Eminem has finally met his match on the Billboard album chart: Avenged Sevenfold have unseated the reigning king of rap from the top of the charts with their new album, Nightmare. Here is the official word from the Avenged camp: Avenged Sevenfold has cemented their status as one of the country's favorite rock bands with their highly personal fifth studio album Nightmare, which bowed at No. 1 on Billboard's album chart and also No.1 on Billboard's Hard Music, Digital, Internet and Alternative Album Charts.
Its No. 1 debut is the band's highest first-week chart position ever, selling over 162,500 units in its first week thanks to the band's devoted and rabid fanbase, who consider themselves part of a worldwide A7X family.
The fans came out in droves to buy the album and spent the past week exhorting one another to make the band's record No. 1 through Twitter, Facebook, Myspace and fansites. The band's previous album, 2007's Avenged Sevenfold, moved 94,000 in its first week of release.
Nightmare's impressive chart showing has been fueled by the success of its title track, which is No. 2 at BDS Active Rock, and in the top 15 at Alternative Radio. It has enjoyed airplay at Active Rock, Mainstream, and Modern Rock radio stations across the country and was the No. 1 Rock Song on iTunes in the U.S. and the U.K. in its debut week. The band also is currently featured on the cover of a special issue of Revolver Magazine completely devoted to them.
Produced by Mike Elizondo (Dr. Dre, Eminem) and mixed by noted engineer Andy Wallace, Nightmare was in the works when the band's beloved drummer, Jimmy "The Rev" Sullivan, passed away. The Los Angeles Times has praised Nightmare's "elegiac power ballads," and called it "the band's most personal effort yet." On August 17th, Avenged Sevenfold will set out to co-headline the first annual Rockstar Energy Drink UPROAR Festival with Disturbed. Also on the bill are Stone Sour, Halestorm, and Hell Yeah. Mike Portnoy from Dream Theatre plays drums on Nightmare and will also tour with the band for UPROAR. The current tour dates are as follows.
