AVENGED SEVENFOLD Bassist On Topping BILLBOARD Chart

August 4, 2010

Bassist Johnny Christ of Orange County, California's AVENGED SEVENFOLD spoke to MTV News about how the band celebrated the news that its fifth album, "Nightmare", debuted at the top of The Billboard 200 chart with first-week sales of over 162,000 copies.

"I got the call from my manager last night," Christ said. "Unfortunately, Matt [Sanders, better known as M. Shadows] and Zack [a.k.a. Zacky Vengeance] were doing press in L.A., but me and Brian [a.k.a. Synyster Gates] went out to celebrate and had some dinner together. It was pretty fun. It was more about the drinks. We were just drinking, having a good time. We should have been being good boys and not drinking last night, but it's the first time we're on the top of the Billboard, and that only happens once. We had to do something."

"Nightmare" was completed after the death of drummer Jimmy "The Rev" Sullivan, who passed away last December following an overdose of prescription drugs and alcohol. Vengeance told The Pulse of Radio how the band got through the making of the record after losing their friend. "You know, you carry on knowing that there's something so much more important than yourself to deliver, to millions of fans across the world, to all your friends, and to yourself," he said. "To put out this piece of music that he helped write with us is extremely, extremely difficult and I don't wish it on anybody. But I think the end result is even that much more spectacular because it brought us all closer and we did, you know, him justice."

The band recruited DREAM THEATER drummer Mike Portnoy to play on the new album and all the band's 2010 tour dates.

Portnoy made his concert debut with the band on July 25 as they played live for the first time since Sullivan's death at the Heavy MTL festival in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

AVENGED SEVENFOLD will co-headline this summer's inaugural Uproar Festival tour with DISTURBED and STONE SOUR, beginning on August 17 in Minneapolis.

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