New Nevermore album - TGE

JayKeeley said:
Well....I think it's fairly obvious that Nevermore fans LOVE Nevermore in the way Opeth fans LOVE Opeth. Huh. I think the only time I saw criticism flow from Nevermore fans towards Nevermore was over the "Enemies of Reality" production debacle, which was overblown to extreme proportions IMO.

Or the way "Band X" fans love "Band X". Hey, I'm a big Nevermore fan, but I'm not a "they can do no wrong" fanboy. I'm not a huge fan of the debut album, Dreaming Neon Black or the Kelly Gray produced version of EoR. But everything else I feel pretty much rules by them and the new one is just amazing.

I had another fantastic listing experience with This Godless Endeavor yesterday. Just listen to that absolutely smoking Loomis solo on "The Final Product" or the seemingly slow intro to "My Acid Words", a track which decides after a few seconds that "wait a minute, I'm not going to plod along here, I'm just going to kick your ass right now". The technicality, aggression, melody, riffing, solos, production and songwriting are simply off the charts on this one. It just gets better and better with every listen.

An interesting side note, the new Opeth (you know, that band I'm a fanboy of) is becoming less interesting with every listen. The new Nevermore has plenty to do with that but nevertheless it's starting to lose it's staying power with me. I had previously put it on par with Still Life. I was wrong - it's far less consistent than that album was. "The Baying of the Hounds" is amazing and the first three tracks are all very, very good, but the middle of the album just loses steam, and I simply can't get through "Reverie/Harlequin Forest" without being bored to tears. That track flat out sucks. Part of the problem for me as well was I was hoping for something WAY more aggressive than what was presented, especially given all of the pre-release "this is going to be so evil" hype. Anyway, the point is it doesn't matter what band it is, if their release is subject to my personal criticism I will have no problem doing so.
 
Dark One said:
"The Baying of the Hounds" is amazing and the first three tracks are all very, very good, but the middle of the album just loses steam, and I simply can't get through "Reverie/Harlequin Forest" without being bored to tears. That track flat out suck.

Oddly enough, and myself being a fanboy, I think that's the only good song on the whole album, aside from Atonement, which isn't really an Opeth track by any strech of the imagination, but still rules.
 
Same here . If you cut Akerfeldt clean vocals at the beginning of The Baying of course.
 
Sorry, didn't mean to hijack the thread there. Nevertheless, the part on the new Opeth where Akerfeldt's clean vocals really annoy me are around the 4:30 mark of "Ghost of Perdition" that last for like a minute. If you take out that entire stretch of clean vocals, I think the track is great, but man, those vocals are god-awful, I'm not sure what the hell he was thinking on that one.
 
Track 5 "Optimal Region Selector" is my personal favorite with track 2 (obviously..) .The whole album is just unbelivable..
 
I still like it very much..but:
Nevermore have too "safe" songs now. They are followers, they were leaders. They try (?) to copy a very popular sound (and a very popular clean cut production)...just listen to all the swed-ism in "My Acid Words", or the total lack of high vocals. I think they try to approach even more listeners. Still they can create great metal music, but they lost so much of their magic. W.D.'s vocals rarely give chills anymore, which makes me sad, and the riffs (even though they are strong/good/they way they are supposed to be) have been played so many times in the past, by other bands.
Hail Pat O Brien and Tim Calvert
 
IOfTheStorm said:
I still like it very much..but: Nevermore have too "safe" songs now. They are followers, they were leaders. They try (?) to copy a very popular sound (and a very popular clean cut production)...just listen to all the swed-ism in "My Acid Words", or the total lack of high vocals. I think they try to approach even more listeners.
As usual, you and I see things a bit differently. Specifically, I'd disagree with two of the points that you made. First, this idea that they're trying to reach more listeners, seems flawed. The last two CDs have been much less accessible than "Dead Heart". Typically, when you're trying to expand your audience, your sound becomes more commercial, not less. Second, I'm not sure whose sound you think they're copying, but if there are bands out there who sound like Nevermore, but do it better, please, please, please tell me who they are.

Zod
 
The songs in "Dead Heart.." have more depth than "TGE". More technical moments, stranger atmosphere, more weird vocals, and generally more complex ideas. The fact that TGE has more riffs, doesnt make the songs less accessible,since the riffs are consumed more easily by the listener. TGE has THE ABSOLUTE commercial sound of our days, and its not about copying a specific band, but a whole "trend" of a specific production (almost "plastic" sound) and song structure. TO be more specific, Nevermore now have a good doze of swedish death metal in their songs, where they used to have Coroner influences, and now they have simple aggressive moments, where they used to be progressive in any way imaginable. EOR was totally simplistic, and "TGE"'s main problem is the lack of originality. Jesus.. "My Acid Words" could be a lost At The Gates cover song.
 
IOfTheStorm said:
The songs in "Dead Heart.." have more depth than "TGE". More technical moments, stranger atmosphere, more weird vocals, and generally more complex ideas. The fact that TGE has more riffs, doesnt make the songs less accessible,since the riffs are consumed more easily by the listener. TGE has THE ABSOLUTE commercial sound of our days, and its not about copying a specific band, but a whole "trend" of a specific production (almost "plastic" sound) and song structure. TO be more specific, Nevermore now have a good doze of swedish death metal in their songs, where they used to have Coroner influences, and now they have simple aggressive moments, where they used to be progressive in any way imaginable. EOR was totally simplistic, and "TGE"'s main problem is the lack of originality. Jesus.. "My Acid Words" could be a lost At The Gates cover song.
Since I completely disagree with every single word of this post, I won't bother to debate it. You and I have very different perspectives on music. Nothing wrong with that. :headbang:

Zod