This Godless Endeavor

Aw yes, Nevermore. This is a band that has become very popular both in the underground and mainstream metal. They have gathered an extreme amount of success in the last few years, which is not surprising. Something pretty cool is the fact that they have managed to become pretty popular, and have not sold out and have stayed true to the style of metal they prefer to play. In case you have not heard Nevermore I pity you, as you are missing a very talented and special band who probably have a couple of albums left to give. This Godless Endeavor is their latest monster, and 6th full length release.

This Godless Endeavor is probably the biggest surprise of 2005 for me so far. I did not have high expectations for this album at all after hearing the obesity of Enemies Of Reality (which by the way, the re-release sounds so much better) I thought Nevermore's time had passed and the greatness had left them. I thought, oh this will probably just be another crap album just like the last one. Well, I sure was wrong. This Godless Endeavor is not just a good album, it is very good! What a way for Nevermore to return to the top. Warrel Dane sounds fantastic, as well does Jeff Loomis and the new guitarist Steve Smyth (Dragonlord, ex-Vicious Rumors, ex-Testament). Basically everything about this album is good; the production, the music, the lyrics, the length, etc. The musical style of this album is pretty much the same as all the others; straight up in your face fast ass kicking heavy metal. Now I'll have to admit, Nevermore does use some prog elements, but in no way are they a prog band. Besides the excellent vocal performance presented by Warrel Dane, and the insane guitar attack of Jeff Loomis and Steve Smyth, not to go unnoticed is the very cool and fast double bass work of Van Williams (this is probably the best he's done on a Nevermore album).

Almost all the songs are very good, there are a couple that sort of drag and aren't excellent, and also the interlude The Holocaust Of Thought is pretty lame, but other than that this album is very good. The best song is probably the last song This Godless Endeavor, which reminds me a lot of the song Dead Heart In A Dead World. It starts off slow and then lets loose at the 1:11 mark. This is actually a pretty fast but yet depressing song (like most of their songs), but nonetheless very good. I love the scream Dane does at the end, it reminds me of the old Sanctuary days; I'm not sure exactly what he says, but it sounds awesome.

I must applaud Nevermore on a job well done, as I did not think they would come back with such a bang. Now that I know they are still capable of kicking ass I will not turn my attention away from them, as I was ready to do. If you have been a fan of anything these guys have done, or are a fan of heavy metal or prog in general, this is an album you would very much like to check out. I'm expecting this to make it to my top 10 of 2005 list.