NEVERMORE — Dead Heart in a Dead World (review)

NEVERMORE — Dead Heart in a Dead World album cover

Album · 2000 · Thrash Metal

2/5 · 2010-05-19
Stephen

It's a funny coincidence that the word "four" if translated into Chinese can also mean "dead" and the title of Nevermore's fourth album is "Dead Heart In A Dead World". Produced and mixed by Andy Sneap, the result is very satisfying. Some said that Nevermore's style is comparable to their fellow Seattle band, Queensryche, but they're far heavier because of the power/thrash factor, that's an opinion I won't deny. Nevermore implemented a down-tuned distorted guitar which is common in modern metal but then it created an unacceptable problem for my ears that's used to normal tuning in classic 80s metal style. Warrel Dane's vocal delivery here is mostly sounded painful and tortured, often he's wandering aimlessly in the mid range, not a horrible one but definitely not good either.

I will raise my hat to Jeff Loomis' monstrous riffs and thunderous shreds, but underlining the fact that I dislike a down-tuned tone, others might found it more appealing. Off to the great tracks of the album first : "We Disintegrate" displayed a dynamic riffs and tempo, and Dane's best singing style can be found here, you can see how he switch between a demonic scream and low register crawl at ease. The next one, "Inside Four Walls" has a swelling groove, an angry and furious track embalmed with a technical texture. "The Heart Collector", an easy-listening Nevermore-style power ballad is quite good but the single, "Believe In Nothing" is superior compared to the former. Dane's soulful vocal and the normal tuning guitar made this a compelling semi-ballad song.

"Narcosynthesis" and "Engines of Hate" burst with an unmerciful rhythm and brutal riffs, a potential tracks that could've done better. "Evolution 169", "The River Dragon Has Come", and "Insignificant" are disposable, but the rendition of Simon and Garfunkel's "The Sounds of Silence" ruined the classic and the whole album. I'm confused on why should they pick this song and turned it into a modern thrash version as you hardly can identify any melody of the original song at all, definitely a catastrophic moment for me.

It's interesting to see a lot of people dig this album and even cited this as one of their best, because if this thing is their best, then I won't bother to hear any other of their albums. To sum up, "Dead Heart In A Dead World" is pretty dead to me and based on the four songs that I like, two stars is the most I can give. Avoidable for fans of classic thrash/power metal but Nevermore hardcore or fans of modern metal might found this highly enjoyable.

more than 2 years ago
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The Angry Scotsman wrote:

more than 2 years ago

Also hate to say it but the cover of "Sound of Silence" you took way too hard lol ruined the classic and the whole album? I can understand the former but ruined the album? The whole album? I think that is a bit much and if you think this an honest 2 star than cool, I just hope you didn't take that one song so badly it lowered the rating...

The Angry Scotsman wrote:

more than 2 years ago

The Angry Scotsman wrote:

more than 2 years ago

This is my second favorite Nevermore album actually Jonas! Superb. But of course we all have quite varied tastes and as you said, the important thing is a review was written explaining his beliefs! It was indeed quite well written.

UMUR wrote:

more than 2 years ago

I think you wrote down all the reasons why you didn´t enjoy the album and explained yourself well. That´s a good critical review. Just wanted to let you know that I enjoyed it even though I don´t agree.

Stephen wrote:

more than 2 years ago

yes jonas, i won't back down on listening to Nevermore, it's just that downtuned style is really bugging me, but seeing that Nevermore is highly praised by a lot of metal fans, there's sure something valuable that I have not seen/heard, but this review is based on my personal 2-3 spins of the album.

UMUR wrote:

more than 2 years ago

Interesting to that some actually don´t enjoy one of my favorite albums and has good reasons not to. Good review BTW.