Boom Drum

Avenged Sevenfold A7X Announces New Drummer – Arin Ilejay

A7X has gone through quite a bit in the past 13 months. From the death of their drummer, Jimmy “The Rev” Sullivan, to releasing a #1 record, to touring with iconic, former Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy. Many speculated that Mike would be inevitably asked to join the band after their tour, but A7X stuck to it’s original agreement with Mike, and sought out to find a permanent member. They have finally announced a drummer for their 2011 tour, and that drummer is Arin Ilejay.

Arin Ilejay’s most notable work was done with an LA based Metalcore band called Confide, with whom he recorded and toured from 2007 to 2009. Arin is about to embark on a major tour with Avenged Sevenfold, and the video below is of the song “Danger Line” from a show they did just a matter of days ago on January 20th with him. In my opinion, he sounds great! Click HERE to read the official statement released by the band announcing Arin’s involvement with A7X.

A7X Uses The Rev’s Favorite Drummer Mike Portnoy For The Next Record

Avenged Sevenfold recently announced on their website that they will be recording their next record with Mike Portnoy of  Dream Theater. A7X’ s former drummer, James “The Reverend” Sullivan, was found dead in his home early this year. Mike was Jimmy’s favorite drummer, hence why he will be doing the next record. The Reverend was a fantastic drummer, and an influence to many. Click HERE for a full article on the matter.

28 Year Old Avenged Sevenfold Drummer James “The Reverend” Sullivan Found Dead

RIP The Rev

As many of you may know, Avenged Sevenfold drummer James “The Reverend” Sullivan died recently at only 28 years of age. He was reportedly found dead in his home, and so far it has been stated that he died of natural causes.

James was a fantastic drummer, and was one of the top modern metal drumming icons. This is an extremely sad occurrence, as The Rev undoubtedly had a very long musical career ahead of him. Not much info has been released about his death, but I did find some Artisan News (linked here–>) YouTube press coverage that sums up this series of events pretty well. Below I have included a few various videos of The Rev in action, to give you an idea of how great he was.