Nevermore — This Godless Endeavor

intothewellsabyss
Jul 26, 2023
3 min read

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

July 26, 2005 — Nevermore released their sixth full-length studio album, This Godless Endeavor via Century Media Records. The album was produced by Andy Sneap. (Listen / Listen)

Background:

Guitarist Jeff Loomis revealed in an interview that This Godless Endeavor was not a concept album but a "topic-to-topic" album, with all the songs dealing with "𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎 𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚞𝚎𝚜" that can "𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚐𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚛𝚎𝚏𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚝𝚢, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚢𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚎 𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚒𝚗, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚏 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚎𝚗𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝙶𝚘𝚍 𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚜𝚘𝚕𝚞𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚋𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚏𝚕𝚒𝚌𝚝𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚟𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍. 𝙸𝚝‘𝚜 𝚋𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚑𝚞𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜."

One might note that the track A Future Uncertain has very similar lyrics and main riff to the track World Unborn from their 1992 demos.

In the middle of the song Sentient 6 there is a message played backwards that says "𝙸 𝚊𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚗𝚍, 𝚏𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚖𝚎, 𝙸 𝚊𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚎𝚌𝚑𝚗𝚘𝚕𝚘𝚐𝚢."

Sentient 6 refers to a robot or an android that has been programmed to annihilate humankind, but actually envies humanity for their possession of emotion and a soul. The content is paradoxical and written from the perspective of the machine. The song also picks up lyrically where The Learning left off in The Politics of Ecstasy. In addition, it seems to have many parallels with the story of V'ger from Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

The music video for Born (Watch Video) premiered on the January 27, 2006 edition of MTV’s Headbangers Ball. It was shot by acclaimed director Derek Dale, resulting in what the band considers "𝚊 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝-𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚟𝚘𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚙𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚕 𝚙𝚒𝚎𝚌𝚎."

This Godless Endeavor Tour:

During the summer of 2005, Nevermore took part in Megadeth's Gigantour. The tour featured headliner Megadeth and Dream Theater, Fear Factory, The Dillinger Escape Plan and Nevermore on the Main Stage. The Second Stage featured Life of Agony, Symphony X, Dry Kill Logic and Bobaflex.

During the latter end of their tour for This Godless Endeavor, Nevermore toured North America as support for In Flames on their Come Clarity Tour, along with Throwdown and Evergrey.

I caught the tour at Piere's Entertainment Center in Fort Wayne, Indiana on Thursday, May 11, 2006. Below is their setlist and lineup for the show:

Setlist:

Final Product

I, Voyager

Poison Godmachine

The River Dragon Has Come

Engines of Hate

Dead Heart in a Dead World

Born

Lineup:

Warrel Dane - Vocals

Jeff Loomis - Lead Guitar

Chris Broderick - Lead Guitar

Van Williams - Drums

James McDonough - Bass

Personal Note:

My friend and I hung out with Van Williams from Nevermore and chatted with him for quite a while. In which he was periodically teasing Rikard Zander (Evergrey) throughout the conversation.

I met Jeff Loomis again, along with Chris Broderick and James McDonough (Megadeth, Iced Earth) who was filling in for James Sheppard due to illness. — E.N. Wells

Critical Reception:

This Godless Endeavo” ranked at No. 2 in Unrestrained! magazine's top 20 albums of 2005. It was also ranked No. 88 on the October 2006 issue of Guitar World magazine's list of the greatest 100 guitar albums of all time.

AllMusic's Eduardo Rivadavia praised "𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚟𝚘𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚆𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚎𝚗 𝙳𝚊𝚗𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚐𝚞𝚒𝚝𝚊𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚘𝚒𝚌𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝙹𝚎𝚏𝚏 𝙻𝚘𝚘𝚖𝚒𝚜" as "𝚝𝚠𝚒𝚗 𝚋𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚗𝚍‘𝚜 𝚐𝚕𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚕𝚢 𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚌 𝚋𝚞𝚕𝚔." He declared, "𝙳𝚘𝚗’𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚊𝚛-𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚎-𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚝𝚎 𝚝𝚒𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚔, 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚌𝚑 𝚌𝚞𝚕𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚖𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚜 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝙽𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎‘𝚜 𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝙻𝙿'𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚜𝚞𝚒𝚝𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚢 𝚎𝚙𝚒𝚌 𝚏𝚊𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚘𝚗. 𝙸𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚎𝚍, 𝙰𝚖𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚗-𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝙷𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚢 𝙼𝚎𝚝𝚊𝚕 𝚍𝚘𝚎𝚜𝚗‘𝚝 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚋𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜."

The album's review via PopMatters noted the complex influences as "𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚎𝚜 𝚘𝚏 '𝟾𝟶𝚜 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚊𝚕 𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚜 𝚜𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚊𝚜 𝚀𝚞𝚎𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚛ÿ𝚌𝚑𝚎, 𝚂𝚊𝚟𝚊𝚝𝚊𝚐𝚎, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙵𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚜 𝚆𝚊𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐" as well as "𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚍𝚘𝚜𝚎𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝙴𝚞𝚛𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚗 𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜, 𝚜𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚊𝚜 𝚋𝚕𝚊𝚣𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚕𝚢 𝚏𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚎𝚖𝚙𝚘𝚜, 𝚝𝚊𝚞𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚞𝚗𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚋𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚋𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚜." In one of PopMatters' only complaints, the song Bittersweet Feast" was considered "𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚝𝚘𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚘𝚗 𝚊𝚗 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚠𝚒𝚜𝚎 𝚎𝚡𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚛𝚢 𝚊𝚕𝚋𝚞𝚖." Overall, within Nevermore's catalog, This Godless Endeavor was touted as "𝚢𝚎𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚗 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚋𝚞𝚖 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚔𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝙼𝚎𝚝𝚊𝚕 𝚑𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢."

The German Rock Hard voted it Album of the Month and called it "𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚎 𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚊𝚕 𝚊𝚕𝚋𝚞𝚖 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚍𝚎". The album was later ranked 𝙽𝚘. 256 in their book The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time.

Noteworthy:

In the Marvel Comics Runaways, the character Chase Stein mentions the track The Psalm of Lydia to a co-worker as a flirt while at his job at a radio station.

Notice: Any 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