Nevermore

After Rain City legends Sanctuary disbanded in 1991, the subject of a bitter dispute with Epic Records for refusing to partake in the fast emerging Seattle grunge scene, Nevermore rose from the resulting ashes. Featuring the virtuoso talents of Warrel Dane (a trained opera singer) and Jeff Loomis (considered by Dave Mustaine to join Megadeth aged just 16) they ditched the power metal soundscapes of their previous band and built up a unique progressive style: a style that has evolved, becoming more refined as the years have passed. Downtuned rifforama and sweeping leads battle against impassioned vocals, dense rhythms and elements of thrash, bringing speed and complexity while the lyrics tackle heavy subject matter (Dreaming Neon Black revolves around the true story of Dane's old girlfriend, who left him to join a religious cult, never to be heard from again: he would later have nightmares of her crying out to him as she drowned). Their career highlight was to come in 2005 with the release of “This Godless Endeavor” an aggressive and versatile tour de force, featuring all that defines Nevermore but with the bonus of former Testament guitarist Steve Smyth pairing with Loomis to create an album bursting at the seams with glorious riffs and mesmerising leads. After almost 20 years together Nevermore are still fighting on the front lines, leading the way for artists like Communic to follow in their footsteps. A band not to be missed.

Recommended Works
This Godless Endeavor (LP): a near perfect masterpiece, riddled with awesome song writing and not a bad song to be found. Among the top 50 metal albums yet recorded in my eyes. An absolute must listen.

Dreaming Neon Black (LP): a rich and dark concept album, ideally enjoyed in one sitting. The creepy narrative makes for some fantastic lyrics.

Enemies of Reality (LP): an altogether thrashier album compared to previous efforts, more focused and aggressive, forgoing some of their progressiveness in favour of raw power. A good starting point to get into the band.

Current Members
Warrel Dane - Vocals
Jeff Loomis - Guitar
Jim Sheppard - Bass
Van Williams - Drums

Former Members
Pat O'Brien, Tim Calvert, Steve Smyth – Guitar
Mark Arrington – Drums


Essential Tracks
This Godless Endeavor
Never Purify
Beyond Within
Sentient 6
Born

Links
Metal Archives
Wikipedia
Last.fm

Protest the Hero

Take a firm base of post-hardcore, sprinkle on a healthy dose of Arsis-esque melodic technicality and spoon in some power metal pomp and bombast: you now have yourself the basic dough with which Ontario’s finest, Protest the Hero, are baked from, with more ingredients added to flavour the mixture (is anyone else hungry?). Formed at the tender age of fourteen in 1999, PtH are dismissed out of hand by some for their “core” influences (being signed to Vagrant Records doesn’t help much either), when in reality they hold surprising depth, with a wealth of rich lyrical content and unexpectedly mature craftsmanship for so young a band: balancing an instant punch, with hooks so big as to make Peter Pan shit himself against a complexity that invites multiple listens, all the while wearing their influences like cuff links (Coheed and Cambria and Between the Buried and Me to name but two) yet still remaining an entity all their own. The partnership between Rody Walker’s fabulous vocals and Luke Hoskin’s amazing guitar harmonies is a rather brilliant combination if I do say so myself. Musicality is something you don’t often find in modern metal, making Protest the Hero a simple joy for the ears. Ignore them for the scene they populate and miss out on something special: hang up your biases and find something wonderful.

Recommended Works
Kezia (LP): created while the band tried to balance a hectic high school schedule, the record nonetheless sounds polished: a fantastic album, especially for a debut, though more “core” heavy than later works, somewhat showing their age.

Fortress (LP): their second full length and a mighty display of fine song writing, with catchy vocal lines and astounding melodies: a pleasure to behold.

Band Members
Rody Walker – Lead Vocals
Luke Hoskin - Lead Guitar, Backing Vocals
Tim Millar – Rhythm guitar, Backing Vocals, Piano
Arif Mirabdolbaghi – Bass guitar, Backing Vocals
Moe Carlson – Drums

Essential Tracks
Bone Marrow
Wretch
Blindfolds Aside
Limb from Limb
Turn Soonest to the Sea


Links
Offical Site
Wikipedia
Last.fm

Kalisia

Hailing from the land of garlic and pretentious moustaches, Kalisia formed in 1994 under the leadership of Brett Caldas-Lima who garnered the talents of Auspex’s Elodie Buchonnet amongst others. After releasing a couple of well received demos over a two year period, work commenced on their first, and so far only album, “Cybion”. They would proceed to spend over ten years crafting a 70 minute single track concept record of astonishing scope. Unhindered by boundaries, Kalisia produced a land mark in the field of progressive metal, combining the best of Dream Theater’s progressive wonderings with death metal’s pure assault, Lima even going so far as to create his own language to flavour the album’s intriguing story. Unjustly consigned to the underground by labels who think you’re too stupid and Ritalin dependent to appreciate this masterpiece, the band self released the album to great acclaim from the lucky few who knew what was coming. Be sure to check these guys out, because it maybe another 10 years before we hear from them again.

Recommended Works
Cybion (LP): The album comes complete with the previously released “Skies” demo and 4 cover songs. You need to set aside 70 minutes of quiet time to absorb this, but god damn is it worth it. Paul Masvidal approved.

Current Members
Brett Caldas-Lima - Vocals, Guitars, Programming
Laurent Pouget - Keyboards
Thibaut Gerard - Bass
Brun's (Bruno Michel) - Guitars
Elodie Buchonnet - Female Vocals, Flute, Saxophone

Former Members
Loic Tezenas - Guitars
Laurent Bendahan - Drums

Essential Tracks
Cybion
Lost Soul
A Fortune in Lies (Dream Theater Cover)
How Could I? (Cynic Cover)
I Am The Black Wizards (Emperor Cover)

Links
Metal Archives
Wikipedia
Last.fm