13 years ago - Sevenfold's avenger Jimmy 'The Rev' Sullivan passed away

“It is with great sadness and heavy hearts that we inform you of the death today Jimmy "The Reverend" SullivanThe surviving members of avenged sevenfold Posted on their website in December. 28, 2009. “Jimmy was not only one of the best drummers in the world, but more importantly he was our best friend and brother,” the statement continued.

On June 9, 2010, the Orange County, Calif., office said Rolling Stone that Sullivan died of an accidental overdose of prescription medication and alcohol. Toxicology tests conducted by coroner Mitchell Segal determined that toxicology reports indicated that Sullivan suffered "acute multidrug intoxication due to the combined effects of oxycodone, oxymorphone, diazepam/nordiazepam, and ethanol."

Sullivan was born in February. 10, 1981. He started taking drum lessons at the age of 10, and immediately became a natural. Within a year, he was one of the top performers in the drum teachers college percussion ensemble. He appreciated all kinds of technical and hard drumming, including jazz and prog rock, but his favorite style was metal and in his early teens he discovered the power of the drums. the killerAnd the metallica And the Tiger. At the same time, he appreciated the flashy playing of more mainstream acts incl Guns not flowers And the motley crow and incorporated them all into his multifaceted offerings.

Pantera says Oh yes drummer Vinnie Paul. “The Rev has been one of the most creative drummers of recent times. He put his primal upbringing into his music which makes his music very challenging and dangerous.”

After he finished high school in 1999, Sullivan took his skillful playing to the stage, forming Avenged Sevenfold with vocalist m shadowsguitar player Synchronous gates And the Zaki's revengeand guitarist Matt Wendt. Although they had trouble initially getting gigs and being accepted in the isolated Orange County scene, Avenged Sevenfold wasted no time writing and recording original songs. They released their debut EP Warmth on oneself in 2001, and then followed a year later with their full-length debut Sounding the seventh trumpetwhich was a pivotal album for the emerging California metalcore scene.

The band slowly increased their fan base and by the time they toured in 2003 Awakening the fallen Avenged Sevenfold has developed a loyal following, which they expanded after appearing on the Warped Tour that year.

"It was completely new," says Warped founder Kevin Lyman. "They hadn't done their big record yet. But I knew they were going to be big because they had a smoke machine with them on tour. Anyone who brought a smoke machine to an outdoor daytime show, you knew they were on a mission and weren't going to let anything stop them."

Revenge Sevenfold, "Bat Country"

Revenge for Sevenfold's commercial breakthrough came with 2005 evil city, an album that blends the revolutionary "black album"-era Metallica and bass-thunder of Pantera with a more mainstream style heavily influenced by Guns N' Roses. Like his bandmates, Sullivan held the reins, playing with flair, precision, and power.

"Jimmy was just born to play the drums," he says. bullet for my valentine Frontline commander Matt Tuck. “He's had passion and enthusiasm since he was a kid, and that's what made him so good. But besides that, he had a huge amount of love for everyone he met. When we would go out for drinks, he would always grab you, hug you, kiss you, and tell you how much he loved you. Jimmy had passion.” Kabir will live life however long he stays on this earth. It's been cut short dramatically, but the amount of time he's been here, rest assured, he's had a great time."

After grieving for Sullivan, Sevenfold's Revenge hired one of Sullivan's favorite drummers, Dream Theatre's Mike Portnoyto play drums on their fifth studio album, nightmare.

Loudwire contributor Jon Wiederhorn is an author Raising Hell: Behind the Scenes Tales from the Lives of Metal LegendsCo-author of Louder than Hell: The Definitive Metallore Oral Historyas well as the co-author of the biography Scott Ian, I Am the Man: The Story of That Man from Anthraxal jourgensen biography, Ministry: The Lost Gospels According to Al Jourgensen The Agnostic Front book my riot! Grit, courage and glory.