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Jun 9, 20235 min read

Nevermore — The Obsidian Conspiracy (2010)

𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐑𝐘𝐏𝐓𝐒 - 𝐂𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐁𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐏𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐀𝐋𝐁𝐔𝐌 𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐄𝐒 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐨𝐟  𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐑𝐎𝐂𝐊 & 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐕𝐘 𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐀𝐋…


13 years ago this week, the final album from Nevermore was released.


𝒩𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇𝓂𝑜𝓇𝑒 — 𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝒪𝒷𝓈𝒾𝒹𝒾𝒶𝓃 𝒞𝑜𝓃𝓈𝓅𝒾𝓇𝒶𝒸𝓎 (2010)



On June 8, 2010,  Nevermore released their seventh and final full-length studio album “The Obsidian Conspiracy” in North America via Century Media Records (previously released at the end of May in Europe).


The band's previous album, “This Godless Endeavor”, was released in 2005, making the five-year gap the longest between two consecutive Nevermore albums.



Background:

Nevermore, having written 13 new songs, entered Wichers studio, North Carolina in August 2009 to record the album. Van Williams completed recording the drumming on the album as August 17, in Seattle. The whole recording process was finished in October.


Warrel Dane commented on the writing process:

“𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚕 𝚘𝚏 𝚗𝚎𝚠𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚎, 𝚕𝚢𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢. 𝙰𝚕𝚜𝚘, 𝙸 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚋𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚘𝚏 𝙿𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙰𝚗𝚍𝚢 (𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚍𝚞𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 & 𝚖𝚒𝚡𝚒𝚗𝚐) 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚞𝚕𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢, 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚊𝚕.“

Jeff Loomis commented on the writing of the album:

“𝙸 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝙽𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎, 𝚒𝚝 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚜𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚗𝚍, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝙸 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝙸‘𝚖 𝚐𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚆𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚎𝚕 𝚊 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚋𝚒𝚝 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚟𝚘𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚜 𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚎𝚢, 𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚡 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚏𝚏 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝, 𝚜𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚝‘𝚜 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚊 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚋𝚒𝚝 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚗 𝚖𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚋𝚎 𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚘 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚟𝚘𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍. 𝙸𝚝‘𝚜 𝚐𝚘𝚗𝚗𝚊 𝚋𝚎 𝚊𝚗 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚕𝚋𝚞𝚖 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚞𝚜, 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎.“

Loomis has also stated in a recent interview that Peter Wichers had a major part in the songwriting, encouraging Loomis to "𝚌𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚊𝚝, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚒𝚎𝚛", thus creating a simplistic and stripped down sound that differs from the original 7–8 minute complex tracks which Loomis originally wanted to record.



Overview:

In truth, writing anything about Nevermore or Warrel Dane is very difficult for me, as Warrel was/is my all-time favorite vocalist as Nevermore were also my favorite band. It is tough because Warrel Dane is no longer with us, and that’s a hard pill to swallow. I am very fortunate though, as I was not only blessed to witness the band live on a couple different occasions, but I also got to meet Warrel and company twice. Those encounters have left me with very fond memories to look back upon.



Looking back now, I wasn’t quite sure if this album would see the light of day. At that time, it had been almost five long years since “This Godless Endeavor” had been released, so it was a pleasant surprise when the band announced plans to release “The Obsidian Conspiracy”. After reaching the height of magnificence that was “This Godless Endeavor”, it was a hard to guess if the band could write another epic masterpiece of that magnitude. As it turned out, the guys had actually written their most penetrable album since “Dead Heart, In A Dead World”.


Upon listening to “The Obsidian Conspiracy”, the first thing you notice is that it’s a blend of the bands past efforts, especially “Dead Heart” and Enemies Of Reality (minus the original crappy Kelly Gray production). “Your Poison Throne” is a rudimentary call to stand up against tyranny, “𝚖𝚊𝚢𝚋𝚎 𝚠𝚎‘𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚕𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚍”. The message is clear, “𝚁𝚒𝚜𝚎, 𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚎 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚘𝚒𝚜𝚘𝚗… 𝚁𝚒𝚜𝚎, 𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚎”! It’s a bygone tale of the human condition and the state of the world. Something that still rings true in today’s climate. It seems that Nevermore were always been a medium for Warrel to discuss his distaste (or disgust) for the injustices of mankind. Great examples of this can be found in songs like; “The Tiananmen Man”, “The River Dragon Has Come” or “Poison Godmachine”.



Here is an excerpt from an interview where Warrel discusses his lyrical content on “The Obsidian Conspiracy”;

“𝙽𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚕𝚢𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚠𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚢. 𝙾𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚋𝚞𝚖, 𝙸 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚕𝚢𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚕 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚌𝚊𝚙𝚒𝚝𝚊𝚕 𝚙𝚞𝚗𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝, 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗, 𝚖𝚞𝚛𝚍𝚎𝚛, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚞𝚒𝚌𝚒𝚍𝚎. 𝚃𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚎𝚡𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚞𝚕 𝚝𝚘𝚙𝚒𝚌𝚜. [laughs] 𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝’𝚜 [laughs] 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝙸 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚖𝚢 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚍. 𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗’𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚠𝚑𝚢. 𝙽𝚘𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚊𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚘𝚛 𝚠𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚐, 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚋𝚟𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚕𝚢 𝚠𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚐 – 𝚒𝚝’𝚜 𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚔 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝. 𝙸’𝚖 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚏 𝚊 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚗…“

The atmosphere of the album is definitely not positive or uplifting. The pervading tones of the subject matter alters from rage and despair, to grief and loathing. It’s very clear that these subjects weighed heavily on Warrel’s psyche, strongly enough for him to write about them. What’s more apparent was Warrel’s ability to weave words powerful enough to commandeer your attention. Such as in the dramatically haunting (pun intended) “And The Maiden Spoke”. And, on songs like “Emptiness Unobstructed”, “Moonrise (Through Mirrors Of Death)”, “The Blue Marble And The New Soul”, and album opener “The Termination Proclamation”, Jeff definitely did leave a lot of space for wordsmith Warrel Dane to work his lyrical magic. Where technically proficient progressions and riffs were once commonplace, big hooks, strong wordplay, and stimulating vocal patterns are the more dominant force. This ultimately made the albums material easier to consume and appreciate for the average listener. Albeit, Nevermore’s key elements are still in abundance, as Jeff Loomis proves that he can write simpler riffs and remain true to the bands signature sound.

“𝙴𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚎’𝚟𝚎 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚍𝚘𝚗𝚎’ 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚠𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚍𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎,” he adds. “𝙵𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝙹𝚎𝚏𝚏 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙸 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚙𝟹𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎, 𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚘𝚛 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚑 𝚊𝚜 𝚘𝚙𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚛𝚎𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜𝚊𝚕 𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚘𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛. 𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗’𝚝 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚒𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚎𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚌𝚝 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚋𝚞𝚖 𝚜𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚜, 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑. 𝙸 𝚌𝚊𝚗’𝚝 𝚋𝚎 𝚘𝚋𝚓𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎.”
“𝙽𝚘𝚋𝚘𝚍𝚢’𝚜 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚜𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚜, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚋𝚎 𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚊𝚠𝚎𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚒𝚏 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚋𝚘𝚍𝚢 𝚍𝚒𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝙸 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚑𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚢. 𝙸𝚝 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚖𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎𝚜 𝚒𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑’ 𝚜𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚗’𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚜𝚔 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝’ 𝙸 𝚐𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚜. 𝚆𝚎’𝚟𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚊 𝚕𝚘𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚖𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚜 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚘𝚗𝚎. 𝙰𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗’ 𝚠𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚍𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚘𝚗 𝚙𝚞𝚛𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚎’ 𝚒𝚝 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚢. 𝙸 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝’𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚍𝚛𝚊𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚒𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚝𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 “𝙿𝚘𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚜” 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖.” — Warrel Dane

In conclusion: Nevermore were always evolving with every release, altering from the very melodic debut release, to the more progressive “Dead Heart in a Dead World”, to the even more crushing “This Godless Endeavor”. And, if you listen to “The Obsidian Conspiracy” with an open mind, you will see that this release was just another step in the bands evolution. The band never truly strayed far from their foundation, they only matured. I often wonder where the next step would have lead them on their musical journey. Unfortunately, the band went on an indefinite hiatus following the departure of guitarist Jeff Loomis and drummer Van Williams in mid-2011, subsequently the death of frontman Warrel Dane in 2017 ended any possibility of a reunion, making “The Obsidian Conspiracy” the last studio recording ever by Nevermore. It is saddening to think that we will never get to experience the majesty of another Nevermore release. — E.N. Wells


𝘙.𝘐.𝘗. 𝘞𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘭 𝘋𝘢𝘯𝘦 (𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩 7, 1961 – 𝘋𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 13, 2017)


Critical Reception:

“The Obsidian Conspiracy” was met with generally positive reviews. It was the band's first album to chart in Austria, Belgium, the United Kingdom, and the United States Billboard 200.



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


Click this link to listen to “The Obsidian Conspiracy” via Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/album/the-obsidian-conspiracy/1045282036


Click the link to follow Nevermore’s Official Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nevermorefans


Click the to watch the official video for "Emptiness Unobstructed": https://youtu.be/vjQ63uB__OA



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