AVENGED SEVENFOLD

NIGHTMARE

by guest reviewer Paul

Track Listing

Nightmare 6:14
Welcome to the Family 4:06
Danger Line 5:28
Buried Alive 6:44
Natural Born Killer 5:15
So Far Away 5:27
God Hates Us 5:19
Victim 7:30
Tonight the World Dies 4:41
Fiction 5:13
Save Me 10:56
Lost It All 3:57 (Bonus Track)

Total length: 66:47

This was always going to be a tough album to make in the wake of James (The Rev) Sullivan’s untimely & sudden death in December ‘09. ‘Nightmare’ is AX7’S heaviest record to date. Crucially it is also their most commercial too. The opening track “Nightmare” sets the gripping tone for this CD. M Shadows vocals are strong and menacing and you can feel his passion on every song. It’s a great album and in my opinion, the stand out tracks are “Danger line“; “Nightmare” and “God Hate Us”.

Nightmare

The title track will be a great live song with the fans punching their fist’s in the air screaming “your f**king nightmare”; there's a great intro, very cool with what sounds like hand bells!

Welcome to the Family

This is properly the lightest song on the CD, although Synyster’s guitar solo is fantastic to listen to.

Danger Line

One of the strongest tracks on the album, it opens with the drums that sound like they are marching into war, great song.

Buried Alive

The intro here is a bit unusual, it sounds very early prog rock but then kicks in with a good solid beat on the drums followed by Synyster laying down a good solid rhythm on his guitar.

Natural Born Killer

A very ‘catchy’ tune that just rip’s along with great guitar playing on this track.

So Far Away

Dedicated to Rev, not a lot I can say about it, as the lyrics say it all.

God Hates Us

This without a doubt is the best track on the album; this is a heavy fast paced song that will most definitely be received with welcomed arms by the older fans of Avenged. This song will go down great live!

Victim

The sound of the bells and M Shadow’s opening cry gives the impression of how he must have felt when he heard about Rev, the whole song just reflects the mood of the band and their emotions of their fallen brother.

Tonight the World Dies

There’s a very ‘bluesy’ feel to this song, it has great vocals and is by far the most melodic track on the album.

Fiction

The weakest song on the album just seems out of place; somehow just cant put my finger on it!! The piano sounds out of tune.

Save Me

Longest track on the album running at just under 11 min’s but it makes me wonder if this song would have been a better track in the middle of the album rather than at the end and would people really listen to the track for 11 minutes at the end of an album?? However, this is still an excellent song, almost ‘iron maiden’ in length.

Lost It All (Bonus Track)

Why this didn’t get onto the final cut instead of fiction is a mystery, it’s another great song which grinds along at a great pace.

AX7’s wonderful melodic metal (or metal core) sound is there trade mark and here it has never sounded better: with a display of thunderous aggressive drums and brooding riffs. Here you get an album full of scorching solo’s and Mike Portnoy (Dream Theatre) does a great job standing in for Rev; after working with the demos he laid down before he passed away.

Avenged Sevenfold has stepped up to the plate and delivered their most mature, developed album of their career, and while it’s likely not going to sway the detractors, ‘Nightmare’ definitely serves as fine tribute to a fallen friend. This is a must have album in anyone’s collection!!

Paul Hadlington