The World May Be Dead, but the Metal Heart is Still Beating
A Review of Nevermore¹s Dead Heart in a Dead World
I did it. I finally broke down and bought my first Nevermore CD: Dead
Heart in a Dead World. I¹ve been spinning the disc exclusively for
almost a week now, and feel I can give an informed review.
They say you can¹t judge a book by its cover; or an album by its cover
artwork. Well with Dead Heart you can. The artwork on the album cover
is the visualization album's style; dark, brooding and heavy. The disc
opens with a full auditory assault with the opening track
Narcosynthesis. The machine-gun double bass complementing the brutal
throaty Megadeth-ish riffs immediately asserts itself and let¹s the
listener know this album isn¹t for the faint of heart. Warrel Dane¹s
vocals also harken back to the glory days of Power Speed Metal in the
opening verse of the opening track; gruff but with a certain resonance
that is achieved both technologically and naturally. After my first
sojourn into this Dead World, descriptions like dark, surreal, heavy,
brutal, and menacing all swirled in my mind. This is truly a ³Heavy
Metal² disc in all of its double bass pounding riff-laden glory. And
you know what.I like it. I like it a lot.
I will admit it took me a few full spins of the disc to get my ears
around this style of music and Warrel Dane¹s vocals. I was never a
huge fan of Thrash/Speed Metal, and many times this album crosses well
into that musical territory. However, Nevermore manages to mix in more
then enough great hooks and melodies to keep the music accessible to
any fan of Metal. For me, Nevermore is a difficult band to define as I
hear elements of Pantera, Megadeth, Queensryche, Dream Theater, and
Bruce Dickinson throughout Dead Heart in a Dead World. But somehow,
Nevermore manages to mix these influences into a concoction that isn¹t
derivative or a blatant rip-off. Although I must admit that the
entire ambiance of this album is so reminiscent of Bruce Dickinson¹s
The Chemical Wedding that I¹m wondering if there isn¹t some connection
between the two albums.
Once I¹d listened to the album in its entirety a few times, I starting
taking the music apart and dissecting the aspects of it.
Vocals: Like any singer I¹m not familiar with, Warrel Dane¹s vocals
took some getting used to, but once I¹d gotten my ears around his style
his immense talent became apparent. Dane¹s vocal strength doesn¹t
necessarily lay in his ³technical² prowess as a singer, and note-wise
he definitely doesn¹t have a huge vocal range. However, Dane does have
a huge range across vocal styles and uses them adeptly to compliment
the music. I hear influences from Mustaine to Halford to Tate to
Dickinson. Dane transitions between the styles effortlessly, many
times within a single song, and the end result is a style all his own.
His voice is perhaps the most expressive I¹ve heard since Geoff Tate,
A Review of Nevermore¹s Dead Heart in a Dead World
I did it. I finally broke down and bought my first Nevermore CD: Dead
Heart in a Dead World. I¹ve been spinning the disc exclusively for
almost a week now, and feel I can give an informed review.
They say you can¹t judge a book by its cover; or an album by its cover
artwork. Well with Dead Heart you can. The artwork on the album cover
is the visualization album's style; dark, brooding and heavy. The disc
opens with a full auditory assault with the opening track
Narcosynthesis. The machine-gun double bass complementing the brutal
throaty Megadeth-ish riffs immediately asserts itself and let¹s the
listener know this album isn¹t for the faint of heart. Warrel Dane¹s
vocals also harken back to the glory days of Power Speed Metal in the
opening verse of the opening track; gruff but with a certain resonance
that is achieved both technologically and naturally. After my first
sojourn into this Dead World, descriptions like dark, surreal, heavy,
brutal, and menacing all swirled in my mind. This is truly a ³Heavy
Metal² disc in all of its double bass pounding riff-laden glory. And
you know what.I like it. I like it a lot.
I will admit it took me a few full spins of the disc to get my ears
around this style of music and Warrel Dane¹s vocals. I was never a
huge fan of Thrash/Speed Metal, and many times this album crosses well
into that musical territory. However, Nevermore manages to mix in more
then enough great hooks and melodies to keep the music accessible to
any fan of Metal. For me, Nevermore is a difficult band to define as I
hear elements of Pantera, Megadeth, Queensryche, Dream Theater, and
Bruce Dickinson throughout Dead Heart in a Dead World. But somehow,
Nevermore manages to mix these influences into a concoction that isn¹t
derivative or a blatant rip-off. Although I must admit that the
entire ambiance of this album is so reminiscent of Bruce Dickinson¹s
The Chemical Wedding that I¹m wondering if there isn¹t some connection
between the two albums.
Once I¹d listened to the album in its entirety a few times, I starting
taking the music apart and dissecting the aspects of it.
Vocals: Like any singer I¹m not familiar with, Warrel Dane¹s vocals
took some getting used to, but once I¹d gotten my ears around his style
his immense talent became apparent. Dane¹s vocal strength doesn¹t
necessarily lay in his ³technical² prowess as a singer, and note-wise
he definitely doesn¹t have a huge vocal range. However, Dane does have
a huge range across vocal styles and uses them adeptly to compliment
the music. I hear influences from Mustaine to Halford to Tate to
Dickinson. Dane transitions between the styles effortlessly, many
times within a single song, and the end result is a style all his own.
His voice is perhaps the most expressive I¹ve heard since Geoff Tate,
