NEVERMORE: Dead Heart in a Dead World

Produced by Andy Sneap

Released: 2000

Nevermore toured Australian about a year before this album came out; in hindsight as much fun as that tour was with Warrel Dane and Jeff Loomis stage-diving every night and Dane drinking himself into oblivion at every opportunity, the entire jaunt may have been a bit more successful for them had they come out on the back on this monster. Dead Heart in the Dead World is an absolute modern metal classic, an album that helped define the genre into the 21st Century. Before this, Nevermore was just a good band that made good albums. Afterwards, they were legends.

Some still critique Dead Heart in a Dead World for being less technical and less diverse than previous albums, but in place of those aspects Nevermore became darker, heavier and catchier. This was Warrel Dane's best vocal performance to date and stripping back the line-up to a four piece helped tighten the songwriting and gave the band more direction. "Narcosynthesis" makes an impact immediately, driving, heavy and so inimitably catchy that the chorus sticks in your head long after the album is over. Loomis adopted the use of seven-string guitars for this recording, lending a nu-metal edge to the band's bottom end. This led to a backlash from purists opposed to anything even remotely resembling Korn (and this is far from that), but the band had not forgotten their old-school melodic metal riffing. This actually gave Nevermore a unique style yet one that was reminiscent of that other great Seattle progressive metal band: Queensrÿche.

As dark as that band could be however, nothing compared to Warrel Dane's bleak tales of the human condition. His lyrics are stark, humbling and depressing to the point where they would be almost impossible to listen to much less enjoy if the music that frames them wasn't so good. Jim Sheppard and Van Williams are solid of course but the real star is Loomis, whose mastery of the guitar became truly apparent on this album. If there is a criticism, it is that some of the riffs sound rather similar to each other here and there, but this is only a minor quibble that can be overlooked by the strength of the material. "The River Dragon is Come" is perhaps the highlight, with all the pieces working together perfectly but in truth there isn't a bad song here. Their version of "The Sound of Silence" boasts a true menace, "Insignificant" is utterly humbling, "The Heart Collector" sounds like emptiness.

Through the rejection of all religions, to a dedication to an incarcerated friend, to the smallness of humanity, Nevermore produced a stunning journey of emotional metal with Dead Heart in a Dead World. They have yet to make a bad album, but this one is a true masterpiece.

1. Narcosynthesis
2. We Disintegrate
3. Inside Four Walls
4. Evolution 169
5. The River Dragon Has Come
6. The Heart Collector
7. Engines of Hate
8. Sounds of Silence
9. Insignificant
10. Believe in Nothing
11. Dead Heart in a Dead World

Rating: 98%

NB: A lot of people seem to think that this album is called Dead Heart, in a Dead World with a comma, but the little comma-like serif on the toe of the t in the title is actually a quirk of the font and not a comma at all. Careful inspection of the rest of the booklet reveals the "comma" attached to every t, making "Narcosynt,hesis", "Evolut,ion 169", "T,he River Dragon has Come," etc. Therefore, it's not a comma. Stop it!