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Tag Archive: Nevermore

Jeff Loomis Unveils Details On New Solo Album, Plains of Oblivion

Jan.30, 2012

Prog metal guitar virtuoso Jeff Loomis (ex-Nevermore) has finally made an announced on his upcoming album, Plains of Oblivion. His sophomore solo effort was produced by 7 Horns 7 Eyes‘ Aaron Smith and will include a handful of guest artists, including the likes of Ihsahn and Marty Friedman, among others. Check out the tracklist below:

01 Mercurial (featuring Marty Friedman)
02 The Ultimatum (featuring Tony MacAlpine)
03 Escape Velocity
04 Tragedy And Harmony (featuring Christine Rhoades)
05 Requiem For The Living (featuring Attila Voros)
06 Continuum Drift (featuring Chris Poland)
07 Surrender (featuring Ihsahn)
08 Chosen Time (featuring Christine Rhoades)
09 Rapture
10 Sibylline Origin

Looks like it’s gonna be killer. I’m particularly interested in hearing how the Ihsahn collaboration worked out! Speaking of which, Loomis has reciprocated the solo album guest solo, and will be featured on Ihsahn’s upcoming solo album. NEAT. Can’t wait for that!

Plains of Oblivion is due out April 10th on Century Media Records.

- JR

Tags: 7 Horns, attila voros, Chris Poland, Christine Rhoades, Ihsahn, Jeff Loomis, Nevermore, Tony MacAlpine

7 Horns 7 Eyes Finally Announce Release Date for Debut Album Throes of Absolution

Filed Under: Audio, Upcoming releases

Jan.27, 2012

It’s been two years or so since I became aware of the so-called progressive atmospheric death metal group 7 Horns 7 Eyes. I know Big Chocolate was stoked on them during one of his vlogs and there was a lot of buzz about Jeff Loomis (ex-Nevermore) contributing a guest solo to their new album. After signing to Century Media and Basick Records, they sort of faded out of my awareness in the past year until today when I got word that their debut album Throes of Absolution will finally see the light of day this April.

Here’s a neat press quote from guitarist Aaron Smith on what took them so damn long:

“7H7E has been on quite a journey since we embarked on recording this album, full of some big ups and downs—not the least of which being signed to Century Media/Basick Records, enduring a front-man change, re-recording all the album vocals, and sharing the stage with some great bands…and let me tell you-it feels amazing for us to know that we finally get to release this thing out into the world. Many of our fans have waited patiently for years for this record to drop, likely wondering at times if it ever even will, and we can’t thank them enough for sticking by us. Here’s to our fans and to 2012 being a great new year for 7 HORNS 7 EYES! See you on the road!”

Ah, so that explains it! Throes of Absolution is due out April 23rd throughout Europe on Basick Records and April 24th in North America via Century Media. After the jump, you can check out the track list. Below, check out a song from the record, titled ‘Vindicator.’

- JR

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Tags: 7 Horns 7 Eyes, big chocolate, Jeff Loomis, Nevermore, Throes of Absolution

From The Archive: Nevermore – Dead Heart in a Dead World

Filed Under: Albums You Should Hear, Bands That Made Me Heavy, From the Archive

Jan.04, 2012

From The Archive

The discovery of a new band is always exciting. Will it be something you’ve heard countless times? An experience that leaves a bad taste in your mouth? Or is it a treat from which you cannot stop consuming? I wanted to take a trip back in time to reminisce about bands/albums that not only introduced me to heavy music, but kept me coming back for more…

From The Archive: Nevermore – Dead Heart in a Dead World

Nevermore - Dead Heart In A Dead World

Happy New Year everyone! After taking last week off to relax (sort of) and join in the mass posting of each heavy bloggers top albums of 2011, I was also pondering what album I wanted to cover next for my FTA article. Well, after much thought, I felt it was best to come back strong and discuss not only a band that, overtime, became one of my favorites, but a particular album of theirs, that to this day is still one of my go to albums. My first introduction to Nevermore was when I saw them back in 2000, where they provided support for In Flames durning their Clayman tour. I remember enjoying their sound as well as their performance, and at that time they just released their fourth full-length album, Dead Heart in a Dead World. So like any curious human being would do, I picked up their new album, popped it in the cd-player, and the rest is history.

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Tags: Dead Heart in a Dead World, Nevermore

Bandhappy To Open For Registration Tomorrow, January 5th!

Filed Under: General News

Jan.04, 2012

One of the most exciting new things to come about in this metal scene in the last couple of years has got to be Matt Halpern’s innovative service Bandhappy. If you haven’t heard our harping on the subject enough to know what its all about, it’s the first website that allows live music lessons to take place between professional musicians and fans. It won’t be long before you can take lessons on the instrument of your choice from some of the following names:

Teachers that have already signed on include Tosin Abasi (Animals as Leaders), Rich Redmond (Jason Aldean), Gil Sharone (Stolen Babies), Jeff Loomis (Nevermore), Ben Weinman (Dillinger Escape Plan), Mike Mowery (Outerloop MGMT), Chris Adler (Lamb of God), Willie Adler (Lamb of God), AJ Minette (The Human Abstract), Evan Brewer (The Faceless), Paul Waggoner (Between the Buried and Me), Rody Walker (Protest the Hero), Peter Wichers (Soilwork), Louis Cato (Marcus Miller Band), Spencer Sotelo (Periphery), and more.

I can’t stress the “and more” enough, because the possibilities are vast. Registration privileges for students and teachers begins tomorrow at 11 am EST, and the first lessons will begin on Monday, January 9th. Exciting! Above, you can watch a tutorial that displays the ins and outs of using the site as a student. After the jump you can watch a similar tutorial for being a teacher on Bandhappy. Get involved!

- JR

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Tags: Animals As Leaders, Bandhappy, Between The Buried and Me, Dillinger Escape Plan, Jason Aldean, Lamb of God, Marcus Miller Band, Matt Halpern, Nevermore, Periphery, Protest the Hero, Soilwork, Stolen Babies, The Faceless, The Human Abstract

Nayon’s All Time Favorite Albums

Filed Under: Albums You Should Hear, Features

Sep.29, 2011

I like new music just as much as any other person, but there are times in life where you need to fall back on something that is comfortable and known for you, and there are some albums that you can always depend on, they’ll always be there for you and always make you feel good. Today, I want to share these albums with you.

8. Dark Tranquility – Haven

Dark Tranquility are consistently good with their albums, but their songwriting could definitely be separated into two periods. Their old melodeath phase, and their new Gothenburg metal phase. Haven is the perfect bridge in between, and it’s also at a time when all members were at their best. Mikael’s voice is amazing, heart-wrenching yet heavy, and every song is just perfect. Every song is so incredibly emotional and well-crafted, and all of them are masterpieces. Even though there’s nothing over the top in their playing, the album is still insane simply because how intense it is, emotionally.

7. Dream Theater – Train of Thought

This album is less than popular among traditional Dream Theater bands, but that doesn’t make it less of an excellent album for me. It’s really interesting how heavy a “vanilla” band like Dream Theater can be when they want to, and putting that together with their formal musical approach and off-the-charts technical ability, this album is a really weird masterpiece. The songs are all meaningful, and each passage, each riff is a joy to listen to. I’m not the biggest DT fan, but this one is really special for me.

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Tags: After the Burial, Behemoth, Born of Osiris, dark tranquility, Dream Theater, Nevermore, The Faceless, Trivium

Guilty Pleasure: Metal Covers of Pop Songs

Filed Under: Audio, Listen To This!, Lists!, lolwut, Unmetal, Video

Aug.08, 2011

Alright, I will admit that the recent trend in pop songs (Ke$ha, Lady Gaga etc.) are a guilty pleasure of mine. Well, that guilty pleasure reached new levels when I discovered metal cover/remixes of said songs. I even divided them into a few categories, but there is one important rule: the spirit of the original song must be preserved. This usually means I don’t like people doing metal vocals over the original song, because vocal melody is probably the most important part of most pop songs.

Mashup Of An Existing Metal Song With Pop:

This category is perhaps one that requires the least amount of effort on part of the maker, but it’s still not easy to do well. Actually, there are very few of these that are exceptionally good.

Let’s start with a short and simple one. This one is done by Drewsif Stalin, it’s a mashup of Within the Ruins‘ “Tractor Pull” and Katy Perry‘s “I Kissed A Girl“:

Here’s one that’s really popular, I don’t really like it but a lot of people do so there you go. It’s Meshuggah‘s “Bleed” with Lady Gaga’s “Paparazzi“. I like the extra effort someone else made to put the videos together in a way that kind of makes sense:

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Tags: attila voros, Behemoth, brahms, broadway, Drewsif Stalin, goatmill, katy perry, Ke$ha, Lady Gaga, leander, lonely island, Meshuggah, Nevermore, rihanna, The Algorithm, U2, Veil of Maya, Within the Ruins, woe is me

Look Who’s Working on a New Record!

Filed Under: Upcoming releases

Jul.20, 2011

It’s extremely cryptic, but I guess you can figure out what it means.

Yep. Count me excited. Zero Order Phase was astounding, and I can’t wait for this. If you aren’t really interested in Jeff Loomis‘s solo work, I hope you enjoyed the 30 seconds of virtuoistic guitar playing by one of the best in the business.

- GR

Tags: Jeff Loomis, Nevermore, Zero Order Phase

THE HEAVY BLOG “TAKE A MASSIVE STEAMING POE” MAGICAL MYSTERY GIVEAWAY, DAY ONE: THE ANSWER!

Filed Under: Contests

Jun.27, 2011

Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,
By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore,
`Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou,’ I said, `art sure no craven.
Ghastly grim and ancient raven wandering from the nightly shore -
Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night’s Plutonian shore!’
Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.’

Welcome one and all, to the first answer sheet for last week’s “Take A Massive Steaming Poe” contest, the first section of which is NOW CLOSED.

This time last Monday we asked you to swing by Australian psot-metallers The Matador‘s Facebook page and tell us to which of famed author Edgar Allen Poe’s works does the above picture relate. We’ll admit that it was somewhat cryptic, and required a minor piece of knowledge about the subject matter, but you’ll probably kick yourselves now if you didn’t get it.

The man in the picture is Mr. Jeff Loomis, who was until recently the lead guitarist in prog-metal legends Nevermore. “Nevermore” is, of course, the sole discourse of the raven in Poe’s most famous poem of the same name. Ergo, anyone e-mailing us with the answer “The Raven“ will have been in the running for the first of five prize packages – the first of which goes to Talae Rergyamdee!

Congratulations Talae. We’ll forward your details on to the band who will send your prize on to you.

As for the rest of you, there are still four more chances to win – make sure you don’t miss out! The next winner, for day two, will be announced this time tomorrow.

- CG

Tags: Descent Into The Maelstrom, Edgar Allen Poe, Jeff Loomis, Nevermore, The Matador, The Raven

Weekend Homework: Who Will Be Metalsucks’ #1 Modern Metal Guitarist?

Filed Under: Interblog Bullshit, Lists!, We Ask You

Jun.03, 2011

As many of you will know, masters of all that is metal (or a stoner’s approximation of, at least) Metalsucks have been counting down a list of who they (the staff) consider to be the top 25 modern metal guitarists. Of those I know, I’ve agreed with the vast majority of inclusions, and by the time this goes to press, there should only be the number one slot left to be announced – on Monday I would presume, thanks to Labor Day this Monday just gone.

So with this weekend break in mind, we want you to don your deerstalkers and tell us, based on who has already been mentioned, who you think will be – or who you think deserves – the number one slot from Axl, Vince and co.

For your convenience, I’ve listed the entries so far below, but I’d highly recommend reading the series – they make some damn good points regarding their choices.

Sound off in the comments!

- CG

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Jeff Loomis and Van Williams Leave Nevermore

Filed Under: General News

Apr.21, 2011

That’s right, guys. Guitarist Jeff Loomis and drummer Van Williams have departed from Nevermore. I guess this would explain them dropping off of the Symphony-X tour.

Here’s the skinny:

“In a mutual decision Jeff Loomis and Van Williams have decided to leave Nevermore. The time has come to pursue our own paths from the group. Due to internal struggles and ongoing issues within the band, we feel it is our time to move on. We would like to thank all of our fans around the world for their years of love, support and enthusiasm. This was not an easy decision but a very necessary one at this point, may we all meet again someday, somewhere in time.”

With all due respect to Van Williams, is there really a point to Nevermore if Jeff Loomis isn’t involved? For me, the guitar playing really made their music, and it would be hard to replace him. Nevermore without Loomis is kinda like Dream Theater without Mike Portnoy. It’s hard to imagine, and it feels kinda cheap when you think about it, but it’s going to happen, apparently. If Nevermore can survive losing two original members, then more power to them, I guess. Speaking of Mike Portnoy, here’s a job opening, dude. Hit it up!

Anyway, I wouldn’t call myself a Nevermore fan, but this news sucks. We’ll let you know if there are any updates on the matter. After the jump, watch their video for “Final Product,” from their 2008 album This Godless Endeavor.

- JR

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Tags: Dream Theater, Jeff Loomis, Mike Portnoy, Nevermore, Van Williams