Not quite "Waking The Fallen", but I'll take this over Nickelback any day of the week.
Even though it’s happened in rock history before, it has been a while since a band in their prime of their commercial success has lost a member. Mourning the December 2009 death of drummer Jimmy ‘The Rev” Sullivan, the rest of Avenged Sevenfold decided to carry on and record their fifth album, “Nightmare”.
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Armed with one of Sullivan’s drumming idols, Dream Theater’s Mike Portnoy, the Orange County band is ready to head to the top of the hard rock mountain, and “Nightmare” shows us that they might be ready for it.
The album starts off crunchy and heavy enough, with the 1-2 punch of the title track and “Welcome To the Family” (which really doesn’t kick into high gear until about halfway through). Throughout the album, the guitar combo of Synster Gates and Zacky Vengeance prove why their guitar work might be the most exciting riffage in hard rock music today, as the two play off each other well. Listening to a cut like “Natural Born Killer” or the powerful “God Hates Us” gives you a glimpse of the sonic fury the band is quite capable of.
Even with the moments that flash back to albums like the stellar combo of “Waking The Fallen” and “City Of Evil”, the album begins to vary off in some of the power ballad-ish, more radio friendly material that dominated the self-titled album. With the band being more than avid Guns n Roses fans, I saw the last album being their “Use Your Illusion” album. Does this make “Nightmare” their “Spaghetti Incident”? Not at all, but songs like “So Far Away” and “Buried Alive” might excite newer fans, but may need multiple listens in order for older fans to fully enjoy. But in the same respect, you have to appreciate the band’s continuing attempt at a wide diversity of blending genres- from the almost country twang of “Victim” and the quite surprisingly tasteful piano ballad “Tonight the World Ends”.
I also considered Sullivan a highly skilled drummer that always seemed humble and respectable in interviews, and I am not sure how much of the drum parts were planned out prior to his death- but bringing Portnoy not only keeps Sullivan’s spirit alive, but takes the musicianship to another level. I’ve never been a major Dream Theater fan, but have always appreciated the level of playing from Portnoy and it carries over really well here and definitely makes the best of what is sure to be a somber time in the band’s history.
All in all, “Nightmare” may not be the return to the days of the band transitioning between metalcore and traditional metal that drove me to the band 6-7 years ago, but let’s face it- it’s still better than the sea of faceless, bland rock bands dominating the radio right now.
