Nightmare is the fifth studio album by American hard rock 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 James "The Rev" Sullivan performing drums on all the songs due to his death in December 2009; however he did write parts that were used for the final recordings, making this the last album he would write on, The Rev's vocals are still on the album as a tribute to him. Mike Portnoy, from Dream Theater, who performed as the drummer for the album in his place, also played with the band for all their tours through the end of 2010, due to Dream Theater not touring at that time. They have since hired Arin Ilejay to drum in The Rev's place. The album has been certified Gold by the RIAA in the United States.Nightmare is the fifth studio album by American hard rock 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 James "The Rev" Sullivan performing drums on all the songs due to his death in December 2009; however he did write parts that were used for the final recordings, making this the last album he would write on, The Rev's vocals are still on the album as a tribute to him. Mike Portnoy, from Dream Theater, who performed as the drummer for the album in his place, also played with the band for all their tours through the end of 2010, due to Dream Theater not touring at that time. They have since hired Arin Ilejay to drum in The Rev's place. The album has been certified Gold by the RIAA in the United States.false2024-01-08 01:35:11Nightmare8.420102010-07-262010-07-260112115211633985cb4213-ffc2-38b1-a256-bd6e5ce2e0af24e1b53c-3085-4581-8472-0b0088d2508cfe4373ed-5e89-46b3-b4c0-31433ce217df/media/data/media4/Music/Avenged Sevenfold/Nightmare (2010)/folder.jpgAvenged SevenfoldAlbumArtistAvenged SevenfoldArtistAvenged Sevenfold (abbreviated as A7X) is an American heavy metal band from Huntington Beach, California, formed in 1999. The band's current lineup consists of vocalist M. Shadows, rhythm guitarist Zacky Vengeance, lead guitarist Synyster Gates, bassist Johnny Christ, and drummer Brooks Wackerman.
Avenged Sevenfold are known for their diverse rock sound and dramatic imagery in album covers and merchandise. The band emerged with a metalcore sound on their debut album Sounding the Seventh Trumpet and largely continued this sound through their second album Waking the Fallen. The band's style had evolved by their third album and first major label release, City of Evil, into a more traditional heavy metal style. The band continued to explore new sounds with its self-titled release and enjoyed continued mainstream success before their founding drummer, Jimmy "The Rev" Sullivan, died in 2009. Despite his death, Avenged Sevenfold continued on with the help of Dream Theater member Mike Portnoy, and released and toured in support of their fifth album Nightmare in 2010, which debuted atop the Billboard 200, their first number one debut.
In 2011, drummer Arin Ilejay joined the band on tours and recording. The band's sixth studio album Hail to the King, which was released in 2013, marked the only Avenged Sevenfold album featuring Ilejay. It would feature a heavy metal and hard rock style, with it being written as a tribute to their influences. Hail to the King charted as number 1 on the Billboard 200, the UK Albums chart, as well as the Finnish, Brazilian, Canadian, and Irish charts. Ilejay left the band in late 2014 and was replaced by former Bad Religion drummer Brooks Wackerman, but the lineup change was not announced to the public until 2015. The band then surprise-released their seventh studio album The Stage in October 2016, which debuted as number 4 on the Billboard 200 chart in the US. The Stage is their first conceptual album and marked another stylistic change for the band, moving towards a progressive metal sound. The band released their eighth studio album, Life Is But a Dream..., a highly experimental record, in June 2023.
To date, Avenged Sevenfold have released eight studio albums, one live album/DVD, two compilation albums and eighteen singles and have sold over 8 million albums worldwide, and their records have received numerous certification awards, including five platinum album awards from their home country's institution (RIAA). They have also created four original songs for the Call of Duty: Black Ops series, all of which were compiled together in the 2018 EP Black Reign. The band were ranked No. 47 on Loudwire's list of Top 50 Metal Bands of All Time.