Nevermore – The Obsidian Conspiracy
I’m not sure everyone gets Nevermore, but I do. From their early days where they fled the grunge scene up until 2005′s This Godless Endeavor they have proven themselves to be a band who continues to build on their unique style, which is the metal equivalent of Bruce Lee’s Jeet Kune Do, the style of no styles. From their 1995 self-titled debut, their Alice in Chains-esque twisted riffs evolved into a sound similar with prog, tech, and thrash, yet still dark and warped. I respect that.
This year’s The Obsidian Conspiracy continues their evolution. It’s a crafted album, as only true artists can do. Obviously Nevermore took their time writing the songs and they all track perfectly from beginning until the abrupt end. While not a true concept album, it plays best as a whole. There are stand-out songs, but this is one album I find hard to break apart. But just for you, I will.
The opening track, “The Termination Proclamation” is probably my favorite just for the opening salvo. Jeff Loomis is a guitar technician in the best sense. By the middle of the song, just before the short solo, the riffs contort into some impressively disturbing hooks. It was there I remembered why I liked Nevermore so much in the past: their songs build on a theme and then turn it upside down and back again. This pattern continues through each song. “Your Poison Throne” is pretty straightforward thrashing, but right at the end they turn it around. By the time you are in “Moonrise (through Mirrors of Death)” you realize you’re on a ride and they are driving. “And the Maiden Spoke” is Loomis’ showcase song on this album. I listened to this song several times just to figure out what was going on melodically with the guitar. I figured out the key ingredient was a healthy helping of bad ass. Other stand-out songs are the dark-but-inspiring “Emptiness Unobstructed”, the thought-provoking “The Day You Built the Wall”, and the big ending of “The Obsidian Conspiracy”.
You cannot talk about Nevermore without acknowledging the vocal prowess of Warrel Dane. His voice, while similar to Geoff Tate, Ian Astbury, and UPO’s Shawn Albro is still unique. Dane can actually sing, an underrated skill in modern metal. Dane opens up and belts out impressive highs effortlessly. If you compare him now to Nevermore’s early releases, you will hear how he has never sounded better. Admittedly some of his early vocals were a little too Iron Maiden for their style. Dane now sounds perfect when he pushes out the highs.
As a band Nevermore is tight. Dane and Loomis almost compete for attention in each song with virtuoso performances, but you can also hear some jaw-dropping bass lines from Jim Sheppard, especially in “The Day You Built the Wall”. At the same time, Van Williams’ drumming glues every song together. Williams also gets props for being the band’s graphic designer. We all know a drumming graphic designer is the ultimate dream job that will never appear on Monster.com.
The narrative of The Obsidian Conspiracy is consistent with previous Nevermore albums: darkness, mortality, immoral behavior, madness, and at the same time inspirational. The movie The Book of Eli was like that, post-apocalyptic and nerve-wracking and depressing, yet I walked out of the theater feeling hopeful. Not everyone can pull this off. The only negative thing I can say about this album is “Without Morals” was a little too Godsmack with all the direct hate lyrics, not as poetic as the other songs. However, that’s me being admittedly nit-picky and it is a good song, just not as great as the others.
So now that I’ve compared Nevermore to Bruce Lee and The Book of Eli, which makes no sense out of context, I have to rate the album. The album is a solid four on The NewReview scale. It will probably become one of my favorites of the year.
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20 Comments
June 4th, 2010 at 3:39 pm
Awesome review, Keith! I listened to "She Comes in Colors" recently and I was surprised to find that the song was rather solid. How do other songs on this album compare to the sound found on that track?
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June 4th, 2010 at 3:55 pm
Josh: "She Comes in Colors" is the most commercial of the songs from the album. They are all really solid, but the tracks I highlighted I thought were even better.
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June 4th, 2010 at 4:05 pm
Alright, great. I'll have to give them a listen. Thanks.
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June 4th, 2010 at 5:39 pm
Ive never been a Nevermore fan, but your review makes me want to check it out. Very good review.
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June 4th, 2010 at 5:39 pm
I hate this band!!! Dane sounds so outdated in my mind. Good review though.
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June 9th, 2010 at 8:55 pm
Well I agree with you to a certain point. I listened to there anthology Monday ALL day in preparation for this album, and the ONLY three songs that really stood out to me after listening to it all (that didn't sound EXACTLY like This Godless Endeavor) were the the first track, Termination Proclamation, which his uses of words ending in "TION" is heavily redundant in that song but the music is epic, the seventh track, Without Morals, which was in my opinion a good song because it was different than the rest of the album, and the last track, The Obsidian Conspiracy, because in my opinion it was there heavy music at its best. This album now has two of my favorite songs right now, but the album as a whole left me feeling like I was still listening to This Godless Endeavor. Great review though!
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June 9th, 2010 at 11:53 pm
It is not often that a band releases a CD that has no filler tunes and every song is equally amazing. Nevermore's Obsidian Conspiracy is that CD that your collection CANNOT be without!!!!!!
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June 10th, 2010 at 9:18 am
Tim: Thanks. My take was a little different. I thought it built on This Godless Endeavor quite nicely. It's a good sound for them and they are evolving.
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June 10th, 2010 at 11:34 am
I obviously knew of Nevermore but I had never purchased any of their music. That is until now. They have been around for quite some time. I dont know how I never got into them before now. I must have been living under a rock. This cd is amazing. I picked it up yesterday and now im going to try and get my hands on some of their other work. They are just so good musically. Im also going to try and catch them when they tour with Mutiny Within (another great band). Great review Keith. Very well put.
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June 10th, 2010 at 11:51 am
Thanks, Jake.
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June 10th, 2010 at 3:22 pm
Jake, If you truly dig this CD I would say you will love "Dead Heart…" as well. Some of their earlier stuff is a bit heavier and doesn't have the same vibe as these past three CD's
enjoy!!! Nevermore Rules!!!
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June 10th, 2010 at 7:07 pm
Keith you rule!
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Keith Anderson replied:
June 10th, 2010 at 8:27 pm
I know, right?
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July 10th, 2010 at 9:43 pm
Awesome cd!! But then….in my mind Nevermore can do no wrong.
Simple as that.
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Soul Raper replied:
July 24th, 2010 at 4:37 am
it's not in your mind. it's fact.
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October 19th, 2010 at 2:30 pm
I was personally so turned off by this record that I officially will not buy their next release out of the gate. I loved Godless as well their previous 3 albums, but this… I found just terrible. I understand where they went with this. Their last opus was really technical and they simnplified things a bit here. Honestly though no hooks stick with me, no riffs pulverize me except on the title-track. Loomis' solos are really short and are not as big an element on this record than in the past. This might be the guitar player in me weeping but I was just severely disappointed in this. The opening track's intro sounds awesome, and then the verse starts and there's no momentum. Honestly the title-track is the only thing that did it for me on this album, and even there the rhythmic pattern is almost exactly the same triplet-feel as This Godless Endeavour(the song that is). Really disappointed in this release. Good review but I respectfully disagree.
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Keith Anderson replied:
October 19th, 2010 at 3:01 pm
Thanks for your comment, Max. I appreciate that you respectfully disagree seeing how when most commenters do they follow it with a death threat.
I still play this album regularly in my car. There's something about it that kicks my ass. If I had to do over this review, I might have given it a 5. However, there's been so much good music this year I don't think it's one of the year's best anymore. I'm going to have a hard time with our end-of-year list.
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October 19th, 2010 at 3:25 pm
After having listened to this CD for a while now, I can dig where some folks don't like it as much as the earlier stuff but also feel that you can't compare any release to a bands prior work. For me personally, I dig the shit out of it still. I think their song writing has gotten MUCH stronger, and although many feel this release may not have the "teeth" of some of the earlier releases, it is heavy in its own right.
But hey, everyone has an opinion as that is what makes the world go around. We can all agree that Nevermore is an incredible band!!!!
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October 21st, 2010 at 3:28 pm
Hey no problem, a difference in opinion shouldn't coincide with disrespect. I can see why people can like this album, it's just very different than what I was expecting. Like I said I'm a guitar player, so Jeff Loomis is somewhat of a deity to me, and the fact that his solos aren't extended on this release just kind of took away from one of the band's prevalent sonic elements. But yes Nevermore are a fantastic band, I just hope that they go back to a slightly more technical avenue once again in the future. This Godless Endeavor is one of my all-time metal albums so I was wishing for a Godless II I guess.
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March 21st, 2011 at 12:08 pm
Nice review, although I would have given it a higher score. I know NEVERMORE is not for everyone, and I know why, but I never get why they remain largely confidential, and never were more successful.
This release is not up there with This Godless Endeavor, but it's still, for me, 2010's best Metal Album.
I have been a NEVERMORE fan since The Politics of Ecstasy, and their never disappointed me (well they did, but it was not their fault, and was later fixed with the Andy Sneap Remix of EOR)
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