The Obsidian Conspiracy

When Nevermore’s best albums are discussed, their swansong ‘The Obsidian Conspiracy’ almost never comes up. This may have something to do with their rather unceremonious split less than a year after its release, because of which the album was never properly promoted in some parts of the world. But while ‘The Obsidian Conspiracy’ doesn’t quite reaches the heights of ‘Dead Heart In A Dead World’ and ‘This Godless Endeavor’, the best songs on the album are highlights in Nevermore’s career. There are a few curveballs on ‘The Obsidian Conspiracy’ and those in particular leave a lasting impression.

One thing that may have thrown some fans off at the time of release is the production by former Soilwork guitarist Peter Wichers, who worked with singer Warrel Dane on his solo debut ‘Praises To The War Machine’ two years prior. His influence is definitely heard, as he clearly helped the band trim some of the fat off the compositions. The songs are notably shorter this time around, with the longest one just barely over the five and a half minute mark. There is an increased focus on Dane’s incredible vocals as well. All things considered, however, ‘The Obsidian Conspiracy’ sounds like no one else than Nevermore.

Its relatively weak start does not help the album make the impact it should either. ‘The Termination Proclamation’ is quite a cool track with a cleverly understated chorus, but is certainly the weakest of all album openers by the band, while ‘Your Poison Throne’ is a bit too obviously constructed to be the big, catchy track of the record. Fortunately, things only get better after that. And that already starts with ‘Moonrise (Through Mirrors Of Death)’. Though its opening riff might be a bit too reminiscent of the one in ‘Narcosynthesis’, it is a powerfully pounding track with both Dane and guitarist Jeff Loomis churning out fantastic melodies in the chorus.

‘And The Maiden Spoke’ pits Loomis’ trademark pulsating riffs against atmospheric layers of lead guitar, while the shifting time feel of Van Williams’ drums constantly catches the listener off guard. ‘She Comes In Colors’ builds from a brooding acoustic start toward a dark Nevermore epic, albeit shorter than usual. The preceding ‘The Day You Built The Wall’ also features prominent acoustic guitars and Dane’s goth-influenced majesty, only this time with a crushingly doomy chorus. Initially, it did not resonate with me that much, but it is a real grower. ‘The Blue Marble And The New Soul’ is a fantastic dark ballad that never quite develops as you expect it to and therefore holds the listeners’ attention.

Even when the songs are more traditionally Nevermore, if such a thing even exists, they manage to impress. The ripping thrasher of a title track that closes the album is the most convincing, but the heartfelt semi-ballad ‘Emptiness Unobstructed’ and the way the melancholy of ‘Without Morals’ makes way for a defiant chorus are very much worth hearing as well. Sure, ‘The Obsidian Conspiracy’ is not Nevermore’s masterpiece, but it is much better than it is often given credit for. It’s not quite going out with a bang, but I certainly prefer it to ‘Enemies Of Reality’, even in its remixed form.

Recommended tracks: ‘Moonrise (Through Mirrors Of Death)’, ‘And The Maiden Spoke’, ‘The Obsidian Conspiracy’

Originally written for my Kevy Metal weblog

Compromise is a funny thing. In our human relationships, we see it as a sign of goodwill, implying a certain strength of character while also adding strength to our connections with others. And yet, so often, these noble attempts at connections prove to be ill-fitting and thus short-lived. Most of us have probably had that late stage of a close friendship or romantic relationship where we resorted to frequent compromises in a desperate attempt to maintain harmony in the face of increasing discord. In the moment, when you’re making them, those compromises seem like progress, but once the relationship ends, a retrospective look at them reconstitutes them into obvious harbingers of the end, fleeting grasps at a happiness that cannot be attained given the factors at play.

While it may be more visceral for us to learn such lessons in our most intimate relationships, artistic partnerships certainly have the same vulnerabilities. At the time, Warrel Dane and Jeff Loomis might’ve thought they had reached the best unification of their sensibilities on The Obsidian Conspiracy, but hindsight reveals this album, and everything surrounding it, to be a quite direct sign of Nevermore’s demise a year later.

The band had reached an all-time high with This Godless Endeavor, and though there is some disagreement in the Nevermore fanbase on which of the band’s albums is best, it certainly cannot be said that The Obsidian Conspiracy was preceded by any musical signs of the band going downhill. However, by the time the album was out, it had been five long years since the band’s last effort, roughly doubling their longest previous interval between albums. In that time, Dane and Loomis had each released solo albums of quite different characters. Dane’s Praises to the War Machine, in particular, was a dramatic stylistic deviation from anything his main band had done.

Rather than declaring the goth rock bug to be exorcised following his solo effort, Warrel brought that disc’s producer, ex-Soilwork guitarist Peter Wichers, into the Nevermore camp to produce The Obsidian Conspiracy. It's known that Wichers had an effect on shortening the song lengths from what Loomis originally had planned on for these songs; while we can't know the full scope of his influence, it's clear that some of the rock-oriented edge from Praises To The War Machine has been imported here, charging headlong into Loomis' riff-oriented fury and Van Williams' percussive attack. While these forces make some ostensible room for each other, neither the mid-paced rock or frenzied metal elements actually go so far as to properly accommodate the other, resulting in an album that gets very little right.

None of the issues hit you right away, as the album actually kicks off with the sort of bang that, for a few moments, builds the anticipation that the band has topped, or at least equaled, their previous magnum opus. “The Termination Proclamation” charges out of the gate with the expected Nevermore elements: frenetic mechanistic riffing from Loomis, kicked up a few notches by the brilliant, explosive drumming of Williams, enhanced by the drama of Dane’s vocals—first aggressive and commanding, then dramatic and hypnotic. Loomis adds a typically energetic and high-quality solo. The song ends somewhat prematurely, its mere three-minute runtime bearing a stark contrast to the formula of This Godless Endeavor, but it feels like an introduction to a mammoth metal masterpiece.

But alas, that dream album is not to come, and The Obsidian Conspiracy doesn’t waste much additional time hiding its flaws. Second track “Your Poison Throne” is a much more fitting introduction to this album’s true nature. It’s not as though the track is devoid of good ideas—the intro riff is of reasonable quality, the chorus has a nice dark surge to it, and Loomis’ lead work is as tasteful and intriguing as ever. It’s also not an abandonment of Nevermore’s progressive elements, as there’s definitely a multitude of contrasting ideas going on within the sub-four-minute runtime. Unfortunately, though, they don’t flourish in the same way as they did on This Godless Endeavor or even Dead Heart in a Dead World for three reasons, all of which “Your Poison Throne” introduces.

The first is that with more compressed song lengths, ideas don’t get as fully developed or have time to take hold. For instance, the rest of the band mostly drops out for the first half of Loomis’ solo in “Your Poison Throne,” but this minimalism seemingly comes out of nowhere and then is almost immediately abandoned just as the listener gets used to it. Secondly, Dane’s lyrics have taken a considerable step back. Ordinarily, that’s not a huge deal to someone like me—lyrics are not a huge part of my listening experience—but Dane’s typical subject matter, not to mention his highly dramatic vocal approach, mean the lyrics need to clear at least a certain bar to merit their delivery. He doesn’t clear that bar here, with several lines that are either utterly basic and predictable: “What do you want from this world/What do you want from this life,” or silly-sounding: “Sit upon your poison throne, you little drone.” Thirdly, and most problematically, not all the sections are up to par. “Your Poison Throne” asks the listener to stomach thirty-fucking-four off-key chants of “Rise!” across four different parts of the song. I counted, because if a band is going to make a decision this bad, I might as well get some humor from it. Even though a lot of what’s around these sections is of reasonable Nevermore quality, the jarring transitions of this sort of “concise progressivism” become all the more problematic when half of them lead to avenues of aural offense.

And from there we proceed, with not a single song thereafter escaping these issues. “Moonrise (Through Mirrors of Death) has more odd, nonsensical lyricism that has the same thematic character as much of Warrel’s work but without any of the coherence and heft. It’s a bit better than “Your Poison Throne,” with a nice chorus hook and some great drum work from Williams underneath an all-too-abbreviated Loomis lead break, but it blatantly copies the main riff from “Narcosynthesis” and has some iffy vocal production. “The Day You Built The Wall” plunges into outright self-parody from Dane in lyrics and delivery, and its combination of a depressive groove riff, dreary acoustic work, and a stuttering heavy chorus do nothing but awkward up the proceedings even further.

Perhaps the absolute nadir of the album is fourth track, “And The Maiden Spoke,” and it is emblematic of what went wrong here. It starts off with a vaguely psychedelic intro that a metalcore band might think up, then shifts into a thrash/death riff, Warrel shouts “She was born in 1617” with little melodic focus, and then five seconds later we’re somehow in a one-note chug section with his trademark low speaking and an unbelievably silly falsetto backing, before it all opens up into the bland intro riff again for the utterly anticlimactic chorus. None of these ideas fit together, with some seeming to come from the more streamlined rock-oriented aspects Warrel went toward on Praises To The War Machine, others coming from the band’s past work, still others trying (ineffectively) to navigate a middle ground between the two sounds, and some additional experiments thrown into the mix seemingly at random.

One of the weirdest outgrowths of the “rock” side of things is the fact that about half of these songs have oddly major-key sounding melodies from Warrel. I’m totally fine with less metallic songwriting and major-key melodies, but there’s no adjustment from the band to fit that style, save perhaps Williams taking an unfortunate backseat in the energy department relative to past works. Even without that, Warrel could’ve helped his own cause out by perhaps focusing on a different set of lyrical ideas, but what little of substance can be gleaned from his lyricism here is perhaps even more deeply cynical than his past work. By the time “She Comes In Colors” rolls around, the lyrics almost have a vapid power metal sort of effect, where Warrel is repeating “slave,” “insane,” “blame,” “dying,” etc., much like ZP Theart was all about storms, fire, burning, flames, and so forth on the first several Dragonforce efforts. Whatever sentiment existed behind them gets lost in the mundane repetition.

Needless to say, such fare doesn’t really fit a soaring rock major-key structure, making it all the more awkward when that’s supposed to represent the climax of songs like “Without Morals” and the title track. Worse yet, of course, these melodic choruses make little sense coming out of the more traditionally aggressive riffage in the sections that lead up to them. Dane’s natural vocal charisma is also mostly absent when he’s in this mode, as he adopts sing in a clean, relatively faceless midrange. For those who find his typical delivery annoying, perhaps this constitutes an improvement, but his lack of range and lightness make him relatively ill-fitted for such parts--he sounds like he's hanging on for dear life on some of these lines. If you didn't like Dane's vocals before, the adjustments won't do enough to help him here, and if you did like him before, he's neutered much of what made him so special. Say what you will about Warrel's vocal approach, but "faceless" is not a term anyone would use to describe any of his other work.

In fairness, there are several sections here that work just fine—Loomis’ solos are generally quite welcome if nowhere near the same showstoppers as previous works (on length alone, for one thing), and there are some nice verses here and there. There are even a couple of songs that work okay. The single “Emptiness Unobstructed” decides to just go all-in on the major-key rock vibe, which still doesn’t really work with the lyrics, but at least the song is consistent and flows properly because it’s not mashing different styles together. The song also has a nice vocal hook, though it relies on it a bit too heavily. “Emptiness Unobstructed” is followed by ballad “The Blue Marble and the New Soul,” which gets a lot of things right. It’s another in the band’s line of slow-burn ballads like the masterful “Sentient 6” and “Sell My Heart For Stones” from the previous album, as well as “Who Decides,” “The Heart Collector,” etc. Warrel has a lot of charisma here, and the first half of the song has a really nice understated clean guitar and piano backing that sounds like it’s going to build to something epic. The problem is the pacing. You keep waiting and waiting for the epic explosion to happen through verse 1, verse 2, and by the time Loomis’ solo comes in, you’re convinced it’s never coming in and that this is just going to be a nice dramatic understated ballad all the way through. But no, at the end of the solo, then the heavy rhythm guitars come in, only to find that the song has inexplicably transformed into My Chemical Romance’s “Welcome To The Black Parade.”

The five minutes of “Emptiness Unobstructed” and the first two minutes of “The Blue Marble and the New Soul” are easily the longest the band goes without getting in their own way here. And sure enough, Warrel and Jeff got out of each other’s way pretty quickly thereafter, with both developing their own styles more fittingly (especially Loomis) on later output. Further, both have stated that The Obsidian Conspiracy didn’t really turn out like they had hoped. We might view compromise as an ideal, but though it has an inclusive spirit, often it twists and neuters decisions in such a way that nobody is left happy with the half-idea of theirs that made it through the blender. The blending of musical ideals on The Obsidian Conspiracy is about as rough as they come, and it both portended and represented the end of one of the greatest acts in modern American metal.

Perspectives can often change with time, sometimes even to the point of completely reversing one's previous opinion on something. On the issue of Nevermore, arguably one of the more polarizing bands involved in the modern trend in metal circles from the 1990s onward, hindsight does offer a certain degree of clarity on how this band developed. But more so than the gradual development that this band partook of while becoming poster-children of Andy Sneap's dark, percussive and loathsome take on album production, it gives a clue as to their ultimate end now that the band has essentially ceased to be, barring a change of mind on the part of half of its membership. Nevermore had begun down a more musically profitable road soon after the turn of the millennium, coming to a head with the release of their magnum opus This Godless Endeavor in 2005, an album which brought their rage filled and self-hating formula into focus. After that was five years of studio silence from this band and two solos project releases from Dane and Loomis, each of them incorporating elements of Nevermore's sound.

For anyone with a keen sense of intuition and any degree of experience with big name band breakups, the proverbial writing was on the wall as the two principle egos behind this band were showing signs of separating from each other. In this climate of friction stands The Obsidian Conspiracy, the last full length album to come out of the Nevermore band and also arguably one of the better offerings in their long career. The underlying disconnect between Loomis and Dane is present, but utilized in a manner that manages to work within the trend that was solidified on the previous album. It fails to outdo its predecessor largely because it tends to play it safe and largely relies on simplified versions of ideas from This Godless Endeavor and puts them together into easily digestible songs that are still progressively styled, but shorter and more predictable, lacking that occasional element of convoluted confusion that plays well to Nevermore's latter day niche.

Things start on a decidedly jarring note, opting to nail things dead on with a series of fast and complex riff monsters that draws one into a dreary world of unfocused angst. "The Termination Proclamation" is among the busier and complex of anything to come out of this band, and oozes virtuoso guitar hero complexity in a way that suggests Jeff Loomis was bringing his fancier ideas from his solo project into the equation. It's probably among the more compact and song-oriented shred songs to ever be unleashed upon a mainstream music audience, even compared to recent Symphony X offerings. Nipping on its heels are a couple of longer and somewhat less agitated crushers in "Your Poison Throne" and "Moonrise (Through Mirrors Of Death)", each showcasing more impressive guitar work and a healthy display of drumming acrobatics. The only real weak link to speak of with these songs is Warrel Dane, who is occasionally on point, but still tends to be a bit sloppy when trying to clean sing and also overly reliant on deep spoken parts.

True to form, as the album progresses things get a bit more nuanced, but generally speaking the feel of this album mirrors the chaotic character of its predecessor with a slightly more mechanical gloss. "And The Maiden Spoke" and "The Obsidian Conspiracy" are essentially longer and somewhat more involved answers to the frenetic and technical display first established on "The Termination Proclamation", showcasing the chops of both Loomis and drummer Van Williams to a sheer fault and proving to be the best material on the album. A few other songs function well by mixing in some gloomy balladry either at the onset like "She Comes In Colors", or dispersed through a number of sections as on "The Day You Built Your Wall" and are a bit less riveting, but still solid. Things only seem to ebb into mediocre territory when it appears as though Warrel Dane is commanding the fold and things turn to plodding, down-tempo territory with an over-emphasis on the vocals (aka this band's weak spot) and featuring ironically happy sounding elements, particularly on "Without Morals" and "Emptiness Unobstructed".

It's a tad bit bittersweet that Nevermore essentially ended things on an up note, as this is probably the most technically impressive thing they've ever done and the second best overall album put out in their more than 15 years career. Then again, this is an album that kind of underscores the divide that existed between the Jeff Loomis and Warrel Dane camps of the band, and it can be just as easily observed in what Van Williams and Loomis have done in their own projects since this album versus the poor showing that Dane and Jim Sheppard had with Sanctuary's return a couple years ago (Sheppard just recently vacated said band as well). All bets are off as to whether Nevermore will be brought back any time soon, but all that would need to happen to build upon the respectable accomplishment here would be for Jeff Loomis to hire a competent singer and lyricist, as well as a drummer of about equal ability to Van Williams and he'd probably supplant most, if not all of the work he did with Nevermore. Such is the fate of bands with skewed levels of talent between their members, but if it's any consolation, this is a good album and one of a select few by this band that lends itself to listeners outside its usual fan base.

Nevermore has never been a consistent band, but their career highlights are extraordinary. With puzzling releases such as The Politics of Ecstasy and Enemies of Reality coming after better outings like the self-titled album and Dead Heart in a Dead World respectively, it should have been expected that Nevermore would follow their best album (the astounding This Godless Endeavor) with their worst; and yet I remained in denial through the five year break, through the solo excursions, through the shaky interviews, and through initial listens to some of the album's tracks. Yep, it shouldn't have been a surprise that The Obsidian Conspiracy sucked, but it was, and it was a bitter one at that.

The songs here are shorter, more simplistic, and more accessible than ever before. That might not be a problem if most of them were actually good. Gone are the lethal thrash riffs, the raw production, the cynical yet evocative vocal performance, and the crushing energy. They've all been replaced by a soft, apathetic feeling fraught with extremely modern trappings and incompatible song parts. Seriously, the verses and choruses don't even fit together half the time (see "The Termination Proclamation"), passing off mechanical structures with hollow spirits as album centerpieces. Others are unacceptably repetitive and annoying ("Your Poison Throne"), while a couple show promise but botch it with bad decision making at some point within ("Without Morals" and "She Comes in Colors"). Few tracks are flat out offensive (I'd have to site the empty title track in particular), but most are forgettable and mediocre enough to kill any enjoyment I could possibly get out of them.

The performances of the two head honchos here are sub-par at best. It's obvious that a mutiny was imminent from the sheer lack of care on display throughout each and every track. Jeff Loomis's excellent soloing is mysteriously absent, instead dwelling on braindead, whiny leads. It's frustrating to hear talent restrained, and I'm sure he was frustrated as well. At the forefront of this issue is Warrel Dane, who evidently doesn't care, selling out his signature emotive snarls for an uninspired clean approach. Even the lyrics, which were one of the band's best aspects, are watered down and awful, coming across not as the political hate machine Warrel once was, but as an old man struggling with dementia. It's like he's trying to continue his style from his (admittedly satisfying) solo album on a Nevermore record. I shouldn't have to tell you that it doesn't work.

I can only guess that the entire purpose of The Obsidian Conspiracy was to make Nevermore marketable to the masses, a move that resulted in an album that only vaguely resembled the band in the first place. No wonder Jeff Loomis left; what we have here is basically Soilwork, Warrel Dane's solo material, and a pinch of old Nevermore put together in one questionable concoction. The Obsidian Conspiracy is a dish that tastes decent at first, but assaults your digestive system and pains you on its way out. Finally, it ends up in the toilet where it belongs. Now we can only hope that it stays there.

(http://metallicfaithimmortal.blogspot.com/)

Originally published at http://www.suite101.com

Five years have passed between the release of this album and 2005's This Godless Endeavor. In that time, the band went through various illnesses, tour cancellations, the departure of now Forbidden guitarist Steve Symth, and a couple solo albums with vocalist Warrel Dane and guitarist Jeff Loomis at the helm.

Now armed with producer/Soilwork guitarist Peter Wichers and returning to the single-guitar format that graced three albums prior, the band promises fans an album that would be more musically open than their usual brand of heavy metal. Seeing how this is also their first album to ever land on the Billboard 200, it's safe to say that the direction they chose is a pretty interesting one...

When realizing that Wichers had previously produced Dane's solo debut in 2008, it becomes clear that The Obsidian Conspiracy has largely been influenced by that album's more minimal style. While This Godless Endeavor has been regarded as being one of Nevermore's most technical releases to date, this album may be the band's most accessible since Dead Heart in a Dead World came out in 2000.

There aren't too many moments on here that come off as being blatantly commercial though the songwriting does seem to be a little more simplified and less aggressive compared to past songs such as "Born" and "Enemies of Reality." Many of the songs are driven by the vocal-centric choruses and generally stick to 3-5 minute durations without one of their signature epics such as "The Learning" in sight.

Fortunately, nearly every song manages to stand out in some way. "Emptiness Unobstructed" and "Without Morals" are the most accessible songs of the lot and both feature memorable vocal lines. "The Termination Proclamation," "Moonrise (Through the Mirrors of Death)," and the title track might be the heaviest songs to be found with "Moonrise" featuring a few riffs that bring to mind "This Dying Soul" by Dream Theater.

There are also plenty of slower songs on here that should be comparable to past Nevermore ballads. "The Blue Marble and the New Soul" and "She Comes In Colors" are both driven by smooth acoustic and electric guitar playing and "The Day You Built the Wall" is made memorable by some particularly creepy vocal layering. There's nothing quite as gripping as "Believe In Nothing" was, but it's all pretty well done.

And despite several listeners labeling Dane on past efforts as being too melodramatic, his vocals are at his most focused and carry the songs well on this album. He still throws around a lot of variety though somehow shows a little more restraint than usual. The guitars and drums also manage to stand out despite being in the spotlight less often with Loomis proving once more that he can handle performing both lead and rhythm guitar duties in a studio setting.

The lyrics are also fairly interesting and seem to largely do away with the politics and social commentary that was dominant on the last few albums. Instead, a more abstract feel is in use that was no doubt inspired by the more personal lyrics on Dane's solo venture.

While they are generally interestingly written, there are a few lines that come off as rather silly at times such as this sample from "And The Maiden Spoke" ("She was born in 1617/She tasted like the wind always chasing her dreams"). On the bright side, they don't distract the listener from the music itself and there have plenty of similar moments in the past...

Ultimately, this is proving to be an album that will divide a good portion of its listeners. On one hand, established fans may be turned off by the more accessible elements and lesser instrumental prominence. On the other end, this may be a good route to lure in both new fans as well as listeners that had been previously turned off the dissonant sound.

It's a very good album overall and has a pretty consistent feel overall. There aren't too many instant classics but there are still of plenty of good songs and performances. Definitely worth checking out for new listeners though purchasing Dead Heart in a Dead World and This Godless Endeavor may be a little more effective.

Highlights:
"The Termination Proclamation," "Emptiness Unobstructed," "Without Morals," "The Day You Built the Wall," and "She Comes In Colors"

I just want to start off by saying that I am a big Nevermore fan. I have been for years. I love every album that they have ever done (well, up until this one). I love their Sanctuary-era albums and thought both Warrel Dane and Jeff Loomis' solo albums were excellent. So I am not a Nevermore hater.

But I do have a bit of a love/hate relationship with this album. I mean, it sounds like Nevermore. The album cover looks like a Nevermore cover. The musicians sound like they're in Nevermore but there is just something wrong. The songwriting while musically, is still strong, something seems to be missing. The performances from the musicians is worthy of praise. Jeff Loomis is an unrelenting force of nature on guitar. Both Jim Sheppard and Van Williams are providing a monstrous, pounding rhythm section and Warrel Dane sounds as sorrowful as ever.

Now, I know everyone was expecting This Godless Endeavour Part II and Nevermore made a conscience decision to not ride that wave again for at least another album or so but in my personal opinion, I think that is what let them down with this album. The songs at times seem very disjointed, strained and even forced. Some of Warrel Dane's vocal lines really struggle to stick with the songs and while the music is for most part, quite enjoyable, it's the vocals that make this album hard to listening to. One song that sticks out like a sore thumb in terms of bad vocals lines is ...And The Maiden Spoke. Warrel sounds as though he's struggle to stay in time and it seems as though he trying too hard. Now, I know this is "progressive metal" but c'mon...

Now musically, this album is kinda split into half and half. On one hand, you have ripping songs like The Termination Proclamation, Your Poison Throne, Moonrise (Through Mirrors Of Death), The Obsidian Conspiracy etc. that are balls-out, metal-as-fuck songs that are so heavy, they could kick Thor's cunt up his back and then on the other hand, you have the remaining songs that are very melodic and mellow (for Nevermore anyways), reminiscent of the band's early years (In Memory, The Politics Of Ecstasy, DNB etc). These songs have a kind of gothic/Opeth tinge to them, in my opinion anyways.

In the months since the albums release, I have spun this CD numerous times. I have it on my iPod and try to listen to it for what it is and sometimes, I have enjoyed this CD as background music. But let's face it, Nevermore isn't background music. Their music demands your attention. It stands up and shouts: "Listen to me, you little fuck! I'm here to kick your teeth through the back of your fuckin' skull!" and with me being a musician, I listen for every little detail in an album and get sucked into it. That is why This Godless Endeavour was such an ear-gasm to listen too because there was so much going on and played with perfection that it never became boring, the band didn't sound tired and unfocused. It was just awesome. With The Obsidian Conspiracy, save for a few songs, the band seems to be dying out of enthusiasm. The ideas are there, they truly are, but they are just executed lacklusterly (If that is such a word).

With that being said, Jeff Loomis and Van Williams departed the Nevermore camp not long after this album's relase to focus on other musical ventures. Maybe this album was the catalyst for that or maybe there were just sick to death of Warrel. Who knows? If you want a Nevermore album that is crushing, pulverising and outright fuckin' awesome, listen to every other Nevermore release before this. That is the true Nevermore. If you are a new fan, try this album and they listen to the other albums for it will make you appreciate them more.

Nevermore is a band that I've never really taken the time to delve into. I have owned This Godless Endeavor for a while, but never given it a determined listen. In a recent attempt of mine to include some more varied metal in my listening diet (other than my power metal addiction), I decided to break in my copy of The Obsidian Conspiracy by listening to it the same way my compatriot does: with lyric booklet in hand, immersing myself fully in the art of the album both visually and sonically. The experience was a fantastic one, and I don't get to do this nearly as often as I should. In the case of Nevermore's latest release, it meant a very dark and heavy evening for me, which was precisely what I had been wanting.

So many people are well-acquainted with Nevermore that I think it would be highly redundant of me to describe most of the group's basic stylings. Personally, I was immediately drawn to the solid mass of guitar work that snarls and growls its way around the rest of the musical elements. It was a bit more technical than I was expecting, and quite heavy and satisfying. After listening to The Obsidian Conspiracy, I am absolutely convinced that Jeff Loomis is indeed an artist when it comes to dark and sinuous rhythm guitar lines. He's no slouch on solos either, as a great number of the breaks will attest.

Just being involved with a lot of metal fans and communities, I've heard a lot of garbage thrown at Nevermore, with the target often specifically being Warrel Dane. I can understand how some people may not care for him, but he's a talented vocalist, and most of the mindless Dane-bashing is unfounded and stupid. For the dark, sometimes hopeless music that appears on this album, his voice is really quite ideal. From a low, raspy baritone to a smooth tenor, Warrel's performance here is admirable and excellent. I especially like his octave harmonization on tracks like “Without Morals”, which has one of the catchiest choruses on the album. In terms of sheer aggressiveness, the title track and “Termination Proclamation” are also superb.

Looking over the art pamphlet and digesting this rather black, angry morsel, I was struck by some of the imagery and similarities. The image that particularly sticks in my head is that of a large bird in flight, dropping human bones over a bleak landscape. This definitely isn't a happy slab of metal, but it's actually one that I could see myself listening to fairly often (at least my favorite tracks). While I enjoy the songs listed above along with “Moonrise” and “And the Maiden Spoke” especially, I do not care for the slower tunes that Nevermore presents. Emotionally, I don't get near the same feeling of desperation or disquiet that most of the harder and faster tracks supply, and they certainly are nowhere near as interesting musically. Not bad songs, but they don't appeal to me directly.

Though this has already grown on me considerably since I first popped it in, it doesn't quite have the same sort of melodic memorability that some other artists do. Nonetheless, The Obsidian Conspiracy will definitely stay in my collection and be revisited not infrequently. This is a welcome change of pace from my normal tastes, and in general a fine, dark piece of American metal.

Originally written for www.blackwindmetal.blogspot.com/

I have been…less than kind to Nevermore in the past. I never liked anything I heard from them and always found it pretty shapeless and underwhelming. It never really hooked me in and I was always bored by the end. This newest album of theirs…actually isn’t that bad though. I was shocked. Maybe it was because I had zero expectations at all, but I found The Obsidian Conspiracy to be a pretty enjoyable album at times. Let’s look into why.

Now, this is Modern Metal, so trademarked and ironclad in that little cubbyhole that it deserves to be capitalized. The guitars chug like grinding gears in a factory, the lyrics are depressing, the vocals don’t go above a midrange snarl (although that’s more because vocalist Warrel Dane just isn’t talented enough to do anything else, but that’s another paragraph) and the music just…seethes depression, anger and melancholy from every pore. It’s dark, angry music for dark, angry people…most of whom want to think they’re being very artsy because they like this band and this album.

The biggest change from previous Nevermore albums is just that the songwriting isn’t completely bloated to oblivion. The songs are short and compact and they all have distinct beginnings and endings, without the tendency to run halfway decent ideas into the ground for no reason, like they used to. Warrel Dane still holds them back a lot, though, as even when the songs are gripping and compelling, he’s still whining like he has a sore throat, and it’s distracting. Jeff Loomis is a talented guitar player who kind of sells himself short playing these dumb-chunk riffs, but I can’t really say what he’s doing is a detractor, as it does fit the songs. The rest of the band is competent and pretty much just does what they need to do, I guess.

But the songs themselves are surprisingly enjoyable. They groove and chug like mad, and they all have distinct catchy musical motifs for the listener to sink his or her ears into. I don’t think I’ve ever had songs from a Nevermore album stuck in my head like I have with The Obsidian Conspiracy. They’ve just done a good job all around at improving their songwriting, as it is more concise, trimmed down and direct than ever before, and a lot better for that. Standouts include “Moonrise,” “And the Maiden Spoke,” the fantastic “Emptiness Unobstructed” and the hook-fisted “Without Morals.” In the realm of overly depressing modern metal they are all good tunes.

Nevermore would still do better if they got a vocalist with more power and range, but for what it is, this is a good album. They might never be an awesome band like some of their fans say, but they have crafted a solid, enjoyable album of reflective, self-hating metal for the people who just can’t stop beating themselves up and contemplating the futility of life. Good for what it is.

Nevermore albums always take a few listens to properly digest, and after plenty of time to do this the verdict remains: a bit mediocre after the incredible This Godless Endeavor. Of course, following up such a masterpiece would always be difficult, but after five years of waiting it does feel like they produce something more.

The Obsidian Conspiracy is still an enjoyable album, that's without question. It still makes good use of Nevermore's unique blend of power, thrash, progressive and doom into one flavoursome whole. But that's also really all it has going for it: it's a bit "Nevermore-by-numbers". Not weak, just not one of their better albums.

It has it's stand-outs, like the empassioned She Comes in Colors with it's captivating soloing, or the haunting And the Maiden Spoke, and that last track is a real explosive ending, tearing right into you with blistering guitar work at the start and rarely letting up on the intensity. When it shines it really shows what they're capable of, and the aforementioned songs earn their places among the band's best. But it also has too many tracks which, even if not actual filler, don't stand out much either, and overall it lacks the progressive ambition of Godless Endeavor. Obsidian plays it safe with shorter, simpler songs treading familiar ground.

As a Nevermore album, it's average. This makes it a solid metal album with plenty of flavour, and certainly worth having if you're a fan of the band or looking to get into them. But there's too little here that genuinely impresses, too much of a band content to just play more of the same, so if you're looking for their best there are other albums to go to first.

Nevermore's The Obsidian Conspiracy is my own personal most-anticipated new album of the year. It came out today in the U.S. after being out for more than a week internationally.

As with any Nevermore album, the stars of the show are the amazing riffs of Jeff Loomis and the great vocal work of Warrel Dane.

Even at 41, Dane's distinct, emotional, 5+ octave voice is still strong, and he's still fully able to blend snarling, singing, and screaming in a way unmatched by anyone else.

You're not going to find them exploring much new territory, though there is some (see "The Blue Marble and the New Soul"). The focus seems to be a lot stronger on the vocals. Though the guitar is still Loomis's signature technical thrash and raunchy tone, it's slowed down a little to make room for Dane to explore his range. The band really shines best when they manage to fully showcase both talents, like on "She Comes in Colors" or the amazing title track.

The album isn't quite as aggressive as the Nevermore we're used to, but it's not soft either. Instead, it's darker and more emotional, likely due to the increased vocal focus. However, a problem Nevermore sometimes has is repeating the same thing once or twice too often (because Dane delivers the same lines in the same style each time), making some of the songs seem to drag on a bit; the problem is more prevalent on this one than on previous releases.

The Verdict: It may be less aggressive, but it's no less angry. It's a more dangerous kind of angry than ever before, not releasing the anger but ruminating, waiting to boil over. And boil over it does, in the end, so as an album it flows extremely well. It has all the elements which make Nevermore one of the greatest and most consistent metal bands of all time, including memorable songwriting. On the other hand, Loomis is far under-utilized on the album, and a few tracks seem to drag on a bit. Perhaps I'm being hard on them because I expected so much better.

originally written for http://fullmetalattorney.blogspot.com/

I still don't want to believe it, but it's futile. Now matter how much I struggle to fool myself, reality refuses to change.

Being and avid Nevermore fan who considers Dreaming Neon Black and This Godless Endeavor to be some of the greatest metal records of the past two decades, I was fired up about this album like you wouldn't believe. I was positive it would be the best metal album of the year. Almost like a milestone in modern metal, a turning point, a revolution of some sort...

...and I chose to ignore the signs that were already indicating that this would not be the masterpiece I was expecting. The two main forces of the band, Loomis and Dane, both released solo albums, which probably meant that their creative output was somehow being restricted by the style of the band. When your singer and guitarist decide to start sideprojects, you know your band is in trouble.

Then there was Peter Wichers: the guitarist from Soilwork, an once awesome melodeath band that after only three albums decided to whore itself out to the american mainstream. That's the guy who was going to produce the album. This wasn't a good sign either.

Finally, Loomis stating that he was giving Dane more "room for the vocals" was also unsettling. Obviously Warrel had enough room to use his vocals in whatever way he wanted on his solo record, why would he want to do it again?

Fast forward to late April 2010, and the whole album leaks. So I decide to try it out. I give it a listen, and I'm not really impressed. Then again, I'm usually the kind of guy who will listen to an album and say "eh, it's alright" later to give it another try and go apeshit about how amazing it is, and how is it possible that he didn't really like it at first.

So I gave it another spin. And another. And another. I've listened to it numerous times during the past six months, and here's my veredict.

It blows goats.

Now then, if you were to ask me exactly why it sucks, I'd tell you that there are a few factors at play. To be fair, it's not like the band has forgotten how to play their instruments. Loomis has been able to come up with some pretty decent riffs, such as in The Termination Proclamation, She Comes In Colors and the title track. The rythmic section is as solid as ever, and Warrel is still and awesome vocalist. What exactly is wrong, then?

First of all, the songs are too streamlined. Now, Nevermore has never been the kind of band that refuses to utilise conventional song structures, except for a couple of tracks, like The Learning and This Godless Endeavor (and even those had recognisable verses and choruses). However, this is just ridiculous. It feels as if every song is just waiting for the chorus to shine. There are barely any mindblowing solos, memorable riffs or great vocal lines. The lyrics are really bad sometimes, and that's not something I'd like to say about a Nevermore song. Take a look at the lyrics from Emptiness Unobstructed:

"The world is a spinning ball of confusion that no one understands."

Seriously? It's hard to believe this is the same man who wrote the lyrics from songs like Sentient 6 and No More Will.

There are some songs that feel like they were written as 6-7 minute epics, but were cut down for some reason. And The Maiden Spoke, The Blue Marble And The New Soul (where Warrel's lyrics are actually up to his usual level for once) and She Comes In Colors all showcase good ideas, but again, they're too streamlined and just when you think that things are getting interesting, the song is over and you're left thinking "...that's it?"

And that's the feeling that I get from listening to this album. It has "tame" written all over it. Even the so-so self titled album had more furious riffs and passionate vocal performance.

Some people may think that I get pleasure from bashing this album. I don't. Nothing would have made me happier than being able to say that this is a worthy follow-up to This Godless Endeavor, that Nevermore has done it again, that this album is excellent. However, I can't. I had really high expectations for this album, and they haven't been met.

Sure enough, some Nevermore albums are better than others. DNB and TGE, for example, are much, much better than EoR or DHIADW. The problem is that we had waited five years for a new record. And now with the ongoing solo projects and the Sanctuary reunion, this might very well be the last Nevermore album we'll ever see.

(Note: Written in the style of Ernest Hemingway)

The hotel was loud and there were already a lot of people there. The man pulled out a chair and sat down at the hotel bar. He found the barman and ordered a pink gin. Like the sailors used to drink, he thought. A band was playing already when he sat down. Most of the tables in the lounge were full. Couples talking, lots of men clapping each other on the back. The man thought he didn’t need any of that. There would be time for that.

He thought about “This Godless Endeavor.” He looked out the window. A train pulled slowly out of the station, and a table of well-dressed young people across the bar from the man talked loudly about skiing. Five years is a long time, the man thought, and maybe those fond memories were all wrong anyway.

“Turn to the left, turn to the right.” The man did not listen. The band played a chorus, almost like it was played from another room. It played major, dipped minor. The man thought he heard something. Then it was gone. He ordered another drink. “Is this soliloquy or psychosis, or self-hypnosis?” The barman must have left the radio tuned to a motivational program. The man finished his drink, and watched the ice slowly become water in the glass. He breathed out.

The band at the bar only wanted to play some crowd-pleasers. The musicians kept pushing the lounge singer out of the way, so he pushed back. He seemed a little tight, the pusher. Squinted his eyes to look serious. Too many damned words, the man thought. As if each additional syllable made the sloganeering more effective. The man glanced out the window. The train was gone, and a listless breeze swept across the plain.

He listened to the band play “The Termination Proclamation.” He listened, and then remembered her:

“He picked up the two heavy bags and carried them around the station to the other tracks. He looked up the tracks but could not see the train. Coming back, he walked through the barroom, where people waiting for the train were drinking. He drank an Anis at the bar and looked at the people. They were all waiting reasonably for the train. He went out through the bead curtain. She was sitting at the table and smiled at him.

‘Do you feel better?’ he asked.

‘I feel fine,’ she said. ‘There’s nothing wrong with me. I feel fine.’”***

How do you ‘abandon someone with scorn’, the man thought? It’s all damned worthless anyway. The barman dropped his mixing glass, and set his rag down to clean up the mess. The lounge singer had recovered his poise, and was singing a slow song. The man asked the bartender to turn down the radio. The barman didn’t hear.

Most everyone had left the bar by now. Empty tables weighed down with half-spilled glasses and uneaten food. An older woman in evening-wear sat staring at the band. She seemed to project a sense of feeling the music deeply, deeply. The band’s set was only forty-five minutes, but they had lost some of their sheet music. One of the players ran through some fast solos while the band sat back. Maybe it was a saxophone? The man was not interested. The sparse crowd listened. The man sat at the bar, thinking about lousy conversationalists who always steer a polite topic into ornate, self-serving directions.

The band played an encore, ‘Temptation.’ No one had requested it. The man put down his drink. It had soured. The lounge singer bounced his voice around. Even the well-dressed woman looked uncomfortable. The rest of the band would not meet the others’ eyes.

The barman came back and tried to get the man another drink. The man started to order another gin but then ordered a scotch. “Say, this is some band,” said the barman. “Yes, some band,” the man replied. He balled a napkin in his hand. “Don’t you like the music?” asked the barman, drying off some glasses with lime peels still stuck on them. “Yes,” the man said. He took another drink of the scotch. It tasted like smoke and honey. “No,” he added. “It’s very nice music, but I don’t give a damn. I just don’t like it at all.” He paid the barman and pushed back his chair and walked out of the hotel and toward the train station. He looked back. The band inside was just finishing and those people still at the tables were still talking and laughing. Maybe they were talking about snow and ski lifts and hot cider and good times but the man stopped looking back and put up his collar and his shoes echoed loudly on the ground.

There would be plenty of time to catch the next train at the station so the man thought about “This Godless Endeavor” again and shook his head and couldn’t remember what he meant to do. The man hoped the band found the music they had lost. He put his hands in his pockets and turned the corner and whistled a song he didn’t like. He saw another train far in the hills and he closed his eyes and he kept walking and the train off in the distance went behind another hill and was gone. He kept walking.

*** Just in case the jarring contrast from my piss-poor imitation didn’t make it obvious enough, this passage in full quotation is taken directly from Hemingway’s short story “Hills Like White Elephants.” This quote taken from my copy of The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway, The Finca Vigia Edition, 1987, New York: Simon & Schuster, Inc., p. 214. Let’s just say, shall we, that the Hemingway story likely shares its subject matter with Nevermore’s “The Termination Proclamation.” You tell me which source deals with its theme more deftly, yeah?

(Note: Originally posted at http://spinaltapdance.wordpress.com/)

Right off the bat; this CD came as a bit of a disappointment. Not a crushing one, mind you, but a definite dip in quality by Nevermore’s standards. After 2005’s ‘This godless endeavour’, an arguable career best (though it comes second to ‘Dead heart in a dead world’ for me), I suppose they found themselves in a bit of an impossible situation. If they tried to strike while the iron was hot they may after all have come up with an inferior follow-up anyway, and would no doubt have stood to accusations of attempting to rush out a quick cash-in on the critical praise they had harvested.

As it happens, they went down the other route, and after a few years of near-relentless touring the band came to a complete halt as Warrel Dane and Jeff Loomis each launched a solo career – Dane’s ‘Praises to the war machine’ being something of a simplified take on the Nevermore groove, while Loomis went into the stratosphere in terms of technicality and fret shredding with his effort.

The long break hasn’t affected Nevermore’s overarching style, but the influence of Dane’s solo work may have asserted itself on ‘The obsidian conspiracy’ in some way – Peter Wicher’s presence in the producer’s chair is no doubt a factor in that – as it represents a more toned-down Nevermore than has been seen in many years. Maybe Loomis worked out most of his guitar fantasies on ‘Zero order phase’, as while the trademark hyperspeed grooving is still there to be accounted for, there are more instances of simpler arrangements and a laid-back nature to some of the songs than ever before.

But this isn’t the main source of disappointment on ‘The obsidian conspiracy’ – change isn’t necessarily a bad thing after all. No, that honour, I’m afraid, belongs to simple inconsistency in the songwriting, which is a sad thing to report when it comes to a band like Nevermore. After the taut, machine-like precision of ‘This godless endeavour’, which flowed like mercury from start to finish, this CD is a more patchy affair with some very strong songs let down by weaker ones, and even otherwise good songs that damage themselves with some questionable musical decisions.

The opening track, “The termination proclamation” actually suggests the CD will be much worse than it is, and thankfully quickly proves to be a false dawn. Barely over 3 minutes long, it is one of the most straightforward songs Nevermore have ever written, and after a promising opening flurry of chords quickly descends into a dull groove that leads to a chorus remarkable in its insipidity.

“Your poison throne” is a marked improvement though, and begins a run of the CD’s strongest songs. Unfortunately a couple of these also suffer from the self-sabotaging nature that manifests from time to time. The chorus to “Moonrise” is a hugely melodious effort, and is inspiring despite some uncharacteristically unsubtle lyrics from Dane, but almost feels as though it belongs in a different song and doesn’t spring organically from the verses. Thankfully the song at large and the chorus itself are both good enough that this feeling subsides somewhat after a few listens. “And the maiden spoke” isn’t so lucky though, as amid the high speed pounding and Dane’s furious verses, the slowdown for the chorus is completely out of place and cuts the song down in its prime, which is doubly frustrating as it is otherwise easily one of the best and most intense on the CD.

The middle of the CD comes bearing unexpected gifts – in a pretty daring move, the listener is hit with an unusual 1-2 of a big, booming half-ballad followed by a gentle, delicate piece of introspection. “Emptiness unobstructed” is a remarkable bit of stuff despite an obvious commercial edge, and sounds more like something from ‘Praises to the war machine’ than anything else with a huge, swelling chorus and a more relaxed, open approach from the rest of the band in the background that leaves space for Dane’s vocals to soar. But just because Nevermore are a generally technical band doesn’t mean that any deviations from this pattern are to be met with scorn, and this is a far more successful track than the heavier attempts at streamlining the band’s sound found elsewhere on the CD.

Coming hot on the heels of this emotional chest beating, “The blue marble and the new soul” is by contrast so fragile-sounding that it feels as though it would almost disappear into the ether were you to attempt to sing along to it. The song takes a while to settle, but as soon as it creeps its way to the captivating chorus the spell is cast and any doubts should be overcome.

Unfortunately it is after this winning duo that the CD hits the skids a little. Like the opening track, “Without morals” just plain and simple isn’t a very good song. Aimless guitar chugging that just doesn’t engage at all and the annoying vocal melody are the sorts of thing that gives Nevermore’s snipers ammunition, and the song feels almost like a self-drawn caricature of the band.

“The day you built the wall” and “She comes in colours” then follow, both making extensive use of clean and acoustic guitars. The latter is a great song, blending the soft and heavy aspects of Nevermore as well as anything you’ll hear on the CD, but “The day you built the wall” isn’t as powerful and suffers from it’s proximity to the other, feeling like one acoustic-assisted song too many on what is a slightly lopsided CD.

Thankfully the closing title track is an absolute monster, a barrage of crushing guitars and drums that finally jacks the speed and complexity up to the explosive levels one would have expected of the opening song and closes the regular version of the CD in classic Nevermore fashion. The elaborate but rather clunky limited box edition comes with 2 bonus cover versions of varying fortunes – The Tea Party’s ‘Temptation’ doesn’t fare so well, but The Door’s classic ‘Crystal ship’ is given a good run through that meshes surprisingly well with the ultra-sleek production ideals and wraps things up in a more organic fashion than these sort of grafted on tracks usually do.

Coming off the back of such a well-regarded predecessor, ‘The obsidian conspiracy’ was always likely to be a step down, and while it is still an enjoyable CD and recommended without a 2nd thought to fans of the band, the distance they have dropped since their last sighting still comes as something of a letdown. Still, if you can forgive a few forgettable songs and a couple of curious missteps, Nevermore still have plenty of quality to offer.

(Originally written for http://www.metalcdratings.com/)

There has been some fuss about a new record after 5 years since their last full length, hence making Nevermore one the most missed bands after This Godless Endeavor. After The Year Of The Voyager, then Loomis' and Dane's solo albums, everybody was getting more and more impatient, we could no longer wait. I was telling myself after reading some reviews that when I think about it, these circumstances could lead to a disappointment after listening to the new record; but not if you're a fan. If you like anything this band has ever done, you must see how this great entry to their discography carries all the good stuff they have been known for.

The line-up issues were never a problem for Nevermore. Jeff Loomis and Warrell Dane do all of the song writing, and with these two great musicians, a band doesn't need much to conceive a well written album. Van Williams and Jim Sheppard are old school neverheads that always deliver, on recording and on stage. Everyone's performance is nothing short of excellence. But again, this is Nevermore.

The solo projects, both Dane's and Loomis', have definitely affected the song writing, but to a short extent. It is still the melodic, epic, technical and progressive Nevermore from Dead Heart In A Dead World and Enemies Of Reality. It gets hard and heavy and it gets calm and melancholic. Every track resembles this certain song from that certain Nevermore album, but not really because the song's progression and the melodies are all so different so it keeps you listening and predicting what it's going to sound like next. There is the slow, quiet song that gets dark towards the end. The cheesy epic mid-tempo tune that we all sing along with, then there's the extremely complex, fast technical track that makes us thrash around. But best of all, it's all so well written, it ends up being compared to all their previous work and still stands out like a very well written album that every fan could spin hundreds of times without getting bored of.

The guitar work and the singing definitely stand out more than anything else. Warrell Dane continues to sing some of the most epic melodies, and his voice is as good as always, not to say cleaner and catchier. The lyrics are instantly memorable and after a couple listens you can definitely remember the choruses on most songs. Every song's story and subject forces the listener to remember the words exactly as they're extremely well sung to an extremely rich accompaniment. Jeff Loomis writes the meanest, most technical yet melodic riffs, and can play some of the best solos I've ever heard and seen in metal. His sound is instantly recognizable. The seven string Schecter always brings that heavy, odd sound because of its tuning and the extra bottom string, giving the weight to the riffs and making them very headbangable. Williams did an excellent job, of playing what he's known for: diversified, heavy, metal drumming, that works perfectly with the music the maestros go for. And the loyal Sheppard's bass can resonate through the whole thing, especially on the ballad, or the slower more melancholic song.

All in all, I can't really say if this album surpasses their previous material. This Godless Endeavor being one of the best albums of the decade, it's a tough call. But definitely another outstanding addition to a great catalog. This album is Nevermore all the way. And if you don't like this band then you have a very odd taste in metal.

As expected, Nevermore’s seventh full length release maintains the band’s established sound while moving into new territory. The best way to describe what to expect from The Obsidian Conspiracy is a combination of Warrel’s solo album, Praises to the War Machine, and Jeff’s solo album, Zero Order Phase. For those who are unfamiliar with these albums, Praises to the War Machine is a straight up modern heavy metal album and Zero Order Phase is a progressive/shred instrumental record; the combination of which is certainly a very powerful thing.

Jeff riffs as furiously as ever, yet the guitar work is tastefully toned down at times. It’s down specifically during the choruses in order to allow the vocals to be the primary focus, much like on Warrel’s solo album. The most obvious example of this is on the first single, “Emptiness Unobstructed" in which the song begins with the chorus. Some people don’t care for this approach, especially after the general distaste for the opening of “Never Purify” off of Enemies of Reality but it works much better this time.

As far as vocals are concerned Warrel never fails to disappoint. The wordsmith runs the gamut of human emotion both lyrically and through performance to perfectly compliment the sonic tenacity and beauty that Jeff is known for writing. As far as vocals are concerned the only thing that may be a let down to some is that Warrel doesn’t belt out any nut-puckering falsettos, making The Obsidian Conspiracy and Enemies of Reality the only Nevermore albums without them. But have no fear, his vocal prowess is still entirely intact.

An integral part of Nevermore’s sound is a hovering dark atmosphere that is maintained by an incredibly underrated rhythm section. Van’s unique style of drumming and Jim’s proficiency on bass and ominous tone solidify the album as a Nevermore classic.

It’s similarity to This Godless Endeavor alone makes The Obsidian Conspiracy worthy of being put into your regular listening rotation. It may not catch you at first, but after a few spins you’ll be wondering how you didn’t get hooked on the first listen.

Throughout my years of metalhood, I’d not always had the best relationship with this here NEVERMORE band. I’ve given plenty of their material honest tries and found all sorts of entertaining bits here and there, but the complete and utter scheme of things just didn’t leave me gasping and begging for more. However, their live show is wrought with spectacularity and I found myself complete immersed in all they’d have to offer when on stage, but when dealing with their recorded wares that extra something seems absent (thus my inability to really get into it all). Nevertheless I felt a twinge of lamentation upon hearing the group was to take a sabbatical as a result of untimely illness and was actually waiting with a touch of bated breath to see just what could come to pass with their eventual revival.

And here it is, ready and rarin’ to go…

The thing that’s been the biggest piece of bread and butter into the NEVERMORE world would have to be their ability to craft legitimate music out of a compositional cloth of nonsense and pass it off as something worth your time and listening energy. That’s been the case up to this point minus a few missteps along the timeline (“Dead Heart in a Dead World”, that first draft of “Enemies of Reality”), and when it comes to “The Obsidian Conspiracy”, that experimental miasma seems missing and replaced with a sensation of “playing it safe”. I knew going in that I wasn’t going to be the biggest fan of their latest work but I’d hoped that I would hear something that would tickle my fancy at least once, but that didn’t seem to be the case once again. Now don’t get me wrong…there’s all sorts of shit the new disc has that is ear candy to their main fan base and even a few out-of-the-loop scragglers; the production is clear in every possible way, Jeff Loomis still reigns as an unusurpable riff machine with his recognizable riffs and leads/solos, Van Williams’ drumming is still top-notch and punchy, and Warrel Dane’s sirenic wails are more easily digestible this time around, but the songwriting itself doesn’t push any envelopes the way their earlier albums did back when they were still attempting to garner attention in the ever-shifting metal underworld. Basically, “The Obsidian Conspiracy” seems more like a collection of bits and pieces of every post-millennial album NEVERMORE’s released, only in a more easy-on-the-ears way, as songs like “Your Poison Throne”, “Emptiness Unobstructed”, and “The Day You Built the Wall” prove; no matter how taught and well-performed the material is, if it’s not engaging it may not prove to be a necessary listen in the end. Sorry guys, I tried.

All in all I found NEVERMORE’s latest quite disappointing given all they’ve done in the years passed. Maybe if they’d taken some more time to have all the songs flesh out to their full capacity they could’ve blown the metal world away again. But as it stands, this NEVERMORE-lite disc just can’t cut the mustard. Then again, time may be friendly to them and they can again rise to their own personal poison thrones. Guess we’ll have to see.

The date is July 26, 2005 and I have just purchased one of the best releases of the year. Nevermore's This Godless Endeavor. Fast forward nearly a full five years later to the release of the Obsidian Conspiracy. After a five year hiatus, illnesses, and lineup changes Nevermore returns with their next offering and I thought to myself "is this a joke?"

it seems as though Nevermore's creativity has been put on hold with this album. First off the guitar riffs all chug along to the beat of the drumming and there is very few intricate leads that Jeff Loomis is known for. I guess with the absence of a second guitarist Jeff just can't handle all the guitar parts on his own.

The lyrics are nothing to sneeze at either. IN previous albums the subject matter carried the album quite well, but in this case we get such "gems" as "The Obsidian Conspiracy is Rising" or "Your brother will stab you in the back. Your sister will love you unconditionally." I'm sorry, but I wrote better lyrics than that when I was fifteen.

Finally, Warrel Dane's vocals are not quite up to par. It sounds almost as if he is tentative to use his vocal range and the way the lyrics were sung don't seem to flow with the riffs.

It seems as though this album was either rushed because of how long fans have been wanting a follow up to This Godless Endeavor or the band may simply be warn out because of all of the rial and tribulations they have been through in the last five years. I feel that they can rebound by getting back to their roots and not rushing their next release. This is a pretty large bump in the road, but I'm sure Nevermore can put themselves back on course with some rest and a solid unrushed effort.

------Originally written for www.headbangers.in --------------

Brutality in music can never be likened to physical brutality. The former does not possess the same tools as required for the latter and hence, more than bodily attack, it becomes an attack on the senses. Nevermore seem to be a band that have understood the aesthetics of such brutality and their new release, The Obsidian Conspiracy continues to be a collection of music meant not for the faint of mind and heart.

The new album's most stark aspect is the vocal talent of Warrel Dane. Right from their self-titled debut album, his ultra-dark style of high pitch singing had carved out a bronze statue of himself on the vast and endless plains of metal. On The Obsidian Conspiracy he continues with this style but also adds to it a whole new spectrum of lower and mid frequencies. He then basically uses this whole range of frequencies by intertwining them with each other, using them in conjunction. This album sees more tremolos from him, more pitch variation than ever before.

Musically, it takes the excellence of Jeff Loomis's guitar playing, Jim Sheppard's bass playing and Van Williams' skin slamming to a higher notch. I have always enjoyed the way Jeff Loomis uses the seven-string guitar not just as a show of skill but to actually explore frequencies much lower than that of a six-string. This album is much darker and has a greater deal of a supernatural sound element than its predecessor This Godless Endeavor. In fact 'And the Maiden Spoke' is an ode to the paranormal in all its entireity. This particular song exhibits how Nevermore are so great at creating an ambient sound not through chords but through intensely fast riff barrages and drum attacks. Jim Sheppard's bass has been recorded, as usual, at a very high audio level and his love for the low end is most evident on 'Emptiness Unobstructed', the ballad on the album where the verse section consists of a nice-clean flanger on the guitar and Sheppard's singular low frequency pounds on the bass.

The mood of this album,as discussed before, is much darker than any other Nevermore album till date. Songs like 'The Blue Marble and the New Soul' speak about having to live with deception and conspiracies against you all you life. 'Without Morals' adds a more personal touch to this topic. Throughout the album, the band brings forward the grim and harsh realities of life like deception, greed, losing a loved one, having people turn their backs on you in your moment of need etc. The poetic aspect of Nevermore's lyrics has not lost its sheen but in fact has grown brighter. The lyrics are even more abstract than usual, something that immediately opens them up to interpretation according to the listener's own experiences in life. Instrumentally this is achieved extremely successfully through the use of low-end riffs and melancholy, diminished note sequences and arpeggios. The shifts from soft intros to heavy sections are so seamless that even someone who has listened to only Britney Spears all her (or his) life will not get confused as to whether its the same song or not.

If you have doubts as to whether you should get this album or not, trash them now. In a nutshell, The Obsidian Conspiracy continues to be Nevermore heavy, Nevermore dark and Nevermore brutally honest. Missing it would be a total shame.

Nevermore has done it again, and their new release "The Obsidian Conspiracy" is a testament to this band's talent. Plenty of heavy, groovy riffs and intense solos overtop of a thumping (but not overpowering) bass and powerful drumming on part of Van Williams. But what do I mean when I say this?

Stylistically, this is a tad different than their previous works. They got Peter Wichers as the producer, so the riffs and solos bend a bit towards the melodic side as opposed to Jeff's traditional fretboard wizardry (though mind you, they still rule). The songs vary in structure, ranging from the incredibly fast "And the Maiden Spoke" and the title track to the slower "The Day You Built the Wall" and "Emptiness Unobstructed." So, essentially, the instrument section should please anyone who was a fan of their past works.

Now, onto the main reasons Nevermore receives alot of criticism; "consistency" and Warrel Dane's operatic vocal style. I myself never saw how any of the songs were "inconsistent" as many claim them to be; I just see that as varied song structuring, which helps keep things fresh (atleast in my opinion). Warrel's vocals have always impressed me, since day one of listening to Nevermore. Yes, he can get sort of spangly with his vocals at times, but all in all, I find his singing to be very powerful and unique sounding. He gives Nevermore it's signature sound.

This album doesn't get a full 100%, though, despite the amazing musicianship and the very tight passages and verses. The "melodic" aspect sometimes gets too out of hand and the solo ends up sounding like something Dark Tranquillity would do (not that I dislike that band, their solos are just piss terrible). On top of that, the song "Your Poison Throne" was a below-average song on this record; consisting of a few "hardcore"-ish style vocals (they say "RISE! RISE! RISE!" in one or two sections over and over again), and it's riffs were very lackluster for Nevermore's standards.

Regardless of those handful of flaws, this is an excellent record that I would highly recommend to anyone into progressive metal, heavy metal and even thrash metal. It is very enjoyable and it has both quantity and quality.

Favorite songs: The Termination Proclamation, Moonrise (Through Mirrors of Death), Emptiness Unobstructed, And the Maiden Spoke, Without Morals, The Obsidian Conspiracy.

When it comes to Warrel Dane and Nevermore, I'm of the mind that the earlier work has always been the better work (whether in this band or his previous Sanctuary). There was a raw, powerful approach on the 1995 debut Nevermore that I do not feel the band has surpassed, though they have grown ever more impressive from a technical precision standpoint. Still, I'd be lying to say I didn't enjoy This Godless Endeavor or a few tracks from all the other albums, and The Obsidian Conspiracy, their 7th full-length effort, is at least a well rounded effort. You're not about to have a bucket of ice and novel idea dumped over your head after this big game, but for what it's worth, Nevermore have returned here to crafting tight, memorable songs worth more than a simple perusal.

"The Termination Proclamation" begins with an acrobatic Jeff Loomis rhythm that will have your neck in knots as you attempt to follow it through, and then a bombastic, simpler groove that slowly mounts to Dane's haunting vocal premonitions. Anchored by the guitars, which are about as fun as "Optimist or Pessimist?" from their In Memory EP, this is concrete material, provided you aren't bored out of your mind by some of the later brickhouse grooving to commence deep through the song's colon. "Your Poison Throne" flows like a river, as jarring, down-tuned string floes jettison beyond Dane's central vocal presence, often morphing into a slamming groove. "Moonrise (Through Mirrors of Death)" is a mix of Slipknot-like, faster bounce grooves with some nominal melodic thrash, and a pretty chorus, and then back to some pretty dull chug parts, so I could have done without most of it. I much prefer the wrangling assault that is "And the Maiden Spoke", a slowly brimming monstrosity where Dane shows off some of his lower range in between dreamlike, melodic vistas.

The rest of the record is a series of peaks and valleys, the measure of which will really depend on how the listener feels about previous efforts like Dreaming Neon Black and Dead Heart in a Dead World. For example, "Emptiness Unobstructed" is a very clean, professional piece with an angry side beyond its gleaming melodic summits. "The Blue Marble and the New Soul" becomes even more mellow, like some somber theater piece, the curtains about to draw. "The Day You Built the Wall" is likewise a melancholic, meaningful number with some spikes of prog rock and blues. But most of the songs combine the technical merits of modern studio thrash/power with chorus rock elements, and I find myself leaning towards the denser, compact grooves of "Without Morals" or the relentlessly hammering title track. The digipack also includes covers of The Doors ("Crystal Ship") and The Tea Party ("Temptation") which mesh in harmlessly with Nevermore's mix of modern menace, political psychosis and endless pondering of the masses of oxygen sucking human ballast.

Nevermore has a lot of clout with modern audiences for a reason. Stylistically, they stand upon a precipice very few bands in the world can duplicate, and proudly stake their banner between genres and display their fortitude in all. Their albums are always professional sounding (barring that original mix of Enemies of Reality) and fine tuned, and The Obsidian Conspiracy is certainly no exception to this policy. The compositions are tidy, the lead placement impeccable, yet so few become memorable. The band's lyrics solid and inspiring, though they might suffer from a little of the sticky 'rise up Humanity and dethrone your invisible tyrants' mess that can quickly become a slippery slope. However, even something as fresh as the unbridled energy and riff thick miasma they brought to the table in the 90s can grow stagnant after a spell, and to this extent, the album does suffer slightly. There are good songs here, surely, and in particular I favor "The Termination Proclamation" and "The Blue Marble and the New Soul", but I question the lasting quality of even these, and thus The Obsidian Conspiracy falls as yet another cobblestone along the path of 'quality' that skirts just around the forest of excellence.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

So here we are with Nevermore's 7th full length in what I'd deem a near perfect discography. It would appear however that I'm in the minority of people who think this album is actually good, up to par with everything else they've done, and worth the time of day. The main reason being Nevermore's previous album, the mighty "This Godless Endeavor", Nevermore's most technically accomplished yet still musically sound achievement. I however contend that it's simply not fair to stack up "Obsidian Conspiracy" to "This Godless Endeavor" save the fact I think you can't do that with any two Nevermore albums in the first place. MAYBE you could make such a comparison between "Politics of ecstasy" and "Dreaming Neon Black" and even than, the differences are still significant enough. It's also worth pointing out that those who are going to endlessly bitch about the lack of super technical riffage on this album are idiots, and need to have payed attention to the fact that this was intended to be a Warrel Dane centered album. NOWHERE did they ever claim in the years leading up to this that they were going to keep going on the TGE path or that we'd even get something remotely similar.

With all that out of the way, what this album truly calls back to is the minimalist mindset of, as the title of this review says, "Dead Heart In A Dead World". Everything here is still heavy, still retains that prog edge, and there are STILL great riffs to be found here, just nothing of the technical prowess on TGE. Warrel is INDEED the spotlight here, experimenting with some rather odd vocal harmonies and idea's, as well as just simply great melodies going on here. We also still have that trade mark Nevermore groove going on, with absolutely catchy as fuck riffs like the main riff of "She Comes In Colors" "Your Poison Throne", or the opening salvo of "The Termination Proclamation", we get the trademark ballad like songs, such as "Emptiness Unobstructed" which has one of the best Choruses Nevermore has EVER written, "The Day You Built The Wall" with it's dark verse section and plodding riffs, and we have the outright balls to the wall songs such as "And The Maiden Spoke", "Moonrise (Through Mirrors Of Death)", "Without Morals", and the title track. There is still a good amount of diversity here, something Nevermore has ALWAYS been good at, the only unifying element that exists throughout this album is the attempt to produce songs of infectious melodic hooks and catchy riffs.

Overall, the Obsidian Conspiracy is an excellent addition to Nevermore's discography, if you liked or loved "Dead Heart In A Dead World" than this album will DEFINITELY catch your ear. No this is not This Godless Endeavor Part 2, but something tells me that's what we may end up with next. If this is the album meant to focus on Warrel Dane's vocal ability than it only serves to make sense the next album will be Loomis's. I would also note that Jim Shepard and Van Williams as always do an excellent job providing the rhythm section here, these two are one of THE BEST Rhythm sections in modern metal out there, but people who are familiar with this band pretty much know this already. Check this album out; you will be pleased.

My personal track picks: "The Termination Proclamation", "Moonrise", "And The Maiden Spoke", "She Comes In Colors", "The Obsidian Conspiracy".