After Hard Times Have Hit Avenged Sevenfold, They Announce Positive News

Today, Avenged Sevenfold sent out a message to their mass amount of friends on Facebook. We all know deep in our hearts that we will miss their deeply beloved drummer James “The Rev” Sullivan, who passed on December 28th, 2009 due to what was officially announced as natural causes.

However, Avenged Sevenfold have made it clear today that the death of a close friend and prime piece of their band would not mean the end of their music making career. They have asked Dream Theater‘s Mike Portnoy, “Jimmy’s all time favorite drummer… to record on behalf of him.”

“Even under normal circumstances, I would’ve been happy to help the guys out in any way I could as I think Avenged Sevenfold are a great band… but under these incredibly sad and tragic circumstances, I must say I am truly honored to have been asked to play with them and I didn’t even have to think twice about saying ‘yes.’” – Mike Portnoy of Dream Theater

That’s right, Avenged Sevenfold have already begun to plan sessions to start recording a new album. More than this is for the bands and their fans, this is for The Rev most of all. May you continue to rest in peace. You will always be in our hearts. May you live on in the passion Avenged Sevenfold are to put forth their work here on out.

“I want our fans to know that with Jimmy in our hearts, our journey to record has officially began. Jimmy helped leave this world an amazing gift and now it’s our job to make sure to deliver that gift to our fans. We asked Jimmy’s all time favorite drummer Mike Portnoy to record on behalf of him. Mike said it would be an honor and without question that’s what Jim would have wanted. Its comforting to us that someone like Mike, who is undoubtedly revered as one of the best drummers in the world, held such respect and adoration for the Rev’s abilities. Even though it will never be the same without our brother by our side, his essence lives in our hearts and through the music he helped create. He was a legend before any of the success or any of that bullshit and we are fucking excited to lay this down for our fans, and especially for Jimmy.” – Avenged Sevenfold