Nightmare

Nightmare is the fifth album, carrying the heavy background of a tribute to drummer James "The Rev" Sullivan, who died suddenly in December 2009. The Rev had been deeply involved in writing the material but passed away before recording. The band chose to continue, completing the album with Dream Theater's Mike Portnoy as session drummer. Mike Elizondo produced. Grief and the will to rise again are marked deeply within its heaviness and lyricism. The title track "Nightmare" opens with tension, and "Welcome to the Family" and "Buried Alive" show dramatic development. "So Far Away," written by Synyster Gates, is a memorial to The Rev, and "Fiction," which The Rev himself left behind, became his final song. It debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 and drew great attention at the time. Marking the band moving forward past loss, it is an emotionally important record.