''The Obsidian Conspiracy'' is the seventh and final studio album by American heavy metal band

Nevermore Nevermore was an American heavy metal band from Seattle, Washington, formed in 1991. The band has been inactive since 2011, due to personal issues between the band members. In April 2015, lead singer Warrel Dane confirmed that Nevermore had n ...

. It was released on June 8, 2010 in North America by

Century Media A century is a period of 100 years. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the Latin ''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c. A centennial or ...

and at the end of May in Europe. The band's previous album, ''

This Godless Endeavor ''This Godless Endeavor'' is the sixth studio album by American heavy metal band Nevermore, released on July 26, 2005. The album was produced by Andy Sneap and is distributed by Century Media Records. Overview Guitarist Jeff Loomis revealed in ...

'', was released in 2005, making the five-year gap the longest between two consecutive Nevermore albums. ''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. The band went on an indefinite hiatus following the departure of guitarist

Jeff Loomis Jeff Loomis (born September 14, 1971) is an American musician, best known for his role as lead guitarist in the progressive metal band Nevermore during its existence from 1991 to 2011, as well as brief tenures in its precursor, Sanctuary (band) ...

and drummer

Van Williams Van Zandt Jarvis Williams (February 27, 1934 – November 28, 2016) was an American actor best known for his leading role as Kenny Madison in both Warner Bros. television detective series '' Bourbon Street Beat'' (1959–1960) and its sequel ...

in mid-2011, subsequently the death of frontman

Warrel Dane Warrel Dane (born Warrel George Baker; March 7, 1961 – December 13, 2017) was an American musician who was the lead singer for the heavy metal bands Sanctuary and Nevermore. He was a natural baritone; though he was known for his high-pitched ...

in 2017 ended any possibility of a reunion, making ''The Obsidian Conspiracy'' the last studio recording by Nevermore.

Writing and recording

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.

commented on the writing process: "These songs are full of newfound rage, lyrically and musically. Jeff Loomis has come up with some amazing new riffs that will no doubt please old and new fans alike. Also, I think the combination of Peter and Andy (production & mixing) will result in something very, very special."

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. So we'll see what happens. 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.

Track listing

Personnel

Nevermore

– lead vocals *

– lead guitar *

Jim Sheppard James Patrick Sheppard (born May 8, 1961) is an American musician. He was the bassist and founding member of the progressive metal band, Nevermore, and its predecessor, Sanctuary.Mustica, Giorgio.An Interview with Jeff Loomis: Cooling The Burn ...

– bass *

– drums

Production

Peter Wichers Peter Wichers is a Swedish guitarist, songwriter and record producer best known as one of the founding members of melodic death metal band Soilwork. From 1995 until late 2005, when he announced his departure from the band, and again from 2008 un ...

– production, engineering *

Andy Sneap Andy Sneap (born 18 July 1969) is an English guitarist, record producer and composer with over 100 albums to his name, most of which have been produced at his Backstage Recording studios in rural Derbyshire. Some of the most critically acclaime ...

– mixing, mastering * Travis Smith – cover art

Chart positions

Release history

References

External links

Nevermore's official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Obsidian Conspiracy, The 2010 albums Nevermore albums Century Media Records albums Albums with cover art by Travis Smith (artist)