Avenged Sevenfold, since the 28th of December 2009, is the story of a tragedy. A story that managed to hurt and move thousands of metal hearts. It’s also a story of helping hands, of compassion and support. It is the story of a band of buddies who wanted to honour the memory of another friend, who tragically passed away, by finishing a work that they had started together. It’s also the story of an idol who decides to reverse roles, to borrow the seat left vacant by his admirer, and to sit in his shadow to in turn admire.

It is often said that masterworks emerge from pain. Even if the word is a little strong in this case, one has to admit that Avenged Sevenfold gave birth to its best work so far, an opus forever coined with an aura that only pain can create.

There were so many topics that we could have discussed with Zacky Vengeance, rhythm guitarist, founder of the band, but above all friend of James « The Rev » Sullivan. The interview could have been deeply captivating, but it ended up with a bitter feeling that we were just flying over an abyss without diving into it. The conditions of our interview with Zacky were indeed catastrophic: after a 2h-postponement of the interview and 15 minutes delay, there was crackling on the phone-line and three cuts. Finally, the manager announced that there were only two minutes left after just 9 tedious minutes of interview. Big machines can also be, sometimes, slaughterhouses.

Let’s not fear big words, this interview was a proper nightmare to conduct. What a lucky coincidence! It’s precisely the theme of Avenged Sevenfold’s new album: Nightmare. So all in all, we can say that we fitted the topic pretty well!