Nevermore - This Godless Endeavor
Country: USA Genre: Power Metal, Technical Metal, Thrash/Speed Metal
Nevermore is one of those bands who never gave into popular trends or altered their integrity to please others. They have always stuck to their guns and wrote excellent music. Even though Enemies Of Reality got bashed for its awful production, the songwriting and the emotion was still there. In my opinion Enemies Of Reality is a fine release. With that said, I eagerly awaited July 26, 2005, to hear the next chapter in the Nevermore saga. This chapter is the stunning This Godless Endeavor.
Musically, This Godless Endeavor is more on the lines of In Memory and Dreaming Neon Black. The music is a lot darker than Dead Heart In A Dead World and Enemies Of Reality. The music is also much more technical. My hat goes off to Jeff Loomis and Steve Smyth for their technical and tasteful solos. Most bands recently just solo for the sake of soloing. When Loomis or Smyth solo they have something to say and they say it right. Lastly, I give tons of credit to Warrel Dane. His lyrics on this album are chilling and his voice has never sounded better. I can safely say that, vocally, I am not a huge Warrel fan. This CD he has his sound down tight. He is not overwhelming and he adds a lot of energy and emotion to the mix.
If you are Nevermore fan or if you are trying to get into Nevermore, I would suggest you carefully step away from your computer and buy this CD at once. I will guarantee you will see this CD on most people's Top Five Metal CDs of 2005 list. Hell, even the reviewer and fans on www.blabbermouth.net see eye-to-eye on This Godless Endeavor. For those of you who don't visit that site on a regular basis, I recommend you look at some of the other reviews/comments, then look at Nevermore's. You will be pleasantly suprised. This CD will become a future classic. Mark my words.
Reviewed by: Jake Rosenberg
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nevermore was born from the ashes of the late-80s power metal act Sanctuary. When Sanctuary founders vocalist Warrel Dane and bassist Jim Sheppard heard that their mates wanted to play Grunge, which was in fashion at the time, they dissolved the group and Nevermore was born. Dane and Sheppard recruited young guitarist phenom Jeff Loomis and drummer Van Williams and this core has remained remarkably intact to this day, producing a string of stellar albums: Nevermore, the In Memory EP, The Politics Of Ecstasy, Dreaming Neon Black, Dead Heart In A Dead World and Enemies Of Reality. 2004s Enemies took a hit from fans, though, because of sub-standard production by Queensyche producer Kelly Gray. Gray was basically assigned to Nevermore by Century Media Records during a period of bad relations with the band (things have since improved).
But that is not the only adversity Nevermore has had to overcome as of late. At a show in Thessaloniki, Greece, on March 26, 2005, Jim Sheppard became seriously ill (or was he injured?), had to go to a hospital, and, according to Dane, almost died. The band actually returned to the venue that night to play the gig without him. Dane has also had health problems. As he describes it, I basically was drinking too much, and at the same time going through the onset of type 2 diabetes and didn't know it. Basically my pancreas tried to digest itself, is what the doctors told me ... It felt like somebody was taking a javelin and shoving it in my stomach repeatedly, over and over, until they drugged me up so much I passed out. I lost about two weeks. When I came to they were like, 'Do you know what day it is?' I said something like the date after I had gone into the hospital, and they're like, 'Nope. You've been gone for a while, dude.' Wow ... I almost didn't make it (Interview with Abrasive Rock.com, July 11, 2005). He lost a great deal of weight working himself back into shape, but now claims I've never been this healthy since my fucking twenties, so I feel really fucking good (Abrasive Rock.com, July 2005).
Then the bands luck turned. Nevermore finally found its long-sought permanent second guitarist in Steve Smyth (ex-Testament, Dragonlord, Vicious Rumors), who had toured with the group in the past. Then producer Andy Sneap agreed to re-master Enemies Of Reality, giving it the polished sound the band had dreamed of. Nevermore then entered Backstage Studios in England with producer Andy Sneap to record This Godless Endeavor.
The band comes out thrashing on Born (The Retribution Of Spiritual Sickness) and Dane gets right into some death vocals (the likes of which he experimented with on Enemies Of Reality). The guitar work on this song is insaneNevermore grooves like no other band in metal. Listen to Loomis arpeggiated sweeps during the stunning chorus, where Dane decries the loss of innocence and spiritual unity in our race: Born, we are the same/Within the silence/Indifference be thy name/Torn, we walk alone/We sleep in silent shades/The grandeur fades/The meaning never known. And then Loomis tears our f***ing face off with the ensuing solo. This is very heavy, folks. Final Product has a great opening groove and is a terrific change of pace. The guitars sound wonderful here and explore some sweet harmony. More powerful, meaningful lyrics from Dane: We're witnessing a famine of the innocent/Did they die for religion or the government?/Cause if your God wont do/Their God will starve you/Look at the world/Look at the hell/Look at the hate/Every day/Look at the final product/The world in slow decay. Check out Williams quick hitting double bass at the 1:45 mark. Then they slide into another one of those grooves that is just unfair! Danes warning at the end, about our inability to truly realize our moment, is damning: We live in a time of revolution/We swim the silent seas of sanity gone. When Acid Words kicks in, within seconds I can tell its one of the best on this album. Huge, melodic riffs; thrashing; Dane screaming bloody f***ing murderwelcome back, boys. No one in the world is playing power/thrash with this kind of conviction and grace. Pay close attention again to Williams drum workthe man is amazing. And these leads, again with Loomis and Smyth working in tandemWOW! Dane is cynical here about his legacy: It's a one way ride and there's nothing you can do/Not even suicide or my acid words can teach you anything useful. This Bittersweet Feast is going to be a favorite for many listeners. It has massive riffing, some bizarre background vocal work by Dane, and more angry lyrics: They feast on the meat in bittersweet denial/And swallow the blood of poisoned truths/They pick at the meat, a bittersweet feast for all the liars. Listen to this bizarre bridge at the 2:50 mark. Is that Tech? If nothing else, that impossible lead by Loomis is! Next up is the sequel to The Learning off of The Politics of Ecstasy, Sentient 6. The Terminator-like concept here is that a machine becomes sentient and destroys humanity: Trained/I see imperfection in your race/Lying in wait/Blind I suffer knowing Ill never reach your heaven/It's unattainable, please teach me how to dream/I long to be more than a machine. The dual harmonic leads here are again so far off the chart as to be unspeakable, and then Loomis finishes things off alone. This ending is really intense, scary, and Warrels bizarre yodeling(?) vocals have to be heard to be believed. All you feel and all you do/The medication controls you, he tells us on Medicated Nation. This chorus has tremendous impact, with a great uptempo power riff. Now slap your vein/Im the power of pain and pleasure symbiotic/I am, I am/In a medicated nation of blind neurotics/I am, I am/Psychotic pain baptized in pure narcotics. Dane understands the United States and its spiritual lethargy completely. Fans will get a kick out of The Holocaust Of Thought because of the guest lead by legendary guitarist James Murphy. This was a collaboration that was destined to happen and Murphy makes the most of his moment with thoughtful, technical playing. Loomis must have had a great day with him in the studio. Dane and Smyth co-wrote Sell My Heart For Stones. This is the power ballad that Dead Heart fans live for, but that I was never too enamored with. The Psalm Of Lydia is a thrashy street fight, so gird yourself. The leads in this track are guaranteed to blow your mind. Loomis has grown to impossible heights. The acoustic guitar to begin A Future Uncertain is a nice touch, as are Danes breezy vocals: To be green in the beautiful hour of envy so divine/To be pure, to let chance form your infinite design/Let the seed awakening begin, again. This is Danes rare flirtation with the Leary-an concepts he explored on Enemies Of Reality. The band follows it with a wonderful melodic acoustic riff that is built into towering thrash rhythms! To set your mind free, you must first just listen, Dane tells us in the grooving chorus. Even Sheppard gets in the act during the great, proggy bridge. This is another Smyth/Dane collaboration, and bodes well for the band's future. So far, This Godless Endeavors been great, and yet they finish with arguably the best Nevermore song ever, the epic title track. It starts with a gorgeous acoustic section, and stunning lead playing by Loomis that might make you cry. Its all a set-up for another Titanic Power Riff, Warrel soberly announcing Godless are we. Then they pick it up, thrashing. People, metal gets no better than this, and they segue from one technical section to the next without hesitation. Warrel is searching for answers here, and finding none: As I lifted up my brother, he said to me/'Abandon naive realism, surrender thought in cold precision'/I feel empty and deranged/Denied one last epiphany and ushered from the stage. At 4:55, prepare to hear one of the most stunning moments in recent metalsomething that sounds like Industrial Speed Death metal. Then they launch into a huge riff that makes me emotional, Warrel repeatedly growling CONSUME, CONFORM. After that, theyre back into Nevergroove. This is one of the best bands in metal, without any doubtVan Williams' playing here is masterful. The end slowly builds, with Dane shrieking the final line in his classic falsetto: We contemplate oblivion as we resonate our dissonance in godless random interpretation/The universe still expands, mankind still cant understand/How to define you, so hide your face and watch us exterminate ourselves over you/Welcome to the end, my friend, the sky has opened! Again, strong emotion overcomes me literally every time I hear thisit is absolutely haunting.
As brilliant a philosopher as Dane is, Im a little disappointed in his lyrical approach on This Godless Endeavor. He has completely abandoned all the interesting theories about the utility of reality that he was exploring on Enemies Of Reality. He was bordering on something truly revolutionary there, bordering on truly original thought that would progress beyond his muse, Timothy Leary, and its frustrating to see him take a pit stop and recycle some old ideas.
Thats small criticism, however, for an album that is so musically rich and admittedly still full of intriguing philosophy (with all the talk of "pigs," "sheep" and "lizards," though, you might think you're listening to Pink Floyd's Animals). Nevermore is one of those very, very rare bands that keeps getting heavier, more technically gifted, and more visionary with time (can I even think of another?). I dont take that for granted at all, and it is built around rock-solid integrity and dedication to their art. Hail.
Country: USA Genre: Power Metal, Technical Metal, Thrash/Speed Metal
Nevermore is one of those bands who never gave into popular trends or altered their integrity to please others. They have always stuck to their guns and wrote excellent music. Even though Enemies Of Reality got bashed for its awful production, the songwriting and the emotion was still there. In my opinion Enemies Of Reality is a fine release. With that said, I eagerly awaited July 26, 2005, to hear the next chapter in the Nevermore saga. This chapter is the stunning This Godless Endeavor.
Musically, This Godless Endeavor is more on the lines of In Memory and Dreaming Neon Black. The music is a lot darker than Dead Heart In A Dead World and Enemies Of Reality. The music is also much more technical. My hat goes off to Jeff Loomis and Steve Smyth for their technical and tasteful solos. Most bands recently just solo for the sake of soloing. When Loomis or Smyth solo they have something to say and they say it right. Lastly, I give tons of credit to Warrel Dane. His lyrics on this album are chilling and his voice has never sounded better. I can safely say that, vocally, I am not a huge Warrel fan. This CD he has his sound down tight. He is not overwhelming and he adds a lot of energy and emotion to the mix.
If you are Nevermore fan or if you are trying to get into Nevermore, I would suggest you carefully step away from your computer and buy this CD at once. I will guarantee you will see this CD on most people's Top Five Metal CDs of 2005 list. Hell, even the reviewer and fans on www.blabbermouth.net see eye-to-eye on This Godless Endeavor. For those of you who don't visit that site on a regular basis, I recommend you look at some of the other reviews/comments, then look at Nevermore's. You will be pleasantly suprised. This CD will become a future classic. Mark my words.
Reviewed by: Jake Rosenberg
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nevermore was born from the ashes of the late-80s power metal act Sanctuary. When Sanctuary founders vocalist Warrel Dane and bassist Jim Sheppard heard that their mates wanted to play Grunge, which was in fashion at the time, they dissolved the group and Nevermore was born. Dane and Sheppard recruited young guitarist phenom Jeff Loomis and drummer Van Williams and this core has remained remarkably intact to this day, producing a string of stellar albums: Nevermore, the In Memory EP, The Politics Of Ecstasy, Dreaming Neon Black, Dead Heart In A Dead World and Enemies Of Reality. 2004s Enemies took a hit from fans, though, because of sub-standard production by Queensyche producer Kelly Gray. Gray was basically assigned to Nevermore by Century Media Records during a period of bad relations with the band (things have since improved).
But that is not the only adversity Nevermore has had to overcome as of late. At a show in Thessaloniki, Greece, on March 26, 2005, Jim Sheppard became seriously ill (or was he injured?), had to go to a hospital, and, according to Dane, almost died. The band actually returned to the venue that night to play the gig without him. Dane has also had health problems. As he describes it, I basically was drinking too much, and at the same time going through the onset of type 2 diabetes and didn't know it. Basically my pancreas tried to digest itself, is what the doctors told me ... It felt like somebody was taking a javelin and shoving it in my stomach repeatedly, over and over, until they drugged me up so much I passed out. I lost about two weeks. When I came to they were like, 'Do you know what day it is?' I said something like the date after I had gone into the hospital, and they're like, 'Nope. You've been gone for a while, dude.' Wow ... I almost didn't make it (Interview with Abrasive Rock.com, July 11, 2005). He lost a great deal of weight working himself back into shape, but now claims I've never been this healthy since my fucking twenties, so I feel really fucking good (Abrasive Rock.com, July 2005).
Then the bands luck turned. Nevermore finally found its long-sought permanent second guitarist in Steve Smyth (ex-Testament, Dragonlord, Vicious Rumors), who had toured with the group in the past. Then producer Andy Sneap agreed to re-master Enemies Of Reality, giving it the polished sound the band had dreamed of. Nevermore then entered Backstage Studios in England with producer Andy Sneap to record This Godless Endeavor.
The band comes out thrashing on Born (The Retribution Of Spiritual Sickness) and Dane gets right into some death vocals (the likes of which he experimented with on Enemies Of Reality). The guitar work on this song is insaneNevermore grooves like no other band in metal. Listen to Loomis arpeggiated sweeps during the stunning chorus, where Dane decries the loss of innocence and spiritual unity in our race: Born, we are the same/Within the silence/Indifference be thy name/Torn, we walk alone/We sleep in silent shades/The grandeur fades/The meaning never known. And then Loomis tears our f***ing face off with the ensuing solo. This is very heavy, folks. Final Product has a great opening groove and is a terrific change of pace. The guitars sound wonderful here and explore some sweet harmony. More powerful, meaningful lyrics from Dane: We're witnessing a famine of the innocent/Did they die for religion or the government?/Cause if your God wont do/Their God will starve you/Look at the world/Look at the hell/Look at the hate/Every day/Look at the final product/The world in slow decay. Check out Williams quick hitting double bass at the 1:45 mark. Then they slide into another one of those grooves that is just unfair! Danes warning at the end, about our inability to truly realize our moment, is damning: We live in a time of revolution/We swim the silent seas of sanity gone. When Acid Words kicks in, within seconds I can tell its one of the best on this album. Huge, melodic riffs; thrashing; Dane screaming bloody f***ing murderwelcome back, boys. No one in the world is playing power/thrash with this kind of conviction and grace. Pay close attention again to Williams drum workthe man is amazing. And these leads, again with Loomis and Smyth working in tandemWOW! Dane is cynical here about his legacy: It's a one way ride and there's nothing you can do/Not even suicide or my acid words can teach you anything useful. This Bittersweet Feast is going to be a favorite for many listeners. It has massive riffing, some bizarre background vocal work by Dane, and more angry lyrics: They feast on the meat in bittersweet denial/And swallow the blood of poisoned truths/They pick at the meat, a bittersweet feast for all the liars. Listen to this bizarre bridge at the 2:50 mark. Is that Tech? If nothing else, that impossible lead by Loomis is! Next up is the sequel to The Learning off of The Politics of Ecstasy, Sentient 6. The Terminator-like concept here is that a machine becomes sentient and destroys humanity: Trained/I see imperfection in your race/Lying in wait/Blind I suffer knowing Ill never reach your heaven/It's unattainable, please teach me how to dream/I long to be more than a machine. The dual harmonic leads here are again so far off the chart as to be unspeakable, and then Loomis finishes things off alone. This ending is really intense, scary, and Warrels bizarre yodeling(?) vocals have to be heard to be believed. All you feel and all you do/The medication controls you, he tells us on Medicated Nation. This chorus has tremendous impact, with a great uptempo power riff. Now slap your vein/Im the power of pain and pleasure symbiotic/I am, I am/In a medicated nation of blind neurotics/I am, I am/Psychotic pain baptized in pure narcotics. Dane understands the United States and its spiritual lethargy completely. Fans will get a kick out of The Holocaust Of Thought because of the guest lead by legendary guitarist James Murphy. This was a collaboration that was destined to happen and Murphy makes the most of his moment with thoughtful, technical playing. Loomis must have had a great day with him in the studio. Dane and Smyth co-wrote Sell My Heart For Stones. This is the power ballad that Dead Heart fans live for, but that I was never too enamored with. The Psalm Of Lydia is a thrashy street fight, so gird yourself. The leads in this track are guaranteed to blow your mind. Loomis has grown to impossible heights. The acoustic guitar to begin A Future Uncertain is a nice touch, as are Danes breezy vocals: To be green in the beautiful hour of envy so divine/To be pure, to let chance form your infinite design/Let the seed awakening begin, again. This is Danes rare flirtation with the Leary-an concepts he explored on Enemies Of Reality. The band follows it with a wonderful melodic acoustic riff that is built into towering thrash rhythms! To set your mind free, you must first just listen, Dane tells us in the grooving chorus. Even Sheppard gets in the act during the great, proggy bridge. This is another Smyth/Dane collaboration, and bodes well for the band's future. So far, This Godless Endeavors been great, and yet they finish with arguably the best Nevermore song ever, the epic title track. It starts with a gorgeous acoustic section, and stunning lead playing by Loomis that might make you cry. Its all a set-up for another Titanic Power Riff, Warrel soberly announcing Godless are we. Then they pick it up, thrashing. People, metal gets no better than this, and they segue from one technical section to the next without hesitation. Warrel is searching for answers here, and finding none: As I lifted up my brother, he said to me/'Abandon naive realism, surrender thought in cold precision'/I feel empty and deranged/Denied one last epiphany and ushered from the stage. At 4:55, prepare to hear one of the most stunning moments in recent metalsomething that sounds like Industrial Speed Death metal. Then they launch into a huge riff that makes me emotional, Warrel repeatedly growling CONSUME, CONFORM. After that, theyre back into Nevergroove. This is one of the best bands in metal, without any doubtVan Williams' playing here is masterful. The end slowly builds, with Dane shrieking the final line in his classic falsetto: We contemplate oblivion as we resonate our dissonance in godless random interpretation/The universe still expands, mankind still cant understand/How to define you, so hide your face and watch us exterminate ourselves over you/Welcome to the end, my friend, the sky has opened! Again, strong emotion overcomes me literally every time I hear thisit is absolutely haunting.
As brilliant a philosopher as Dane is, Im a little disappointed in his lyrical approach on This Godless Endeavor. He has completely abandoned all the interesting theories about the utility of reality that he was exploring on Enemies Of Reality. He was bordering on something truly revolutionary there, bordering on truly original thought that would progress beyond his muse, Timothy Leary, and its frustrating to see him take a pit stop and recycle some old ideas.
Thats small criticism, however, for an album that is so musically rich and admittedly still full of intriguing philosophy (with all the talk of "pigs," "sheep" and "lizards," though, you might think you're listening to Pink Floyd's Animals). Nevermore is one of those very, very rare bands that keeps getting heavier, more technically gifted, and more visionary with time (can I even think of another?). I dont take that for granted at all, and it is built around rock-solid integrity and dedication to their art. Hail.
