It's a winner folks. It's a winner. Nevermore's Dead Heart is one of those masterpiece albums of this middle-aged decade. It's spot on, Warrel's great vocals, Jim's bass, Van's drumming, and of course, Jeff Loomis' guitar work is great. It's a great ride, but it does falter down the stretch a bit for me.
Narcosynthesis and We Disintegrate make a ballsy start to this album. The very intelligent lyrics in these songs are mind-blowing, and recall Rage For Order/Mindcrime Queensryche and Fates Warning. The guitar work is excellent, and the good times continue throughout Inside Four Walls, Evolution 169, all the way until Engines of Hate.
The song that really stands out for me is The Heart Collector, in which I think Warrel Dane delivers his best vocal performance in Nevermore history. The song is very melodic, ala Dreaming Neon Black, but this song just bullied DNB out of its spot. And We Disintegrate has some great high pitched screaming-type vox from Warrel as well.
Once this album hits the Simon and Garfunkel cover, it starts to slow down, with three songs that are a bit more melodic, and it gets a little too dull for me here. The songs are good if you listen to them by themselves, but it slows the album when played in succession. The title track does make a great finish to this album, though, with the powerful words this song induces.
This album made me a fan of Nevermore back in 2002, and I've been an avid supporter of this band. Even through their slip with EOR, I still support them, and this album is close to metal perfection in my mind.