Band:	Nevermore
Album:	The Obsidian Conspiracy
Style:	Heavy metal, Progressive metal, Thrash metal
Release date:	May 28, 2010
Guest review by:	strade

01. The Termination Proclamation
02. Your Poison Throne
03. Moonrise (Through Mirrors Of Death)
04. And The Maiden Spoke
05. Emptiness Unobstructed
06. The Blue Marble And The New Soul
07. Without Morals
08. The Day You Built The Wall
09. She Comes In Colors
10. The Obsidian Conspiracy
11. Crystal Ship [The Doors cover]
12. Temptation [The Tea Party cover]

What do a five year wait, a couple solo albums, trying to live up to a masterpiece, conflicting artistic direction, and totally mangling a sound that needed little improvement all have in common? They're all reasons why Nevermore's last release before deteriorating as a band, The Obsidian Conspiracy, underwhelms. Severely. In 2010, five years after the raw and hate-fueled masterpiece This Godless Endeavor was unleashed upon our unprepared society, Nevermore released this nonsensical escapade, and I could hardly believe I was listening to the same band; and no, as you might have already guessed, I don't mean that in a positive way.

It would be foolish to underrate an album simply because it follows a career highlight in the discography, and though I cannot deny that my expectations were certainly high, The Obsidian Conspiracy fails simply because it isn't good. What happened to all the thrash-laden vitriol? What happened to the rough, energetic anger? Nevermore has certainly flirted with modern metal at various capacities in the past, such as the outstanding Dead Heart in a Dead World, but never has it been this bland or lacking in character. The product sounds more like a rejected Soilwork recording, and that's saying something. Its all too clean, accessible, and melodic, losing the band's unique sound and style; furthermore, even the heavier moments feel forced, almost as if they were trying to satisfy the fans' desires to receive vicious material in part without truly having their hearts in it.

Its pretty clear that the songs try to cater to the formula of Warrel Dane's solo outing (which I actually enjoyed) while mixing it with Nevermore-lite material. The problem is that it simply doesn't work for this band. The tracks are painfully structured and many parts seem plain out of place (see the awful title track and the chorus of "The Termination Proclamation"). All attempts to stuff Nevermore's songwriting into a neat, concise package have failed miserably. Warrel himself is seriously showing his age here, his talents and cold conviction quickly fading into something more akin to the mundane ramblings of a senile, old man: uninspired and uninspiring, lacking the charismatic power or depth that made past works such a treat. Loomis's dazzling guitar work has been restrained, as well.

Basically, I just really dislike The Obsidian Conspiracy in almost every way. In retrospect, it's fairly easy to see why the band fell apart shortly afterward. I can't completely condemn it, as it isn't technically horrible and I actually enjoy a few of the songs despite their relatively tame nature ("Emptiness Unobstructed" and "Without Morals" are particularly decent). However, I'd still count it among my most significant musical disappointments along with Kamelot's Poetry For The Poisoned, another 2010 underachiever. Simply weak.