-track guide to the forthcoming Avenged Sevenfold album. We wish to apologize wholeheartedly for any misunderstanding in the article that caused upset to both the band and their fans. This was certainly not our intention and therefore we have removed the piece from the site."
AllMusic gave the album 3 out of 5 stars and finished their review by saying "It's a fitting tribute for their fallen 28-year-old comrade, and excellent proof of the band's ability. However, as great as Nightmare's finale is, the Alice Cooper-gone-blue “it’s your fuckin’ nightmare!” chorus on the title track is too cliché to be excused."
Jeff Weiss of the Los Angeles Times awarded the album two out of four stars ending with "With imagery haunted by death and lyrical allusions to alienation and angst, Avenged Sevenfold's fifth full-length is almost impossible to appreciate unless you fit the prime demographic: tormented teenage boys."
Leonard Pierce of The A.V. Club gave the album a mixed review ending with "“Nightmare” is already rocketing up the charts, so it’s unlikely the band’s fans will care, but Avenged Sevenfold continues to sound like five different bands on every album, none of them particularly good."[34]
Track listing
| Standard Single Disc Edition | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length |
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| 1. | 6:14 |
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| 2. | 4:06 |
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| 3. | "Danger Line" | 5:28 |
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| 4. | "Buried Alive" | 6:44 |
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| 5. | "Natural Born Killer" | 5:15 |
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| 6. | "So Far Away" | 5:27 |
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| 7. | "God Hates Us" | 5:19 |
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| 8. | "Victim" | 7:30 |
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| 9. | "Tonight the World Dies" | 4:41 |
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| 10. | "Fiction" | 5:13 |
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| 11. | "Save Me" | 10:56 |
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| 12. | "Lost It All (iTunes bonus track)" | 3:57 |
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| Total length: | 70:44 |
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