Year Of The Voyager, The - Nevermore

Advantages: Interesting new take on thrash
Disadvantages: One bad track - the first one!

...Nevermore are a band I’ve been hearing a lot about on my little metallic underground grapevine lately – statements like “best band of the last decade” have been flung around until I finally decided to buy something. So, Dead Heat in a Dead World it was. Let me start by saying what I was expecting – I knew they were a thrash band so I was expecting traditional nineties thrash – very fast and furious and astonishingly heavy. It wasn’t quite what I was expecting. The album as a whole is not that fast, although the thrashy rhythms are still in place. The best word I can use to describe the album is ‘dark’ – very dark indeed. It’s a bit like old Metallica with hints of doom bands like My Dying Bride, which makes for a very interesting combination. Unfortunately... Read review

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Advantages: Damn fine album from a very underrated band.
Disadvantages: One weakish track towards the end of the album.

...there would kill to write a song like this, but i don't think is a Nevermore classic.Great guitar work again though. The final track, this Godless Endeavor, is one of the best songs ever and is a spectacular way to end the album.Not just one of the best Nevermore songs, but best songs ever.Clocking in at just under the 9 minute mark, the song doesn't seem to last that long at all.There's a lot of progressive influence in Nevermore's music, none more so than this song.The song starts acoustically for a quick intro, then a jaw dropping riff kicks in that has to be one of the best riffs ever.Excellent guitar and drumming make this amazing beyond belief.Top it off with Warrel's vocals sounding pissed off in places and you have an instant classic. There really is nothing bad i can say about This Godless Endeavor.The album contains nothing... Read review

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Advantages: Bonus tracks, excellent remaster, brilliant 70s prog
Disadvantages: Bonuses aren't that special

...closing track - the twelve minute Shadow Of The Hierophant. Split into two sections (a vocal, supplied by Sally "Mike's Sister" Oldfield, and instrumental), Hierophant stands up with the best that 70s prog has to offer. With beautiful melodies, a surging climax and the kind of "big sound" Pink Floyd would've been proud of, Hierophant is an awesome closer to an awesome album. In fact, Voyage is very much a classic in the careers of all involved and doesn't have a single weak point (unless, like many, you're not a fan of Hackett's singing voice, in which case The Hermit may not be for you). Last year, Hackett released expanded and remastered editions of his first four solo albums (every one of them recommended)and, not surprisingly, Voyage was first out of the bag. With relatively little in the way of previously unheard material (anything... Read review

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