Avenged Sevenfold - So Far Away

What this video is

Released April 5, 2011, 'So Far Away' exists at the intersection of mainstream hard rock commercial success and deeply personal grief documentation. The video memorializes Jimmy 'The Rev' Sullivan, the band's original drummer who died December 28, 2009, and functions as a cultural artifact of fan mourning within the global A7X fanbase — particularly the 'foREVer' movement. Huntington Beach, CA, the band's origin…

Why it matters

A landmark heavy metal tribute video that bridged the gap between hard rock's commercial MTV-era legacy and the YouTube-native distribution era. Its emotional directness and memorial framing were atypical for the genre, demonstrating that heavy metal could sustain vulnerable, grief-centered visual…

The director

Wayne Isham is a veteran American music video director with a career spanning multiple decades, best known for his extensive work in hard rock and heavy metal. He has directed videos for Metallica, Mötley Crüe, Megadeth, Def Leppard, Pantera, Madonna, Bon…