*posted by me at metal-archives.com:
It's Kelly Gray's fault this album doesn't rule - 84%
Nevermore have been a band sometimes referred to as "The Great White Hope" for America's metal scene, and before Enemies Of Reality, they had released three great (not good) albums in The Politics Of Ecstasy, Dreaming Neon Black and Dead Heart In A Dead World. (I have yet to hear their self-titled disc and In Memory EP.) But this album, unfortunately is a step backward in two areas - songwriting and production (the latter much, much moreso). The songs, for the most part, are decent, but the production just about kills them. The guitar sound and (especially) the drum sound are very muddy, thanks to Kelly Gray. Warrel Dane was very upset with his record label, in fact, for not giving them enough money to pay for Andy Sneap, who did an excellent job producing DHiaDW. But I digress.
"Enemies Of Reality", "Ambivalent" and "Never Purify" are solid songs with some very good riffing and soloing from Jeff Loomis. Warrel Dane is, as usual, on top of his game on these two songs, as once again, his vocals shine. "Tomorrow Turned Into Yesterday" takes the top spot on this album, as the bad production doesn't bother me on this album, and this is Warrel Dane's top vocal performance on this album. In some ways, it reminds me of "Deconstruction" (from Dreaming Neon Black), it's both smooth and sinister-soounding. "I, Voyager" is another excellent song, and is probably the thrashiest piece of work on this album, with fast drum work from Van Williams and more fast riffing from Jeff Loomis. Loomis' guitar work is actually very good on this album, I only wonder what could be achieved if a two-guitar attack was used on this album. "Create The Infinite" has a nice pulsing rhythm to it, and features some absolutely predatory Warrel Dane vocals. "Who Decides" is the other ballad on this album, and Dane's emotional vocals once again steal the limelight here. "Noumenon" is not a very good song though - it's just too strange, especially with the songwriting and arrangement of the song. "Seed Awakening" is a pretty good thrasher, and ends the album on a good headbanging note, almost like "E.Vil N.Ever D.Ies" does on OverKill's The Years Of Decay album. The drumming is very fast and over the top, as Van Williams can drum with the best out there.
And that's it - only nine songs in all, clocking in at barely over 40 minutes - another downside of this album, aside from the production. This is still for the most part a solid album, but maybe we will get a re-mixed Enemies Of Reality, but don't get your hopes up. Let's just hope Nevermore can avoid another production blunder like this, so we can really enjoy the music we know they're capable of.
So what do you think? Accurate review or not?
It's Kelly Gray's fault this album doesn't rule - 84%
Nevermore have been a band sometimes referred to as "The Great White Hope" for America's metal scene, and before Enemies Of Reality, they had released three great (not good) albums in The Politics Of Ecstasy, Dreaming Neon Black and Dead Heart In A Dead World. (I have yet to hear their self-titled disc and In Memory EP.) But this album, unfortunately is a step backward in two areas - songwriting and production (the latter much, much moreso). The songs, for the most part, are decent, but the production just about kills them. The guitar sound and (especially) the drum sound are very muddy, thanks to Kelly Gray. Warrel Dane was very upset with his record label, in fact, for not giving them enough money to pay for Andy Sneap, who did an excellent job producing DHiaDW. But I digress.
"Enemies Of Reality", "Ambivalent" and "Never Purify" are solid songs with some very good riffing and soloing from Jeff Loomis. Warrel Dane is, as usual, on top of his game on these two songs, as once again, his vocals shine. "Tomorrow Turned Into Yesterday" takes the top spot on this album, as the bad production doesn't bother me on this album, and this is Warrel Dane's top vocal performance on this album. In some ways, it reminds me of "Deconstruction" (from Dreaming Neon Black), it's both smooth and sinister-soounding. "I, Voyager" is another excellent song, and is probably the thrashiest piece of work on this album, with fast drum work from Van Williams and more fast riffing from Jeff Loomis. Loomis' guitar work is actually very good on this album, I only wonder what could be achieved if a two-guitar attack was used on this album. "Create The Infinite" has a nice pulsing rhythm to it, and features some absolutely predatory Warrel Dane vocals. "Who Decides" is the other ballad on this album, and Dane's emotional vocals once again steal the limelight here. "Noumenon" is not a very good song though - it's just too strange, especially with the songwriting and arrangement of the song. "Seed Awakening" is a pretty good thrasher, and ends the album on a good headbanging note, almost like "E.Vil N.Ever D.Ies" does on OverKill's The Years Of Decay album. The drumming is very fast and over the top, as Van Williams can drum with the best out there.
And that's it - only nine songs in all, clocking in at barely over 40 minutes - another downside of this album, aside from the production. This is still for the most part a solid album, but maybe we will get a re-mixed Enemies Of Reality, but don't get your hopes up. Let's just hope Nevermore can avoid another production blunder like this, so we can really enjoy the music we know they're capable of.
So what do you think? Accurate review or not?
