In a chat with Drumeo, Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy talked about working on Avenged Sevenfold’s fifth studio album, ‘Nightmare.’
“Playing on Avenged Sevenfold’s ‘Nightmare’ album was really quite an experience. It was an emotional roller coaster,” Portnoy said. “I mean if you don’t know the backstory their drummer Jimmy the Rev Sullivan passed away right before they were set to begin work on this album. I guess I was one of his favorite drummers so they gave me a call to come in there and and finish up the job for him and we spent a lot of time really nailing it and making sure that his vision was brought to life.”
“Rev was quite the talent, he was really an incredible drummer,” he said of the late drummer. “I had started listening to Avenged Sevenfold around the ‘City of Evil’ album and then the ‘White Album’ that came after that, the self-titled, and realized what a great talent he was. Jimmy was always talking about me in interviews and God bless him he was so gracious with that and always cited me as an influence and an inspiration.”
“I ended up becoming friends with him. I never met him actually, but we would text each other, email each other and I always thanked him for always speaking so nicely about me in the press and in interviews. When I did the ‘Nightmare’ album, I really could hear a lot of my style in his style so coming in to do that album and play his parts which I was already hearing a bit of myself in was quite a full circle experience,” the drummer added.
In 2009, The Rev died from an overdose involving oxycodone, oxymorphone, diazepam, nordiazepam, and alcohol. After his death, Portnoy stepped in not just to finish the album but also to complete the rest of the tour that year.
“I ended up doing all the rest of the touring for that year in 2010, and like it was with you guys, it was an honor for me to be there to do that, and to pay tribute, and to help get the rest of the band guys to heal,” Portnoy shared in a separate interview.
Avenged Sevenfold’s current drummer, Brooks Wackerman, joined the band in early 2015. His first album with them was ‘The Stage’ in 2016.
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