Here's a 'review' I just found. I love long reviews like this that don't really say much...
So These days I went to the studio of a friend of mine who runs his regular metal radio station here and I had the opportunity to give the album a good amount of 20 spins since he got the promo. Heres what I came up with after a lot of listening, though it needs even more, it seems:
One of the biggest hopes in metal, namely Nevermore, are finally back with their seventh studio album, titled The Obsidian Conspiracy. After the euphoria caused 5 years ago by the success of This Godless Endeavor it was quite logical for the band to take a long artistic break and re-charge with enough inspiration in order to come up with a successor worthy at least enough to match its predecessor. This 5-year break passed under the mark of 4 important occasions: the amazing DVD The Year Of The Voyager got finally released, both Jeff Loomis and Warrel Dane came up with their solo works, and the guys from Nevermore were once again deprived of the services of their second guitarist (which in This Godless Endeavor was Steve Smyth).
So, the time for a new musical masterpiece has finally come and all expectations got raised to the sky as if by command - personally for me, its one of the most anticipated records in 2010. Even from the deep, thick opening riffs of the short The Termination Proclamation its pretty clear that Nevermores class and professional approach is something almost impossible to be achieved by 9 of 10 bands in the genre. The hit-like track, suitable enough to give a starting point of the album, suddenly transforms into the solemnly epic spirit of Your Poison Throne. Here, just like in the follower Moonrise (Through Mirrors Of Death), the composition is developed to a frightening scale level with a lot of diversity in both expression and emotion. Nevermore, alike another favorite band of mine Queensryche, have perfected the ability to concentrate everything they have to say in the ranks of 4-5 minutes, which in the end results into a memorizable song instead of mix of technical pretentiousness. In these two songs, the difference between The Obsidian Conspiracy and the bands two previous albums becomes clear the guitar solos of Loomis are way more structured, firm, harmonized and yet melodic. While in This Godless Endeavor all solos were played with more ostentation, everything here is subordinate to the song idea and the overall mood of the concrete track. And The Maiden Spoke impress with the well-known magnificent vocal accuracy of Warrel (along with dazzling lyrics), while Emptiness Unobstructer is without a doubt the song with the most hymn-spirited chorus in the whole record. The depression in The Blue Marble And The New Soul gets universal dimensions the entire progress of the song is composed in an absolutely masterful way and the culmination is strikingly great. Without Morals steps in with yet another memorizable chorus (maybe even a little bit over the top) and without a doubt the best solo in the album; The fact that the melodies are layed down by more than two guitars make me think that its highly possible for Nevermore to attract a second guitarist for the upcoming tour. The Day You Built The Wall is the most forgettable song in the album created by stereotype pattern through which musicians with Nevermores talent can easily compose over 30 tracks alike with an ease. This doesnt in any way mean the track is weak though together with the opener its just different from the other eight and doesnt strike with originality and variations in both guitar and vocal melodical structures. These songs are the only ones which dont carry the potential energetic charge of the others in order to impress with new sensations during each next listening.
The album ends with the splendid She Comes In Colors with its hellish twists and turns in the tempo, and the homonymous song that represents the utmost class of Nevermore speaking of rhythm section; The Obsidian Conspiracy is the fastest (almost thrashy) song with riffs that can smash your bones like a steam-roller and with masterly virtuoso played solos, filling the longest part of those 5 minutes of metal perfection.
Its too early to say if the band made their best album up to date. But what I can say with absolute certainty is that The Obsidian Conspiracy is a record worthy enough to be released with the logo NEVERMORE on its cover. Which means a lot when youve raised the standard level so high in order for it to be surpassed only by yourself and no one else. In a world full of copy/paste albums with less and less creative individualities, Nevermore continue to be a sip of fresh air, offering another collection of music which can be called art and which wont get boring after the third spin.
So These days I went to the studio of a friend of mine who runs his regular metal radio station here and I had the opportunity to give the album a good amount of 20 spins since he got the promo. Heres what I came up with after a lot of listening, though it needs even more, it seems:
One of the biggest hopes in metal, namely Nevermore, are finally back with their seventh studio album, titled The Obsidian Conspiracy. After the euphoria caused 5 years ago by the success of This Godless Endeavor it was quite logical for the band to take a long artistic break and re-charge with enough inspiration in order to come up with a successor worthy at least enough to match its predecessor. This 5-year break passed under the mark of 4 important occasions: the amazing DVD The Year Of The Voyager got finally released, both Jeff Loomis and Warrel Dane came up with their solo works, and the guys from Nevermore were once again deprived of the services of their second guitarist (which in This Godless Endeavor was Steve Smyth).
So, the time for a new musical masterpiece has finally come and all expectations got raised to the sky as if by command - personally for me, its one of the most anticipated records in 2010. Even from the deep, thick opening riffs of the short The Termination Proclamation its pretty clear that Nevermores class and professional approach is something almost impossible to be achieved by 9 of 10 bands in the genre. The hit-like track, suitable enough to give a starting point of the album, suddenly transforms into the solemnly epic spirit of Your Poison Throne. Here, just like in the follower Moonrise (Through Mirrors Of Death), the composition is developed to a frightening scale level with a lot of diversity in both expression and emotion. Nevermore, alike another favorite band of mine Queensryche, have perfected the ability to concentrate everything they have to say in the ranks of 4-5 minutes, which in the end results into a memorizable song instead of mix of technical pretentiousness. In these two songs, the difference between The Obsidian Conspiracy and the bands two previous albums becomes clear the guitar solos of Loomis are way more structured, firm, harmonized and yet melodic. While in This Godless Endeavor all solos were played with more ostentation, everything here is subordinate to the song idea and the overall mood of the concrete track. And The Maiden Spoke impress with the well-known magnificent vocal accuracy of Warrel (along with dazzling lyrics), while Emptiness Unobstructer is without a doubt the song with the most hymn-spirited chorus in the whole record. The depression in The Blue Marble And The New Soul gets universal dimensions the entire progress of the song is composed in an absolutely masterful way and the culmination is strikingly great. Without Morals steps in with yet another memorizable chorus (maybe even a little bit over the top) and without a doubt the best solo in the album; The fact that the melodies are layed down by more than two guitars make me think that its highly possible for Nevermore to attract a second guitarist for the upcoming tour. The Day You Built The Wall is the most forgettable song in the album created by stereotype pattern through which musicians with Nevermores talent can easily compose over 30 tracks alike with an ease. This doesnt in any way mean the track is weak though together with the opener its just different from the other eight and doesnt strike with originality and variations in both guitar and vocal melodical structures. These songs are the only ones which dont carry the potential energetic charge of the others in order to impress with new sensations during each next listening.
The album ends with the splendid She Comes In Colors with its hellish twists and turns in the tempo, and the homonymous song that represents the utmost class of Nevermore speaking of rhythm section; The Obsidian Conspiracy is the fastest (almost thrashy) song with riffs that can smash your bones like a steam-roller and with masterly virtuoso played solos, filling the longest part of those 5 minutes of metal perfection.
Its too early to say if the band made their best album up to date. But what I can say with absolute certainty is that The Obsidian Conspiracy is a record worthy enough to be released with the logo NEVERMORE on its cover. Which means a lot when youve raised the standard level so high in order for it to be surpassed only by yourself and no one else. In a world full of copy/paste albums with less and less creative individualities, Nevermore continue to be a sip of fresh air, offering another collection of music which can be called art and which wont get boring after the third spin.
I was thinking the same thing! 
