Band's List Power Metal Nevermore (USA-1) The Obsidian Conspiracy

One of the biggest hopes in metal, namely Nevermore, are finally back with their seventh studio album, titled “The Obsidian Conspiracy”. After the euphoria caused 5 years ago by the success of “This Godless Endeavor” it was quite logical for the band to take a long artistic break and re-charge with enough inspiration in order to come up with a successor worthy at least enough to match its predecessor. This break passed under the mark of several important occasions: both Jeff Loomis and Warrel Dane came up with their solo works, the amazing DVD “The Year of the Voyager” got finally released, and the guys from Nevermore were once again deprived of the services of their second guitarist (which in “This Godless Endeavor” was Steve Smyth).

So, the time for a new musical masterpiece finally came and all expectations got raised to the sky as if by command. Even from the beginning sound of deep, thick opening riffs of the short “The Termination Proclamation” it’s pretty clear that Nevermore’s class and professional approach is something almost impossible to be achieved by 9 of 10 bands in the genre. The hit-like spirited track, suitable enough to give a starting point of the album, suddenly transforms into the solemn mood of “Your Poison Throne”. Here, just like in the follower “Moonrise (Through Mirrors Of Death)”, the composition is developed to a frightening scale level with a lot of diversity in both expression and emotion. Nevermore, just like some other titans in the face of Queensryche seem to have perfected the ability to concentrate everything they have to say in the ranks of 4-5 minutes, which in the end results into a memorizable song instead of pretentious technical mix. In these two songs, the difference between “The Obsidian Conspiracy” and the band’s two previous albums becomes clear – the guitar solos of Loomis are way more structured, firm, harmonized and yet melodic. “And The Maiden Spoke” impress with the well-known magnificent vocal accuracy of Warrel (along with dazzling lyrics), while “Emptiness Unobstructer” is without a doubt the song with the most hymn-spirited chorus in the whole record. The depression in “The Blue Marble And The New Soul” gets universal dimensions – the entire progress of the song is composed in an absolutely masterful way and the culmination is strikingly great. While in “This Godless Endeavor” all solos were played with more ostentation, everything here is subordinate to the song idea and the overall mood of the concrete track. “Without Morals” steps in with yet another memorizable chorus and without a doubt the best solo in the album; “The Day You Built The Wall” is the most forgettable song in the album – created by stereotype pattern through which musicians with Nevermore’s talent can easily compose a great amount of similar tracks with an ease. This doesn’t in any way mean it's weak though – together with the opener it’s just different from the other compositions and doesn’t strike with originality and variations in both guitar and vocal melodical structures. These songs are the only ones which don’t carry the potential energetic charge of the others in order to impress with new sensations during every next listening.
The album ends with the splendid “She Comes In Colors” with its hellish tempo twists and turns, and the homonymous song that represents the utmost class of Nevermore speaking of rhythm section; “The Obsidian Conspiracy” is the fastest, almost thrashy song with riffs that can smash your bones like a steam-roller and with masterly virtuoso played solos, filling the longest part of those 5 minutes of metal perfection.

It’s too early to say if the band made their best album up to date. But I can say with absolute certainty is that “The Obsidian Conspiracy” is a record worthy enough to be released with the logo Nevermore on its cover. Which means a lot when you’ve raised the standard level so high in order for it to be surpassed only by yourself and no one else. In a world full of “copy/paste” albums with less and less creative individualities, Nevermore continue to be a sip of fresh air, offering another collection of music which can be called “art” and which won’t get boring after the third spin.

Being a huge Nevermore fan, I have looked forward to this album since it was announced. It's difficult to imagine how Nevermore will be able to top 'This Godless Endeavour'; an album of such awesome technical prowess and unrivalled quality, and yet Nevermore have managed to meet those expectations. 'The Obsidian Conspiracy' will leave fans of Nevermore fully satisfied that their last album was merely the beginning.

The album opens with 'The Termination Proclamation', an opener in the style of 'Born' or 'Narcosynthesis', rife with twisting Jeff Loomis riffs and those otherworldly herald-of-destruction vocals from Warrel Dane. It is instantly recognisable Nevermore fare; thick, labyrinthian riffs layered with a great drumming performance from Van Williams. 'And the Maiden Spoke' is another Jeff Loomis tour-de-force, his ever progressive riffs and solos matching with Dane's tales of the titluar maiden. Dane's lyrics are another highlight of the album; insightful and thought-provoking as ever, he is without a doubt one the best lyricists in metal today. The best example is 'Emptiness Obstructed', where he laments "So the river ends in this calamity we call heaven, is this perfection, are we spinning into the grey again, and transforming into the insane...". 'The Blue Marble and the New Soul' opens with haunting acoustic guitar and piano, a ballad along the lines of 'Sentient 6' with spiralling guitar solos and mournful vocals, and the slower tempo 'The Day You Built the Wall' refines and builds upon a chugging riff before wrapping it in a wonderfully melodic solo. 'The Obsidian Conspiracy' contains fewer full force thrash songs than 'This Godless Endeavor', but the complexity of arrangement has certainly increased, and it is probably the band's most technical impressive album thus far. The solo work of both Warrel and Jeff have clearly made an impact here; the virtuoso Loomis from his solo album meets with Warrel's more melancholic side.

It's difficult to pull a specific song or moment from 'The Obsidian Conspiracy' as a definite highlight; this is a package of consummate quality and ability unrivalled in the progressive metal world. Nevermore have made it more difficult this time for their fans, with more complex arrangements and extra strings to their bow (there is nothing much in their back catalogue like 'The Blue Marble and the New Soul'). Mix that in with the riff fests of 'The Termination Proclamation' and the stunning title track and you have the next step in Nevermore's unfaltering march to the top of the prog metal mountain. Opeth and Dream Theater watch out, they're coming for you...