Nightmare – Avenged Sevenfold Album Review

From thrashy breakdowns to very melodic choruses, Avenged Sevenfold captures your attention at the beginning of every one of their songs and keeps a tight hold on it every step of the way. From top to bottom, track by track, Avenged Sevenfold’s newest album, Nightmare, is by far my second favorite (rivaled only by Kings of Leon’s Only by the Night) album that I’ve picked up in recent times. Seriously, Nightmare could be a greatest hits album in and of itself. I am pleasantly surprised at how much I actually enjoy listening to this album, and I never found myself skipping any songs, because I loved them all.I have never enjoyed to this band as much as I do since listening to this album. They have earned the attention of my ears in a major way with the release of this album. With the loss of one of their bandmates last year, they have also gained my heartfelt sympathy. After Jimmy “The Rev” Sullivan’s death in December of 2009, this is a great comeback for the band. Mike Portnoy did a wonderful job with recording the drumming. Nightmare is a true homage in all respects.

The diversity of the songs included in Nightmare are truly just one piece of the amazing pie that Avenged Sevenfold created this time around. Each and every track has its own unique feel. The title track, “Nightmare”, starts the album off with a chime melody that turns from happy to eerie to angry seamlessly. You’ll know you love the album the second you listen to this title track. But the greatness of A7x’s Nightmare doesn’t stop after the title track. “Nightmare” is creepy. “God Hates Us” is very thrashy and has quite an angry feel to it (with a title like that, it’s no surprise.) “Danger Line” has a beautiful chorus, and the bridge has an almost old-western-gunfight-scene feel to it. Track 8, “Victim” reminded me of Pink Floyd a bit (don’t ask why).

Nightmare is a rare gem. An album that has top-notch quality songs around every corner doesn’t come around very often, but when it does happen, it is truly something to behold. You have to listen for yourself to hear what a great job A7x has done with this one. My job is just to tell you what I think, and either recommend that you either check this one out, or skip it. I cannot stress enough how much of aCHECK THIS ONE OUT Nightmare is.

I thoroughly enjoyed Nightmare from beginning to end, and would recommend anyone, A7x fan or not; rock genre fan or not to pick this one up. Seriously, if you don’t, you are missing out on a wonderful piece of art. Top notch music writing, planning, and production went into the making of Nightmare. But what sets this one apart from the others is the amount of passion that went into this one. You can feel and hear the passion exuding from your speakers.

Borrow or Buy?

This one is definitely a buy. I could listen to this thing over and over (and I have). Plus, if you borrowed it, your buddy would be musically deprived of this stunning