𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐑𝐘𝐏𝐓𝐒 - 𝐂𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐁𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐏𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐀𝐋𝐁𝐔𝐌 𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐄𝐒 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐑𝐎𝐂𝐊 & 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐕𝐘 𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐀𝐋…
July 28, 2003 — Nevermore released their fifth full-length studio album, Enemies of Reality via Century Media Records. (Apple Music or Spotify)
Due to the mixed reception of the album's production by Kelly Gray, it was remixed and remastered by Andy Sneap in 2005.
Music video's were made for the songs Enemies of Reality (Watch video) and I, Voyager (Watch video).
Overview:
The worms on the album cover are a direct reference to the lyrics of the title track, Enemies of Reality, in which Warrel Dane sings, "𝙾𝚙𝚎𝚗 𝚠𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚎𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚖𝚢." There are other lyric-inspired images in the booklet, namely an open hand holding a glowing sun (taken from Ambivalent, where the lyrics say "𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚞𝚗 𝚒𝚗 𝚖𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝚖𝚢 𝚍𝚎𝚜𝚙𝚊𝚒𝚛"). At the beginning of the song there is message played backwards that repeats the pre-chorus "𝚠𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚋𝚢-𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚍𝚞𝚌𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚜𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚝."
On the last page of the CD booklet is a dedication to the late Death frontman Chuck Schuldiner, which reads: "𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝚒𝚜 𝚍𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝙲𝚑𝚞𝚌𝚔. 𝙻𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙼𝚎𝚝𝚊𝚕 𝚏𝚕𝚘𝚠 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚢..."
The track Noumenon, is named after the philosophical concept of things as they actually are, as compared to the concept of phenomenon, which is how things appear. The term was popularized by Immanuel Kant, who used it to help explain his philosophy of transcendental idealism.
Background:
Enemies of Reality was written and recorded during a time of personal and professional tumult for the members of Nevermore. Warrel Dane attributes the sound of the album to the challenges that the band members faced during this period:
"𝙴𝚗𝚎𝚖𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝙾𝚏 𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚍𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚞𝚕𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚋𝚞𝚖 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎. 𝚆𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚊 𝚍𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚞𝚕𝚝 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚜. 𝚆𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚏𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚛𝚢 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙸 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚠𝚜 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚋𝚞𝚖."
Among the professional challenges that the band faced was that Enemies of Reality was the final album in the band's inaugural recording contract with Century Media. This interfered with the album's creation in an audible way, with the recording budget for Enemies of Reality becoming an aspect of the negotiations.
However, Dane's description of the situation indicates that both band and label were tough in their negotiating positions;
“𝙱𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢, 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 [𝙲𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚢 𝙼𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚊] 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚞𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚎-𝚜𝚒𝚐𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚍𝚘 𝚊 𝚗𝚎𝚠𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚍𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗‘𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝. 𝚆𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚏𝚒𝚕 𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚐𝚘 𝚘𝚗 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚊 𝚗𝚞𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚏 𝚕𝚊𝚋𝚎𝚕𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚞𝚜... 𝚆𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚋𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚑 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚊𝚋𝚎𝚕 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝‘𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚍 ... 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚍𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚞𝚕𝚝 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚘𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚞𝚜. 𝚆𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚢 𝚙𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚛𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚠𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚌. 𝙾𝚞𝚛 𝚋𝚞𝚍𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚜𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚛𝚎-𝚜𝚒𝚐𝚗𝚎𝚍. 𝙸 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚒𝚝 𝚌𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚝𝚘 "𝚆𝚎𝚕𝚕, 𝚛𝚎-𝚜𝚒𝚐𝚗 𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚋𝚞𝚍𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝‘𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝. "
𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚗’𝚝 𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚞𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝! 𝚆𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚛𝚎-𝚜𝚒𝚐𝚗. 𝚆𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗‘𝚝 𝚋𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚕𝚎 𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙸 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚒𝚝 𝚙𝚊𝚒𝚍 𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚠𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 [𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚗𝚎𝚡𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝]. 𝚆𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚕 ...𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚎‘𝚟𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚎𝚗 𝚏𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚍𝚎𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚎, 𝚠𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚝. 𝚆𝚎 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚎 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚢𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕.”
Production Controversy:
Enemies of Reality is infamous for its production by Kelly Gray, which was criticized as being inferior to the quality of previous albums. Speaking in 2003, contemporaneous with the initial release, Jeff Loomis spoke with qualified favor of the recording;
“𝙺𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝙶𝚛𝚊𝚢 𝚒𝚜 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚊 𝙿𝚘𝚙 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚍𝚞𝚌𝚎𝚛 𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚐𝚞𝚢. 𝙷𝚎‘𝚜 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝙲𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚕𝚎𝚋𝚘𝚡 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚊𝚕𝚋𝚞𝚖𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖, 𝚜𝚘 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚞𝚜, 𝚠𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚕𝚊𝚋 𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚜, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠? 𝙷𝚎’𝚜 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚍𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚊 𝙼𝚎𝚝𝚊𝚕 𝚋𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝙸 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚍 𝚊 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚢 𝚏𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚌 𝚓𝚘𝚋. 𝙷𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚊 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕 𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚚𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚞𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚠𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚠𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚍𝚛𝚞𝚖𝚜 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚜𝚜, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚞𝚒𝚝𝚊𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚟𝚘𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚜 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚎𝚗𝚍.
𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚠𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚍𝚘𝚗𝚎, 𝚆𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚎𝚕 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚒𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚗 𝚒𝚝 [𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚍] 𝚘𝚏 𝚜𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚘𝚏 [𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚐] 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚎𝚗𝚍, 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚌𝚑 𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚜𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚜 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚟𝚘𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚌𝚎𝚜𝚜. 𝙸 𝚐𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚋𝚞𝚖 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚍𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚍𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚊𝚝𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚙𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍.”
By 2005, however, Loomis had soured on the recording. Moreover, he directly attributed the shortfall in the album's sonics to budgetary constraints related to the contract negotiations then ongoing with Century Media;
“𝚆𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝙲𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚢 𝙼𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚊, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚋𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗‘𝚝 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚒𝚏 𝚠𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚎-𝚜𝚒𝚐𝚗 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖, 𝚜𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚐𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚞𝚜 𝚊 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚜𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚞𝚍𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚋𝚞𝚖 𝚝𝚘 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑. 𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 $𝟸𝟶,𝟶𝟶𝟶 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚌𝚑 𝚒𝚜 𝚊 𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚕 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚘 𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚍. 𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚘 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚊 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚍𝚞𝚌𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚒𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚟𝚊𝚒𝚕𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚊 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚜𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚊 𝚜𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚞𝚍𝚐𝚎𝚝, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚐𝚞𝚢 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝙺𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝙶𝚛𝚊𝚢 (𝚕𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚜). 𝚄𝚗𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚞𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢, 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚐𝚞𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚋𝚞𝚖."
That year, Enemies of Reality was remixed by Andy Sneap, who produced Nevermore's Dead Heart in a Dead World and would later produce This Godless Endeavor, mix and master The Year of the Voyager, and mix and master The Obsidian Conspiracy. The remixed/remastered sound was received more positively. Warrel Dane admitted that "𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚒𝚡 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚋𝚞𝚖... 𝚘𝚋𝚟𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛. 𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚎, 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝‘𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚘𝚍𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚋𝚞𝚖. 𝙸 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚍𝚞𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚋𝚞𝚖 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚍 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚍𝚒𝚍."
Critical Reception:
Enemies of Reality received mostly positive reviews. While generally positive, Sputnikmusic described the album's commercial song structures as "𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚢" yet also its "𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗𝚏𝚊𝚕𝚕" that led to the album seeming "𝚊 𝚋𝚒𝚝 𝚝𝚘𝚘 𝚜𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚌 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚞𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚎𝚗𝚝.... 𝙴𝚗𝚎𝚖𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕 𝚝𝚘𝚘 𝚖𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝙿𝚘𝚙 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚜."
Similarly, Deadtime.com praised the album's "𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚢, 𝚝𝚎𝚌𝚑𝚗𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕 𝚃𝚑𝚛𝚊𝚜𝚑" while criticizing the band for "𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚕𝚞𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚗𝚘 𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚊𝚍𝚜 𝚘𝚗 𝚊 𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚕𝚋𝚞𝚖 [𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝] 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚋𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚕𝚎𝚏𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜𝚊𝚕 𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖 𝚒𝚏 𝚒𝚝 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚛𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝙽𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝙿𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚏𝚢 𝚘𝚛 𝙰𝚖𝚋𝚒𝚟𝚊𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚝."
While KNAC.com lauded the album as Nevermore's "𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚊𝚌𝚌𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚋𝚕𝚎, 𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚢, 𝚒𝚗𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚖𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚊𝚝𝚎," author Eden Capwell lambasted the production for being "𝚊 𝚜𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚍" giving the impression of "𝚝𝚠𝚘-𝚍𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚏𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜".
Note: The reviews shared here are for historical reference. The views and opinions expressed within are not always supported (in full or in part) by Into the Wells. — E.N. Wells
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