Band: Nevermore
Drums: Van Williams
Album: The Obsidian Conspiracy
Label: Century Media
Release Date: 8-Jun-2010
DD Rating: 
The long-awaited, delayed new album from Nevermore has dropped, and I have to say that I’m of two minds about most of it. The song writing and performances are rock-solid, the production is top-notch, but it’s nothing new for the band. If you slap a sticker on your new album that says something to the effect of “Five years in the making”, it had better sound like you’ve been toiling away on it for the last half decade. “The Blue Marble and the New Soul”, with its haunting melody and creepy piano lines, is really the only tune that veers from the band’s staple technical ferocity and big choruses. The Obsidian Conspiracy seems a little closer in spirit to the short-and-vicious Enemies of Reality than to the more unique and (dare I say) “catchy” tracks of Dead Heart in a Dead World and This Godless Endeavor. I guess I just wanted more in-the-car-scream-along tunes on this album.
“And the Maiden Spoke” is the standout track of the album. Really cool, slow 6/8 bluesy intro, then—WHAM! One of the most killer syncopated riffs the band has done. It’s a fast 4:3-type rhythm that Van Williams simply slays. (I’ll be transcribing this soon for a later post…) Jeff Loomis’ guitar solo is the perfect blend of melody and shredding.
Other tracks of note are “The Termination Proclamation”, “Your Poison Throne”, “Without Morals”, and the title track.
I was excited to read several months ago that Nevermore would be covering The Tea Party’s “Temptation”. Well, excited and nervous. Even the most talented artists with the best of intentions have a hit-or-miss track record with cover tunes. It was my hope that Nevermore would create a nearly unrecognizable re-imagining of the song, like they did with Simon & Garfunkel’s “The Sounds of Silence” on Dead Heart in a Dead World. Instead, it’s a practically note-for-note replay. Because it’s identical, you can’t help but compare the two side by side. Guitar, bass, and drums sound great; the electronics are a little anemic; but it’s the vocals that keep this from being an effective cover. Warrel Dane’s voice is as distinctive as they come, but he’s no Jeff Martin. The vocals on the original, by comparison, have much more… oomph. Through the preceding 10 tracks of the album, Warrel has proven that he can belt through an incredible range, but he’s far too restrained here. So, it ends up being a band I like covering a tune of a band I love. That I had to pay an extra $2 for…
Summary: The Obsidian Conspiracy is not Nevermore’s most trailblazing album, but it’s good; it’s worth the purchase. Van Williams and Jeff Loomis are as inspiring as ever.