‘Nightmare’, the latest album by Avenged Sevenfold (A7X to the friends), came out of nowhere and went straight to Number 1 in the Billboard Album Top 100 just recently in the United States. In its first week it sold 165,000 copies, thus causing Eminem’s ‘Recovery’ to bite the dust. In the course of its 10-year career (and five studio-albums) the band from Huntington Beach, California, has evolved from a metalcore sound to a more mainstream heavy metal sound. For that reason, they are now considered to be one of the spearheads of the New Wave Of American Heavy Metal (see too: bands like Trivium and Life Of Agony). Last year the band was dealt a serious blow with the death of drummer James Sullivan due to an overdose. Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy provided the percussion on their latest album.