Nightmare Songs Ranked

Nightmare is the fifth studio album by American heavy metal band Avenged Sevenfold. It was released on July 27, 2010 through Warner Bros. Records. It was produced by Mike Elizondo, mixed in New York City by audio engineer Andy Wallace, and mastered by Ted Jensen. Nightmare is Avenged Sevenfold’s first album recorded without Jimmy “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. The rest of the drum tracks were handled by Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy, who also played with the band for all their tours through the end of 2010. They then hired drummer Arin Ilejay, who played with the band from 2011 to 2015. Here are all of Nightmare songs ranked.

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11. Tonight the World Dies

“This one just annoys me. I don’t like this one in the least bit. This ballad just has no point on the album. Especially because it comes right after a 7 minute ballad. Sorry, but I think this one shouldn’t have made the album.”

10. Danger Line

“I don’t understand all the reviewers bashing this song! I think it’s a good song! It rocks! It starts off with a marching snare part and then speeds up. This one shows more hard rock roots with metal/blues guitars. I enjoy this song needless to say. It may not rank with Welcome to the Family or Natural Born Killer, but it is a good song. It still delivers the same amount of emotion and riffage that the other tracks do too. I’d love to see this song performed live though. It’d be good to see that. I must say that I really enjoy the bridge with all the passionate vocals. Love it!”

9. Victim

“This song starts off with bells and a mellow guitar part. And then a high voice comes in and just sparks a lot of emotion. This song for me is probably the best slower song on the album. Shadows and the band are singing about how they feel like victims. They feel like something got stolen from them and they want it back. It is true. The Rev was just taken from them and they got robbed of their drummer and their brother. This song hits my heart harder than So Far Away. This one is more bluesy in the vocals as well as the guitars. It sounds like heaven flowing from my speakers into my ears.”

See more: Avenged Sevenfold Albums Ranked

8. Fiction

“This one starts off with a haunting piano part. Then the drums come in and play a triplet gallop beat. The vocals are haunting on this one because The Rev is singing it with Shadows singing over him. It has a nice gallop to it. It’s a good song and it’s an important track because it is the last thing that the Rev gave to his fans. I like the track, but it’s so haunting and it’s not a song that I would listen to on a daily basis. It starts to become hauntingly beautiful towards the end. And resolves to a beautiful finish. I have to say that this track isn’t the best, but the fans will eat this one up because it’s essentially The Rev’s last track.”

7. Natural Born Killer

“This song starts off with a speed metal vibe. In your face and merciless and the drums just make it even heavier! Then it turns into a groove/thrash type verse and Shadows sounds at his best here! The pre-chorus has great drum work and the chorus is epic and slower than you’d think after being slammed by the intro. The genre crossing this band does on this song is probably more pronounced considering that each part of the song is a different type of metal. I love it because it’s like a rollercoaster ride! You aren’t expecting it to do certain things.”

6. God Hates Us

“This starts off slowly on guitar and it’s really beautiful. Then the drums come in and the guitars start riffing and the song just explodes in your face! The instruments in here are GREAT!!! But something about the vocal delivery just isn’t connecting with me and I don’t like the song that much. It’s not the screaming, I don’t mind it. I just don’t like the song that much. But I can see why most people do like it. It’s just not the song I praise.”

5. Welcome to the Family

“The drums do a great intro and the guitars just start jamming. This song was always one of my favorites and still is! I love how many genres they cross so easily and effectively! The guitars just play melodic/bluesy runs through out the chorus and they do some very heavy shredding and riffing in the verses! Shadows’ vocals are even more awesome in this song than the previous song! I love this song with a passion and I always rock out to this song!”

See more: Avenged Sevenfold Songs Ranked

4. So Far Away

“This is the band’s ballad sung to The Rev. It’s probably the emotional peak of the album. It is an important track and a good track. I like the song a lot. It isn’t the best ballad on here though. I like Victim more. But this one is fantastic in its own right. It is the band singing to their fallen brother. A good track and a worthy single.”

3. Buried Alive

“This one starts off as a ballad and sounds really good. It’s the guitars playing a bluesy intro and then some strings come in to accompany the guitars. It is a beautiful intro. Then the higher octave starts playing when the bass and drums join in. Then Shadows comes in as passionate as ever. I like this song. It has a nice beat and the chorus is heavier and most importantly emotional. The thing that holds this album together for me is the passion and emotion the band has put into it. This song is full of emotion and then right when you least expect it, the song intensifies and becomes a chugging rocker.”

2. Nightmare

“Starts off eerie and creepily, but then the guitars and drums come in and just hit you like a train! The galloping begins and your nightmare comes to life when M. Shadows comes in! The drums are top notch! The Rev will be missed. Portnoy did a great job covering his parts and playing in The Rev’s style (This may be my first Sevenfold album, but I’m a huge Dream Theater fan and I know that Portnoy would’ve been a lot more intense and dramatic in his fills). The chorus is so emotional because the band is hurt by the loss of their brother and just the whole song has a melancholy metal style that kicks major butt!”

1. Save Me

“This starts off with a triplet bass gallop and then it turns into a Dream Theater meets blues type song. Then it goes through a bunch of cool instrumental jams and sounds really epic and one could even mistake this for being one of Dream Theater’s songs being put on here by Mike Portnoy. But when the vocals come in, we remember that this is a Sevenfold track. This song is a journey. The whole album is a dark journey through the band’s emotional turmoil, but this song is a journey withing the journey. This song is a great way to end the album and I like this one a lot as well.”