Haha, I just fucking love that melody on the chorus, shit sounds timeless. And when the acoustics and melodic shredding come in on the bridge and the way it all wraps up...idk. Lightning in a bottle! Obsidian is their most consistent album to me, their only one where every track is solid if not gold.

Well she did help ruin a great band in the first place, so I have no respect for her.

How can you solely blame her?

How lame is Jeff that he would agree to such terms? And how lame is he that he wants to essentially be just a fill-in guitarist for such a lame band? He didn't even get to write any songs! They could've gotten most anyone to do what he did in that band.

I can't blame her for wanting to make her own band as strong as possible. It's Jeff "Beta Male" Loomis who should've never agreed to be controlled like that. Pretty un-metal of him.

The guy wanted a stable paycheck, give him a break. Un-metal? Pffffff. There could be much more in the contract than mentioned here as well. That said, it's a dick move from Gossow.

Well if Jeff didn't take it I'm sure they would have found another A list player to take that spot. So he did and he's got what I'm sure is a good paying steady gig.

I'm willing to bet that Jeff either a) didn't read that part of the contract, or b) probably figured at the time that a Nevermore reunion would never happen and didn't care about the stipulation. More likely b.

Arch Enemy is a business, simple as that. Why would she want to let Jeff go off on a whim, and leave her with a lot of hassle and expenses. He's paid to do a job, and there's a signed contract.

And that "friend of Warrel", is he 13 years old?

Aside from Chris Broderick, I doubt it.

Lol, Broderick. Even Arch Enemy could do better and I have a feeling a dog writes most of their lyrics.

To be fair, lyrics like "bark! Bark! Growl!" Would be better than their usual angsty teenager fare

I want the entire world to know that you have no idea what you're talking about. Some of us are actually in the industry and actually know what is in that contract, and know that you're barking up the wrong tree. Whether you believe that or not is entirely irrelevant to me. As someone else pointed out, why would Jeff sign that? And why would Jeff's lawyer (the same lawyer he has engaged for decades) allow him to sign that? Answer: they wouldn't. Chuck once famously said to support music, not rumors, but apparently that memo didn't get circulated widely enough.

^
This sounds more believable than every other statement in the thread

OK, so what's the true story? Was Warrel spreading bullshit on the Nevermore boards and to the guy who wrote that? Was Warrel trying to shift the blame or something? I'm not saying that's not possible but contracts aside, I could see how Arch Enemy would veto a reunion.

Nevermore was never the mainstream success Arch Enemy was, so that smells like an obvious crock of shit. Diabetic dude as vocals Vs. extremely hot chick on vocals. With same legendary guitarist. Hm- wonder which one is getting left in the dust..

Do you don't think they couldn't have found a highly skilled guitarist to take that spot? I doubt they would have any issues there. I'm sure the gig pays well.

Warrel sounds like absolute shit on that TV show, jesus.

Also whoever Sinan is, he sounds annoying.

And I want the entire world to know you can't fucking read. That wasn't my statement, that was the statement PASTED FROM FACEBOOK by a musician friend of Warrel's.

And you claim to be in the music industry? Well, given the sorry state of the industry, I can believe it.

Watched his final performance and regret it a fair bit. Dude was really struggling like half the time, and visually looked really uncomfortable and unhealthy. All made even worse by the sad tone of the music itself... what a damn shame.

To cheer myself up I went digging for some videos of Warrel at his peak. Found this awesome show in Germany 1988, possibly touring with Megadeth? The video is a bit chopped up in editing, but it's still definitive over-the-top cheesy metal madness. If he was basically 30 at this point, it's a fucking miracle his voice and touring stamina lasted long as it did. Currently digging for some bootleg live albums, I really want to hear "Sanctuary" live.

DEATHRIDER COMES FROM ABAAAAAAAAAVE

Also, a cool extended version of White Rabbit with a little atmospheric intro


Been listening to the first 3 Nevermore albums lately, first time with TPOE and DNB. They're all good, though each is probably a bit overlong in their own ways. But when it's on, it's excellent power groove, like Cowboys From Hell meets old Meshuggah. Excited to hear TGE next.

Sorry, I didn't click the link, and it looked like you were writing what came below it since it wasn't quoted. You were quick to label Angela a 'coont', so I made assumptions. Anyway, I'll back down, but let me clarify there is no such clause in Jeff's agreement. A lot of us are on edge right now with everything that happened. I'm really missing someone I have known a long time. And some of those who were close to him are struggling far worse.

By the way, if everyone hasn't seen it, there is a crowdfunding page set up to help bring Warrel home to rest in Seattle. He's still in Brazil as I write this, and the campaign is legit. There are also details in the link of an open memorial being held in Seattle on January 7th if anyone in the area wants to go and pay their final respects.
https://www.gofundme.com/warrel-dane

The other day I got chills when I realized that Warrel's final lyric on the final Nevermore album (TOC) are "these are my last words..." I'm still very sad. I've neglected Youtube searching Nevermore the last few years, but man is there some awesome stuff on there. I'm sure many heave seen these but in case not, this show on the Dead Heart tour stands out for the amazing energy level (hugely due to Curran, who was a monstrous stage presence). The DNB release party show is also fucking bad ass.

Oh sure. When you said "A-list player" I assumed you meant a "name" player. I'm sure they can hire a no-name guitarist with chops.

I'm not sure if it was planned or not, but Century Media is releasing a Never more box set. Saw it on Blabbermouth.

Rest in peace. Never been a fan of his bands but always loved that future tense song, somehow..

Ok cool, I apologize as well. Peace.

Guys you should check this out. I never took this dude seriously because he would do goofy shit like singing Taylor Swift songs in the style of Disturbed, but he gives an incredible tribute to Warrel, makes a remarkable personal confession, and does a killer job on "The Heart Collector."

Definitely a bummer hearing this news about Warrel Dane. I was always hoping for the possibility of Nevermore getting back together at some point, likely once Jeff Loomis realizes Michael Amott isn't going to let him co-write any songs in Arch Enemy (:p). But yeah, Nevermore used to be one of my favorite metal bands, and I don't really listen to them as much as I used to, but I think everything from The Politics of Ecstasy all the way through to This Godless Endeavor, those five albums are fantastic. Haven't really listened to that first self titled record, or the In Memory EP, or had a chance to get around to checking out Sanctuary yet either. So at least all that is waiting for me.

Warrel Dane's voice was certainly one of a kind. I was kind of turned off on Nevermore when I first tried listening to them partially because of that. I think that was around the time of the Enemies of Reality album. But once This Godless Endeavor came out, I was exposed to that song "The Final Product" on some Gigantour CD sampler. Then I got that album and remember listening to it on repeat for days while playing Dynasty Warriors 3 on playstation2. Worked backwards through their discography from then on, revisiting Enemies of Reality with the remixed version, which was a nice improvement. But his vocals definitely grew on me. Such emotion and passion, along with a certain gothic, sinister atmosphere. Will for sure be missed. R.I.P. Warrel

You need to hear the In Memory EP because it's very good. I agree with what you said about WD's vocals because that's how I felt too. I didn't hate them immediately, but they sort of took some time to get used to. Eventually, I came to love them.

A memorial was held for him today (1/7) in Seattle and livestreamed, but it was a disgrace.

* Started 45 minutes late
* Horrible buffering in the beginning
* Jim Shepperd looked out of it or wasted.
* No Loomis. Serious.
* The host/MC was totally disorganized. Just started taking random people from the audience to talk
* During a musical number where one guy was playing some Pink Floyd acoustically, the singer stopped and yelled "Show some fucking respect." The MC later had to ask people to keep the chatter down.

The Lemmy memorial went off beautifully. This was a shame.

I watched it as well and didn't think it was that bad. Jim's stories were great and I didn't think he sounded wasted or anything. Loomis was there but didn't speak, this was confirmed by the guy hosting the stream and a few members on the Nevermore forum. The host did the best he could, you could tell things weren't going super smoothly with the format. I thought Lenny's speech that he did along with his wife was very heartfelt and almost had me in tears. This was a low budget memorial done at a metal venue, I'm sure many many more people and funds were behind Lemmy's.

Was Van there?

http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/sanctu ... announced/

So apparently Sanctuary is staying on their upcoming tour but is doing it as a tribute to Warrel Dane with Joseph Michael of Witherfall on vocals. I'm pretty astounded personally but I could see this going really well since their ranges are fairly similar.

Whoa! That might be worth hearing.

Doubt it. He moved to NY years ago. But he might have come.

I have listened to Nevermore for the very first time in my life today (POE) and it sounds suspiciously like St Anger. Well I do consider all metalheads my brothers regardless so RIP to a metal warrior.

The only thing suspicious is this comparison.

So, listening to Witherfall this morning. This vocalist sounds pretty good. Music is obviously focused a lot on technique and not so much on inspired songwriting. A lot of worn-out shred tropes on display. Take out the showy stuff and occasional blast beats, and it reminds me a lot of Winters Bane "Redivvus", vocalist included.

I have to wonder if this tour is a trial balloon to try to carry on permanently without Warrell, a la Last in Line or Dio Disciples. Not sure it will be any good, but I can't blame them for wanting to carry on with the name they worked so hard to establish.

If you think Politics of Ecstasy sounds like St. Anger you need to clean the crap out of your ears. I can get thinking it sucks, opinions vary, but sounds like St. Anger? Gimme a break.

I’ve been thinking the same and honestly, I wouldn’t mind them giving it a chance if the tour goes well. Lenny’s too good of a songwriter and guitarist to vanish back into obscurity again, and I know the band’s been writing and demoing new songs off and on over the last year or so. Would be a waste if that didn’t amount to anything. I miss Warrel as much as anyone and there’s no way to replace him both vocally and especially lyrically, but the rest deserve this opportunity, too.

This has to be the dumbest thing I've ever read. And that says a lot, because I've read a lot of stupid stuff on metal boards over the years.

I think this tour will be the big deciding factor but I'd be good for this lineup to keep going under a different name. Is Refuge Denied or Battle Angels taken?

I can't say I'm particularly enthusiastic about this decision. Going through with a planned tour despite the band's unique-sounding lead vocalist dying just sounds like extremely poor taste/judgement. I'm actually kind of negatively surprised by how many people reacted somewhat positively to this on various online outlets and are willing to give them a shot, all the while maintaining how irreplaceable he was. I see no respect, just double standards.