"Fiction" is a song by American heavy metal band Avenged Sevenfold. It was released on their fifth studio album, Nightmare. The song was written by the band's original drummer Jimmy "The Rev" Sullivan, who died in December 2009. The song is a duet between The Rev and M. Shadows.
Background On December 28, 2009, the Rev was found unresponsive in his Huntington Beach home, and was later pronounced dead upon arrival to the hospital. Shortly after his death, Avenged Sevenfold dedicated their fifth studio album Nightmare to him.
"Fiction" was the final song The Rev wrote. Parts of "Fiction" were originally written by The Rev for his and bandmate Synyster Gates' project Pinkly Smooth. It was finished only three days before his death, under the title "Death". The demo of the song featured only The Rev, with him performing on vocals, piano and drums. M. Shadows and Gates stated in an interview to Hard Drive Radio:
Recording "Fiction" is one of only two songs featuring The Rev on Nightmare, although his writing and drum arrangements are featured on every song. The song features both The Rev and Shadows on lead vocals. The Rev's favorite drummer, Mike Portnoy (of Dream Theater), was brought on to finish drums on the album. On this song specifically, Portnoy said he "had to play it exactly as (Jimmy) left it."
Personnel
Avenged Sevenfold M. Shadows – co-lead vocals, piano The Rev – co-lead vocals, drum arrangement Johnny Christ – bass guitar
Session musicians Mike Portnoy – drums, percussion David Palmer – piano Stevie Blacke – strings, string arrangement Jessi Collins – backing vocals
Production Mike Elizondo – producer, keyboards Brent Arrowood – assistant engineer Chad Carlisle – assistant engineer Adam Hawkins – engineer Ted Jensen – mastering Jodie Levine – production co-ordination, contractor Paul Suarez – pro-tools Jan Petrow – assistant engineer Joanna Terrasi – production co-ordination, contractor Andy Wallace – mixer
References