NIGHTMARE ALBUM REVIEW!

Nightmare: First track of the album comes in with a punch. As the musical box sound fades Portnoy slams the double bass pedal with the guitars following the music box tune, before M.Shadows yells nightmare. The song carries on into the verse before the catchy chorus “It’s your fucking nightmare” before going into another verse. After the following chorus the song follows the musical box tune before Gates cracks out the solos the song goes into a catchy break down section. After the break down it hits into a melodic bridge before thumping back into the chorus and the song ends with the repeating of “Nightmare” which gives it an eerie feel.

Welcome To the Family: Once again Portnoy kick starts the song with and amazing drum fill. The verse tempo is slow but very powerful but suddenly picks up. It suddenly breaks into a very catchy chorus. The second verse follows the same pattern of the first but the riff is never tireless. After the second chorus the song hits a very creepy whispered vocal which is very unnerving. After this there is a very melodic bridge before the song launches you back into the chorus then suddenly back into the whispered vocal section with an abrupt end.

Danger Line: Starts with almost a marching beat feel before the lead guitar picks the songs tune up. The tune makes it sound like something from a video game. The song then slows dramatically with a punchy verse. The pace then picks up for the chorus using the title of the song to great effect. The second verse follows with casual whispers added in to give the song a eerie feel. Then a bridge follows which is very different to the main part of the song. It dramatically slows to a clean section with piano and trumpet which is very strange. This strangeness is followed by a very slow solo after which there is a light drum pattern with a man whistling which is even stranger. The whistling stops and the piano fades out.

Buried Alive: Buried Alive starts off as a ballad like song with a very soft rock feel. The verse riff has the same feel with Shadows using a soft vocal approach. The song then changes tack and has a very powerful heavy chorus ending with “It seems I’ve been buried alive”, before taking the softer approach again. After the second verse again the song regains the heavier chorus but this time the heavy feel continues which enters into a second half of the song. Solos ensue before almost a second type of verse starts which is used twice and a second type of chorus is used which is also repeated and the song ends with “Die buried alive”.

Natural Born Killer: The song starts very fast with a very dark feeling to it. The song also features blast beats before launch us into a verse. The song suddenly slows down into a calm chorus before picking back up for the second verse. Again it slows down for the chorus which is followed by a solo and a bridge which is very depressing. However the song picks up speed again with another solo from Gates, before finding the chorus again which is repeated before finishing up the song.

So Far Away: The song has a very bluesy/country feel to it and even features Synyster Gates dad on it. It is very catchy and has direct influence from the death of Jimmy, with such lyrics such as “How do I live without the ones I love”. This makes the song very hard to listen to as you can see how much Jimmy meant to the band. As most of the song verse follows the chorus and so on but this is not what matters in the song. The song is very hard to listen to as it specifically talks about dying to be with the ones they love. Very difficult song but well worth the listen! You can tell that a lot of effort has gone into making this song perfect and a fitting tribute to Jimmy! We love you Jimmy and we miss you!

God Hates Us: An eerie start to the song with such a powerful title. The clean intro gives the song depth before it picks up to a fast paced all out song. This is the first song since Waking the Fallen to have screaming parts to one of their songs. The fast paced song gives the album a huge range of variety. The thing that sticks in your mind the most is the screamed “TOTAL NIGHTMARE”. The slow but ultra heavy breakdown really makes this song an epic in all respects. This song is definitely for some of the fans of the bands earlier stuff but also has hints of the newer albums too.

Victim: Yet another song on this album which is a ballad like song. It is very bluesy with a soul type vocal at the beginning. The song continues but picks up in respects of emotional tone. The tone is very surreal definitely focussing on the death of Jimmy. The song distorts but the theme stays the same. The key lyric is “We’re all just victims of a crime” this suggesting that Sullivan’s death was almost theft on the bands sake. The song also picks up on the pain that the band have suffered in the loss of Jimmy and yet again hints that they wished they could have had longer (which is everyone wishes). The song features another epic solo from Gates before returning to the main theme of the song. The song returns to its origins before ending.

Tonight The World Dies: This is another clean starting song which like victim has a very bluesy feel with lots of country guitar slides once again by Papa Gates. Here again we see a song which is certainly creepy. The album certainly is dwelling on the death of Jimmy perhaps a little too much. However it is another killer song. Certainly one for the fans who like acoustic with depth.

Fiction: This song starts of dark with an eerie piano line. This song features Jimmy’s vocals which nearly brought a tear to my eye. This is very story like and makes it very hard to listen to but the dual vocals works amazingly. This just shows the pure talent that Jimmy had not just as a drummer but as an a vocalist. This is very reflective of his work in Pinkly Smooth. The song is increadibly unnerving as it talks of when Jimmy is not with us which is very upsetting according to sources this was also the last song that Jimmy wrote which makes it worse. RIP JIMMY!

Save Me: Starts with the Bass of Johnny Christ and the cymbals of Portnoy before the rest of the band come in on another dark beginning with yet more screaming which will please all the old fans and some ahhing. Shadows starts singing in a story like fashion throughout verses and chorus. The song changes tempo half way through with a new guitar part/solo to break the singing which is followed by an acoustic part which is used as a part for Shadows to ask questions ending with the assumption with that “The Rev” will never die in spirit. The song returns to its former part like the beginning before changing tack again and becoming slow again and saying “Tonight we all die young” which is slightly unsettling before Portnoy does and amazing solo and the song finishes.

Should you buy it? YES! Without a doubt you should. This album is incredible and has a variety of different tastes to suit most music lovers let alone Avenged Sevenfold fans! Highlight of the album is definitely “Fiction” as it being the last song which Jimmy wrote and last song for him to be a part on in body. Low point is Danger Line I’m not too sure what the band wanted to achieve with it its not terrible just a bit misplaced! However the album is certainly worth buying so go and buy it!

We give it 8.7/10