History Music / Nevermore

Nevermore was a ProgressiveMetal band (with influences from every Metal sub-genre this side of Norway thrown into the mix) formed from the ashes of Power-Metallers Music/{{Sanctuary}} in UsefulNotes/{{Seattle}}, 1991. They are noted for the blazing, technical lead guitar playing of Music/JeffLoomis, as well as frontman Warrel Dane's distinctively atonal and cynical singing style. Difficult to pigeonhole, the band tends towards the darker, more instrumentally complex sides of progressive music - though chaotic and heavy enough to compete with the most aggressive of thrash bands, they retain many more progressive aspects such as acoustic segments, classically influenced guitar arrangements and Dane's vocal delivery.

The intense workout they got from having to play all those songs night after night lead to their most recent effort, ''The Obsidian Conspiracy'', which, whilst still plenty [[SlidingScaleofIdealismVsCynicism cynical]] and heavy, is becoming regarded as something of a BreatherEpisode.

Singer Warrel Dane and bassist Jim Sheppard were left as the only current members of Nevermore, and both were concentrating on the reunion of Sanctuary. Loomis was even busier, juggling a solo career, the progressive metal supergroup Conquering Dystopia, and as of recent, Music/ArchEnemy, while Williams has largely retired from music outside of Ashes of Ares, which tours irregularly. Dane had hinted that a Nevermore reunion was very likely, but it would probably be without Loomis and almost definitely without Williams; Attila Voros, however, would likely be one of the new inductees. As of December 2017, whatever hope remained is gone, as Warrel Dane passed away as the result of a heart attack.

* TheAlcoholic: Dane and Sheppard became infamous for excessive drinking and it's been all but confirmed as one of the bigger reasons why Loomis and Williams left. Coupled with diabetes, it was also what ultimately led to Dane's tragic death.

* TheBandMinusTheFace: If they do continue, Nevermore will not be the same without Van's drumming, or, more importantly, Jeff Loomis' guitar playing. Thus, this trope arguably comes into play, and with the death of Warrel Dane capping it off, the signs seem to indicate that Nevermore truly is gone for good.
* ConceptAlbum: ''Dreaming Neon Black'' is this: it's about Dane's ex-girlfriend, who got caught up in a [[ReligionOfEvil religious cult]] and was never heard from again until she and her then-husband were confirmed to have been victims of a serial killer decades later (which Dane was not aware of at the time).

* ReligionRantSong: The whole of ''Dreaming Neon Black'', for starters, due to its RealLife basis of Warrel Dane's girlfriend joining a religious cult and disappearing as a result. Beyond that, there's "Who Decides?", "This Godless Endeavor", "Believe In Nothing", etc.

* WhyWeCantHaveNiceThings: Back around the first few years of the band, Warrel Dane owned a restaurant in Seattle. After he came back from a tour in support of ''Dreaming Neon Black'', he returned to his day job to find that his staff had robbed him blind, with over ''17 kegs'' and untold thousands of dollars of liquor having been pilfered. It was this that led to him quitting his day job, leaving the restaurant business for good, and focusing all of his efforts on music.

* WordSaladLyrics: Warrel Dane's attempts to put together cryptic but meaningful lyrics fails sometimes.

* ConceptAlbum: ''Dreaming Neon Black'' is this: it's about the supposedly true tale of Dane's ex-girlfriend, who got caught up in a [[ReligionOfEvil Relgious Cult]] and was never heard from again.

Nevermore was a ProgressiveMetal band (with influences from every Metal sub-genre this side of Norway thrown into the mix) formed from the ashes of Power-Metallers Music/{{Sanctuary}} in Seattle, 1991. They are noted for the blazing, technical lead guitar playing of Music/JeffLoomis, as well as frontman Warrel Dane's distinctively atonal and cynical singing style. Difficult to pigeonhole, the band tends towards the darker, more instrumentally complex sides of progressive music - though chaotic and heavy enough to compete with the most aggressive of thrash bands, they retain many more progressive aspects such as acoustic segments, classically influenced guitar arrangements and Dane's vocal delivery.

Then, the band went for contrast. The result is 2005's ''This Godless Endeavor'', which has soft moments again (The first halves of "Sentient 6", "A Future Uncertain", and the TitleTrack), but the heavy parts of the album (everything else) got [[UpToEleven even heavier]]. This album made many Metal Magazines "Top X Albums of the Year" and "Top X Albums of the Decade" lists.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: This happens to everything from ''Dreaming Neon Black'' backwards if someone listens to anything from [[NewSoundAlbum ''Dead Heart in a Dead World'']] onward first. The first three albums are best described as Progressive-Post-Thrash. Everything after is that, but cranked UpToEleven. This can also apply to a few tracks on ''Nevermore'', which just sound like really heavy Grunge.

* NewSoundAlbum: ''Dead Heart in a Dead World''. The next album, ''Enemies of Reality'', goes UpToEleven. ''This Godless Endeavor'' [[SerialEscalation does the exact same thing]] to ''Enemies of Reality''.

Nevermore was a ProgressiveMetal band (with influences from every Metal sub-genre this side of Norway thrown into the mix) formed from the ashes of Power-Metallers Music/Sanctuary in Seattle, 1991. They are noted for the blazing, technical lead guitar playing of Music/JeffLoomis, as well as frontman Warrel Dane's distinctively atonal and cynical singing style. Difficult to pigeonhole, the band tends towards the darker, more instrumentally complex sides of progressive music - though chaotic and heavy enough to compete with the most aggressive of thrash bands, they retain many more progressive aspects such as acoustic segments, classically influenced guitar arrangements and Dane's vocal delivery.

Nevermore was a ProgressiveMetal band (with influences from every Metal sub-genre this side of Norway thrown into the mix) formed from the ashes of Power-Metallers Sanctuary in Seattle, 1991. They are noted for the blazing, technical lead guitar playing of Music/JeffLoomis, as well as frontman Warrel Dane's distinctively atonal and cynical singing style. Difficult to pigeonhole, the band tends towards the darker, more instrumentally complex sides of progressive music - though chaotic and heavy enough to compete with the most aggressive of thrash bands, they retain many more progressive aspects such as acoustic segments, classically influenced guitar arrangements and Dane's vocal delivery.

* TheAlcoholic: Dane and Sheppard became infamous for excessive drinking and it's been all but confirmed as one of the bigger reasons why Loomis and Williams left. Coupled with diabetes, it was also what ultimately led to Dane's death.

* InTheStyleOf: [[OverlyLongGag "The Sound]] [[Music/SimonAndGarfunkel of Silence"]] [[SelfDemonstratingArticle In the Style of Nevermore!]] [[FlatWhat What]].
* {{Jerkass}}: Sheppard and Dane both apparently had their moments of this, thanks to a combination of excessive drinking and highly unpleasant personality shifts while drunk.

* TalkToTheFist: Dane was on the receiving end of this from Billy Milano (Stormtroopers of Death, M.O.D.). The actual reason is still up in the air; some accounts allege that Dane was drunk, depressed, and generally having a bad night and that Milano told him to [[{{Jerkass}} stop whining before punching him]], while others allege that Dane was [[CantHoldHisLiquor piss drunk and acting like an asshole]], and that Milano had been the target of significant amounts of verbal abuse and finally decided to do something about it. Some facts are consistent, however: Dane was drunk, Milano punched him, the police were called, and Milano was hauled off.

The intense workout they got from having to play all those songs night after night lead to their most recent effort, ''The Obsidian Conspiracy'', which, whilst still plenty [[SlidingScaleofIdealismVsCynicism cynical]] and [[MohsScaleOfRockAndMetalHardness heavy]], is becoming regarded as something of a BreatherEpisode.

* MohsScaleOfRockAndMetalHardness: Generally around a 7 or 8, with some material as low as 2 and some sections (particularly on the more recent material) pushing towards 9/10 with brutal 7-string riffs and snarled vocals.

* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVsCynicism: Warrel's lyrics can border on {{anvilicious}}ly cynical, [[SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped which fits the band's generally dark tone.]]

Singer Warrel Dane and bassist Jim Sheppard are the only current members of Nevermore, and both are concentrating on the reunion of Sanctuary. Loomis is even busier, juggling a solo career, the progressive metal supergroup Conquering Dystopia, and as of recent, Music/ArchEnemy, while Williams has largely retired from music outside of Ashes of Ares, which tours irregularly. Dane has hinted that a Nevermore reunion is very likely, but it will probably be without Loomis and almost definitely without Williams; Attila Voros, however, will likely be one of the new inductees. As of December 2017, whatever hope remained is gone, as Warrel Dane passed away as the result of a heart attack.

Nevermore are a ProgressiveMetal band (with influences from every Metal sub-genre this side of Norway thrown into the mix) formed from the ashes of Power-Metallers Sanctuary in Seattle, 1991. They are noted for the blazing, technical lead guitar playing of Music/JeffLoomis, as well as frontman Warrel Dane's distinctively atonal and cynical singing style. Difficult to pigeonhole, the band tends towards the darker, more instrumentally complex sides of progressive music - though chaotic and heavy enough to compete with the most aggressive of thrash bands, they retain many more progressive aspects such as acoustic segments, classically influenced guitar arrangements and Dane's vocal delivery.

The band released their first album, ''[[SelfTitledAlbum Nevermore]]'', in 1995. They then became more progressive with sophomore effort ''The Politics of Ecstasy'', but otherwise, things remained the same.

''Dreaming Neon Black'' took the progressive instrumentation of [=''TPoE''=] and toned it down a bit, but the lyrics became far more ambitious. The album is a ConceptAlbum, with lyrics about Dane's girlfriend, who got involved and a religious cult and is now missing.

The intense workout they got from having to play all those songs night after night lead to their most recent effort, ''The Obsidian Conspiracy'', which, whilst still plenty [[SlidingScaleofIdealismVsCynicism Cynical]] and [[MohsScaleOfRockAndMetalHardness Heavy]], is becoming regarded as something of a BreatherEpisode.

* CoverVersion: "The Sound of Silence" subverts this- the lyrics are the same, but the music is all original. (See InTheStyleOf below)

* {{Matricide}}: The title of one of the songs on the In Memory EP. It is actually a song about how humanity is killing Mother Earth, rather than actually about someone killing their actual mother.

* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVsCynicism: Warrel's lyrics are almost {{anvilicious}}ly cynical, [[SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped which fits the band's generally dark tone.]]

The band debuted in 1991. They then became more progressive with sophomore effort ''The Politics of Ecstasy'', but otherwise, things remained the same.

* ''[[SelfTitledAlbum Nevermore]] (1995)''

* TheBandMinusTheFace: If they do continue, Nevermore will not be the same without Van's drumming, or, more importantly, Jeff Loomis' guitar playing. Thus, this trope arguably comes into play.