Awesome Music: According to many professional and amateur critics, pretty much all of their material in some way or another, but This Godless Endeavor receives special mention — as that album is basically Nevermore taking their know-how to the absolute zenith. As mentioned in the Main, it topped "Album of the Year" and "Album of the Decade" lists. Chances are it'll go down as one of the all-time classics.
Broken Base: Subverted. When Jeff Loomis started talking about using a 7-string, a lot of people thought they were going Nu-Metal. Then they dropped Dead Heart in a Dead World.
Played somewhat straight with Enemies of Reality, which garnered a mixed reception from fans due to its relatively short length and simpler song structures.
Contested Sequel: The Obsidian Conspiracy was this when it was released, and while there were a few tracks that most fans could rally behind, the general consensus was that it was a watered-down, filler-laden album that focused way too much on hooks and had little actual meat to it. The only thing that time has really done for it is providing more context as to why it turned out the way it did; the band's effective breakup less than a year after it was released made it clear that they had not been a functioning band for a while, and the slapdash and phoned-in feel of the album was very likely due to the band being obligated to put something new out to tour on so they could pay their bills even though few, if any of them wanted to be there.
Serial Escalation: A few examples already marked on this page, but Jeff Loomis' technical skill as a guitarist can only be described as this. Also, the exponential increase in heaviness and aggression from Dead Heart in a Dead World to This Godless Endeavor is this. The former arguably hit its peak with his solo material; even to this day, "Jato Unit" is still infamous for being unbelievably difficult to play on guitar, and it is slowly beginning to become a rite-of-passage song for aspiring shredders.
Stuck in Their Shadow: The rest of the band started to become this near the end in comparison to Jeff Loomis. They were all extremely talented musicians in their own right, but by that point, Loomis had already become THE face of modern shred guitar, more or less. As much as they had all tried to avoid it, public perception of the band had basically become "Jeff Loomis and some other guys".
Tear Jerker: Dane's final performance (an acoustic performance on a Brazilian TV show) was depressing. He was gaunt, deathly pale, and generally looked like a zombie, and while he was clearly doing his best, his voice was thin and audibly broke whenever he tried to enunciate notes more aggressively. While none of them knew that he would be dead just a few weeks after the performance, the man was visibly in very poor health and clearly did not have much time left either way.
