Mike Portnoy To Stay With Avenged Sevenfold Until 2011
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Wednesday, 20 October 2010 |
Written by James Conlon
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Former Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy has announced that he will continue touring with Avenged Sevenfold throughout next year.
Avenged Sevenfold suffered the loss of their drummer Jimmy “The Rev” Sullivan, who passed away in December last year from a drug overdose. Initial plans were for Portnoy to perform with the band until the end of their first tour cycle at the end of 2010. However, in a recent interview with Cymbal giants Sabian, the drummer announced that he will continue with Sevenfold until the end of the full touring cycle in 2011.
Portnoy declared: "The relationship with Avenged Sevenfold started as just a tribute for and filling in for Jimmy. And then, as a result of the musical and personal chemistry we had making the record, it's kind of blossomed into now being on the road with them. Originally that was only gonna be a couple of months, so I could go back to Dream Theater. But now with the way that the Dream theater story has unfolded, I will now remain out with Avenged Sevenfold into 2011 and stay on the road with them for the full album cycle."
Portnoy rose to fame as a key member of progressive metal act Dream Theater in 1987. However, the drummer recently announced that he wanted a break from the band, claiming that he was finding the constant schedule of ‘write-record-tour-repeat’ difficult to cope with. Rather than follow suit, his bandmates announced that the band will begin auditions for a new drummer as soon as possible. Portnoy is also famous for his series of instructional DVD’s, showing drummers how to play some of the extremely technical and fast-paced pieces which he composed while performing with Dream theater.
It is uncertain at present whether Portnoy will become the permanent drummer for Avenged Sevenfold, however with his experience both performing live and recording with the band, most would suggest that he is the most likely candidate.
The ex-Dream Theater drummer certainly doesn’t want to rush into replacing a member whose presence was such a vital founding element of Avenged Sevenfold: "Although I'm not a bandmember, I am definitely part of the onstage presentation and chemistry. They don't want me to just sit in the background playing drums; I mean, they want me to be myself. The first couple of shows I played with them, I was trying to lay back and be conservative and be respectful — 'This is The Rev's drum throne; this is his spot.' But those guys were, like, 'No! Be yourself. Do your thing.' After a couple of shows, I immediately came out of my shell and now I'm totally at home with these guys and we have a great, great chemistry on stage together — musically and personally."NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
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