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Century Media 1995
NEVERMORE
The slow-paced, brooding, and shamelessly dark "What Tomorrow Knows" opens the self-titled debut of the band that rose from the ashes of Sanctuary. Despite the fact that the composition itself does not necessarily foreshadow the dreary vision that Nevermore would become synonymous with, the terror, dynamics, and brutally honest disposition of the song are a direct representation of the god-like status the band has come to attain. Five years of inactivity separate this from Sanctuary's swan song, Into the Mirror Black, and damn has vocalist Warrel Dane come a long way! Though he still reaches beyond the stratosphere with that obnoxious-in-a-good-way trademark falsetto (cases in point: "CBF" and "Sea of Possibilities"), his real improvements lie in his midrange, where he has developed a rage, power, and unprecedented sense of foreboding that sounds like it's been his specialty since childhood. With the sheer might Dane's voice carries, the rest of Nevermore finds a front man whose intelligence, wrath, and motivation match its own. The result? An enthralling, petrifying, and unclouded view of the world around us that, though still in its primordial stages, overshadowed all but two (Savatage's Dead Winter Dead and Blind Guardian's Imaginations from the Otherside) releases in the relatively fruitless year of 1995. REVIEW BY: GONZO THE SILENCED gonzo@burnthesun.com POSTED 19 NOVEMBER 2000
Standout tracks: What Tomorrow Knows, Garden of Gray, Sea of Possibilities
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Century Media 1996
IN MEMORY
As stunning as Nevermore's entire catalogue is, it is this five-song EP that covers all the ground necessary to make a band truly phenomenal. Technical thrash, sullen acoustic ballads, and an uncanny ability to take non-Metal songs and turn them into the heaviest thing imaginable (essentially, everything that put Nevermore at the top of my modern Metal list) are represented here with that unnerving commitment to excellence - unparalleled by any other recent band - that we've all come to expect from these disillusioned Seattlites. Lyrically, Warrel Dane explores territories that have never been so precisely documented; his criticisms on environmental issues, human nature, the decline of Western civilization, etc. send chills down the spine and tears down the cheek, even without the melody in mind. The revelatory nature of his insightful lyrics is egregiously embittered by the incisiveness of his prophetic bandmates, who, with crushing dexterity, execute the most true-to-life, ominous, and utterly frightening music of recent years. Even during his induction to Metal Divinity in Sanctuary and the release of Refuge Denied in 1987, Dane has always boasted a matchless knack for displaying the truth as he sees it and has never showed any sign of "green-ness". His thirteen years as agent of the music show a man whose entire life has been devoted to one thing and one thing only: to frighten the living fuck out of a selective and intelligent audience by taking reality and stripping it of bullshit. In Memory is the first of Nevermore's many pinnacles. Any self-respecting Metalhead who does not own and revel in it should go to the used music shop and trade in all his real music for Korn, Godsmack, and Limp Bizkit for not recognizing today's Masters of real Heavy Fucking Metal. Traitor REVIEW BY: GONZO THE SILENCED gonzo@burnthesun.com POSTED 19 NOVEMBER 2000
Standout tracks: ALL!
Century Media 1996
THE POLITICS OF ECSTACY
No introductions are really necessary for this amazing Seattle based band. If you like good, solid, tight Metal played with flair, you know to look no further than Nevermore. On the band's second full-length effort, The Politics of Ecstasy, the band really shows a step (or ten) in the right direction following its self-titled debut. With faster, more interesting songs, sharp leads and riffs, and better vocals (Warrel Dane's approach is as unique in the scene as it is now polished), there is very little to complain about. Immediately seizing the listener with opener "The Seven Tongues of God," a thick, tumultuous track with supercharged, pounding double bass drums, then again with tracks like "Passenger," "Lost," and the fantastic "42147," it becomes impossible to argue that The Politics of Ecstasy is anything but essential. Each of the aforementioned songs, as well as a few others, demonstrate this point, adding to the fact that Nevermore will be a force in the scene for quite a while. The only thing you might find annoying about this disc is that there are a few songs that just don't need to be here. They bog down the pace of the CD and are far less interesting than the other songs. "The Learning," the title track, and "The Tiananmen Man," though not terrible on their own, are frustrating because they are either too long, have dull choruses, or are just blocking the way to the next track. Like I said before, The Politics of Ecstasy contains very little to complain about, and the issues mentioned above are minor, but it would be unfair not to address this point. Still, this disc is extremely worthy of any Metal listener's attention, and these three tracks can be easily skipped. REVIEW BY: PETER JOHNSTON peter@burnthesun.com POSTED 03 NOVEMBER 2000
Standout Tracks: The Seven Tongues of God, Next in Line, 42147
DREAMING NEON BLACK
This talented yet somewhat unassuming Seattle based band has created one of the most devastating releases of 1999. When I say "devastating," I don't mean Dreaming Neon Black is crushingly brutal or extreme, but rather that the sheer brilliance of the CD is nearly overwhelming. Combining the progressive aspects of Queensrÿche with the heavy riffing of Iced Earth, Nevermore has written an intense and emotive CD. Warrel Dane's vocals are some of the best in the business. Whether he's singing softly on "Dreaming Neon Black" or belting out the chorus on "Poison Godmachine," his voice never loses an ounce of power. His ability to lead the listener through an array of emotions is stunning, and that's where Dreaming Neon Black shines. I've talked a lot about bands mixing melody and aggression, but what Nevermore is doing is so much more. The entire CD is melodic. Dreaming Neon Black is more of a balance between soft, quiet moments and balls out double bass riffing with Dane's voice acting as an emotional guide for the listener. REVIEW BY: PHILIP HINKLE philip@burnthesun.com POSTED 17 JANUARY 2000
Standout tracks: Dreaming Neon Black, Poison Godmachine, Forever
.
DEAD HEART IN A DEAD WORLD
After listening to thousands of CDs and hundreds of bands, I have finally heard the sound of perfection. It is, in a word, Nevermore. And it sounds like Dead Heart in a Dead World. I've said before that music should elicit a response from the listener. So often in Heavy Metal, that response is one dimensional. It makes us angry or sad; it excites us or depresses us, but so many times it just makes us want to break shit. Like the best works of literature or film or poetry, Dead Heart in a Dead World works on multiple levels, delighting us on the surface with 11 memorable songs but also touching us deeper inside where our raw and often repressed emotions lie unguarded. This CD rips us asunder, assaulting us like a spiteful ex-lover, exposing our flaws, sticking sharp spikes into places we never knew existed. From bitter social commentaries ("Inside Four Walls"), to ecological disasters ("The River Dragon Has Come"), to the pessimistic view of man's place in the universe ("Insignificant"), Nevermore cuts deep. It is the mirror under the nose of the unknowing corpse. It is the unrepentant look deep into the conscience of a race gone mad. Dead Heart in a Dead World is chaotic poetry in motion. With Nevermore, we face every direction at once, watching all but seeing nothing, wandering aimlessly down the crooked, winding ways of our lives, until we're left with no choice but to turn inward and face our true selves. And staring into our empty lives filled with manmade religion and technology and self-importance, we truly see that we have become the dead heart in this dead world. REVIEW BY: PHILIP HINKLE philip@burnthesun.com POSTED 15 OCTOBER 2000
Standout tracks: The River Dragon Has Come, The Heart Collector, Believe in Nothing
Century Media 1995
NEVERMORE
The slow-paced, brooding, and shamelessly dark "What Tomorrow Knows" opens the self-titled debut of the band that rose from the ashes of Sanctuary. Despite the fact that the composition itself does not necessarily foreshadow the dreary vision that Nevermore would become synonymous with, the terror, dynamics, and brutally honest disposition of the song are a direct representation of the god-like status the band has come to attain. Five years of inactivity separate this from Sanctuary's swan song, Into the Mirror Black, and damn has vocalist Warrel Dane come a long way! Though he still reaches beyond the stratosphere with that obnoxious-in-a-good-way trademark falsetto (cases in point: "CBF" and "Sea of Possibilities"), his real improvements lie in his midrange, where he has developed a rage, power, and unprecedented sense of foreboding that sounds like it's been his specialty since childhood. With the sheer might Dane's voice carries, the rest of Nevermore finds a front man whose intelligence, wrath, and motivation match its own. The result? An enthralling, petrifying, and unclouded view of the world around us that, though still in its primordial stages, overshadowed all but two (Savatage's Dead Winter Dead and Blind Guardian's Imaginations from the Otherside) releases in the relatively fruitless year of 1995. REVIEW BY: GONZO THE SILENCED gonzo@burnthesun.com POSTED 19 NOVEMBER 2000
Standout tracks: What Tomorrow Knows, Garden of Gray, Sea of Possibilities
..
Century Media 1996
IN MEMORY
As stunning as Nevermore's entire catalogue is, it is this five-song EP that covers all the ground necessary to make a band truly phenomenal. Technical thrash, sullen acoustic ballads, and an uncanny ability to take non-Metal songs and turn them into the heaviest thing imaginable (essentially, everything that put Nevermore at the top of my modern Metal list) are represented here with that unnerving commitment to excellence - unparalleled by any other recent band - that we've all come to expect from these disillusioned Seattlites. Lyrically, Warrel Dane explores territories that have never been so precisely documented; his criticisms on environmental issues, human nature, the decline of Western civilization, etc. send chills down the spine and tears down the cheek, even without the melody in mind. The revelatory nature of his insightful lyrics is egregiously embittered by the incisiveness of his prophetic bandmates, who, with crushing dexterity, execute the most true-to-life, ominous, and utterly frightening music of recent years. Even during his induction to Metal Divinity in Sanctuary and the release of Refuge Denied in 1987, Dane has always boasted a matchless knack for displaying the truth as he sees it and has never showed any sign of "green-ness". His thirteen years as agent of the music show a man whose entire life has been devoted to one thing and one thing only: to frighten the living fuck out of a selective and intelligent audience by taking reality and stripping it of bullshit. In Memory is the first of Nevermore's many pinnacles. Any self-respecting Metalhead who does not own and revel in it should go to the used music shop and trade in all his real music for Korn, Godsmack, and Limp Bizkit for not recognizing today's Masters of real Heavy Fucking Metal. Traitor REVIEW BY: GONZO THE SILENCED gonzo@burnthesun.com POSTED 19 NOVEMBER 2000
Standout tracks: ALL!
Century Media 1996
THE POLITICS OF ECSTACY
No introductions are really necessary for this amazing Seattle based band. If you like good, solid, tight Metal played with flair, you know to look no further than Nevermore. On the band's second full-length effort, The Politics of Ecstasy, the band really shows a step (or ten) in the right direction following its self-titled debut. With faster, more interesting songs, sharp leads and riffs, and better vocals (Warrel Dane's approach is as unique in the scene as it is now polished), there is very little to complain about. Immediately seizing the listener with opener "The Seven Tongues of God," a thick, tumultuous track with supercharged, pounding double bass drums, then again with tracks like "Passenger," "Lost," and the fantastic "42147," it becomes impossible to argue that The Politics of Ecstasy is anything but essential. Each of the aforementioned songs, as well as a few others, demonstrate this point, adding to the fact that Nevermore will be a force in the scene for quite a while. The only thing you might find annoying about this disc is that there are a few songs that just don't need to be here. They bog down the pace of the CD and are far less interesting than the other songs. "The Learning," the title track, and "The Tiananmen Man," though not terrible on their own, are frustrating because they are either too long, have dull choruses, or are just blocking the way to the next track. Like I said before, The Politics of Ecstasy contains very little to complain about, and the issues mentioned above are minor, but it would be unfair not to address this point. Still, this disc is extremely worthy of any Metal listener's attention, and these three tracks can be easily skipped. REVIEW BY: PETER JOHNSTON peter@burnthesun.com POSTED 03 NOVEMBER 2000
Standout Tracks: The Seven Tongues of God, Next in Line, 42147
DREAMING NEON BLACK
This talented yet somewhat unassuming Seattle based band has created one of the most devastating releases of 1999. When I say "devastating," I don't mean Dreaming Neon Black is crushingly brutal or extreme, but rather that the sheer brilliance of the CD is nearly overwhelming. Combining the progressive aspects of Queensrÿche with the heavy riffing of Iced Earth, Nevermore has written an intense and emotive CD. Warrel Dane's vocals are some of the best in the business. Whether he's singing softly on "Dreaming Neon Black" or belting out the chorus on "Poison Godmachine," his voice never loses an ounce of power. His ability to lead the listener through an array of emotions is stunning, and that's where Dreaming Neon Black shines. I've talked a lot about bands mixing melody and aggression, but what Nevermore is doing is so much more. The entire CD is melodic. Dreaming Neon Black is more of a balance between soft, quiet moments and balls out double bass riffing with Dane's voice acting as an emotional guide for the listener. REVIEW BY: PHILIP HINKLE philip@burnthesun.com POSTED 17 JANUARY 2000
Standout tracks: Dreaming Neon Black, Poison Godmachine, Forever
.
DEAD HEART IN A DEAD WORLD
After listening to thousands of CDs and hundreds of bands, I have finally heard the sound of perfection. It is, in a word, Nevermore. And it sounds like Dead Heart in a Dead World. I've said before that music should elicit a response from the listener. So often in Heavy Metal, that response is one dimensional. It makes us angry or sad; it excites us or depresses us, but so many times it just makes us want to break shit. Like the best works of literature or film or poetry, Dead Heart in a Dead World works on multiple levels, delighting us on the surface with 11 memorable songs but also touching us deeper inside where our raw and often repressed emotions lie unguarded. This CD rips us asunder, assaulting us like a spiteful ex-lover, exposing our flaws, sticking sharp spikes into places we never knew existed. From bitter social commentaries ("Inside Four Walls"), to ecological disasters ("The River Dragon Has Come"), to the pessimistic view of man's place in the universe ("Insignificant"), Nevermore cuts deep. It is the mirror under the nose of the unknowing corpse. It is the unrepentant look deep into the conscience of a race gone mad. Dead Heart in a Dead World is chaotic poetry in motion. With Nevermore, we face every direction at once, watching all but seeing nothing, wandering aimlessly down the crooked, winding ways of our lives, until we're left with no choice but to turn inward and face our true selves. And staring into our empty lives filled with manmade religion and technology and self-importance, we truly see that we have become the dead heart in this dead world. REVIEW BY: PHILIP HINKLE philip@burnthesun.com POSTED 15 OCTOBER 2000
Standout tracks: The River Dragon Has Come, The Heart Collector, Believe in Nothing
