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Nevermore: In Memory (remaster)

Century Media has remastered and reissued a few of the early Nevermore back catalog, and In Memory, originally an EP, now is filled with five bonus tracks, making for a nice full release. The original songs on In Memory are dark, emotional examples of the Nevermore sound, which is part thrash, part power metal, but classic metal regardless of the tag. Here, the songs are less speedy, but still dripping with power and conviction, full of blistering drum work, crunchy guitar work, and Warrel Dane's gripping lead vocals. The songs here sound a little like Dane's old band Sanctuary, especially "Matricide", the title track, and "Sorrowed Man", as Dane sings in a higher pitch for the most part, and the songs being very melodic with lots of atmosphere. As always, the guitar work of Jeff Loomis is outstanding, as well from Pat O'Brien. The killer cut though is "Silent Hedges/Double Dare", a furious rendition of a Bauhaus medley that is just bursting with pummeling guitar riffs, beefy bass lines courtesy of Jim Sheppard, and sledgehammer drum work from Van Williams.

The bonus tracks are all demos performed by Dane and Loomis, basically songs that didn't make the second album The Politics of Ecstasy. The standout is the fast & furious raging thrash attack "Seven Tongues of God", which altough it sounds very thin from a production standpoint, you can tell there's some kick-ass riffery going on. "This Sacrament" is also a bruising metal rocker, featuring churning rhythms and effective guitar work. And if you didn't think Nevermore had it in them to crank out a blistering, progressive metal instrumental, check out "42147", a wild, technical guitar lovers dream.

This was a great way to reissue this fine EP. The sound is much improved, and you get a nice little booklet with lyrics and an essay with commentary from journalist Martin Popoff and Warrel Dan himself. For the Nevermore fan, the addition of the bonus tracks is reason enough to plunk out the cash alone for this one.


Track Listing
1. Optimist or Pessimist
2. Matricide
3. In Memory
4. Silent Hedges/Double Dare
5. Sorrowed Man
6. Tiananmen Man [*][Demo Version]
7. Seven Tongues of God [*][Demo Version]
8. Passenger [*][Demo Version]
9. This Sacrament [*][Demo Version]
10. 42147 [*][Instrumental][Demo Version]

Added: October 16th 2006
Reviewer: Pete Pardo
Score:
Related Link: Nevermore Website
Hits: 3502
Language: english

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Nevermore: In Memory (remaster)
Posted by Ken Pierce, SoT Staff Writer on 2006-10-16 06:18:44
My Score:

In celebration of their 15th Anniversary, Century Media Records has released several remastered editions of their best artists which have also been expanded to include unreleased and demo tracks along with enhanced artwork.

According to lead singer Warrel Dane, the material on the In Memory EP was a bit rushed in terms of its production as it was a record label request that the band have something new available for the masses while their next album, the prolific Politics Of Ecstasy was being worked on. The EP would be able to be purchased by the fans that would be in attendance at one of the festivals the band would be playing in Europe. As you listen to the music on this EP, you will totally find a strong representation of the bands former life as Sanctuary. The way that Warrel sings on "The Sorrowed Man", which he cites was actually a Sanctuary tune but the album that it was to go on never was able to be recorded, released and hence the band was nevermore if I can slide a pun in there since it fits so well. "Matricide" is another complex number that delivers while the odd choice of the Bauhaus medley of "Silent Hedges/Double Dare" really works when given a Metal sheen to its original brooding Gothic version. In Memory does find the last remnant of the Sanctuary sound in my opinion as now with a good album behind them in Nevermore ( their debut) they were moving on to bigger and hopefully better things. If you had never owned this particular EP before, then the remastered edition is the perfect reason to do so. The additional tracks are actually the demos of the music that would become their killer album Politics Of Ecstasy. Even in demo form you could tell that this album was going to be a special one. This release comes with liner notes by noted Metal historian Martin Popoff as well which makes for interesting reading.






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