Avenged Sevenfold - Nightmare

Listening to Avenged Sevenfold's new CD 'Nightmare' is quite an adventure. Before the album was released two songs were made available; 'Nightmare' and 'Buried Alive'. Upon listening to the CD, I found myself skipping those song to get to the previously unreleased ones (I had listened to them endlessly before the album release).

Being the big Avenged Sevenfold fan that I am might make me biased, but I felt that the album was written and recorded extremely well, especially considering the tragedy of losing the bands talented drummer and best friend Jimmy Sullivan, more commonly known as The Rev.

The songs all have a different sound. If you want a good rock song to get you pumped up, I would suggest 'Welcome to the Family'. Whereas the song 'God Hates Us' almost seems like a throwback to older Avenged Sevenfold music, namely the 'Waking the Fallen' album.

Many songs on the album seem like a homage to the late Sullivan, but the one that seems to stand out the most, to me at least, is the song 'So Far Away'. It is an amazing song lyrically and you can feel the pain they feel for a lost loved one in it.

However, the song that impacted me the most was 'Fiction'. It starts out with beautiful piano that draws you in as the song builds up. Once the vocals began, I found myself getting the chills. The vocals begin with a mix of M. Shadows, the bands lead singer, and The Rev. What makes the song even more eerie, aside from the fact that Sullivan is singing multiple times in the song, is the lyrics. I have heard many people say that the song was a suicide note, but I can't bring myself to believe that.

Proof that Avenged Sevenfold is more than just a group of men playing music together is in this album. Not just the songs, but the music video for 'Nightmare' ends with a shot of Sullivan's drums set up in a room with a light shining on it, and the album cover has a headstone that reads "FOREVER" though many Avenged fans have seen it written "foREVer".

All in all, the album is made up of a variety of sounds that make the end result an amazing record to listen to. It's no wonder the band is in the running to be nominated for 7 Grammy awards.