Nevermore "The Obsidian Conspiracy"

The Obsidian Conspiracy is the seventh and final studio album by American progressive metal band Nevermore. The album was released on June 8, 2010 in North America by Century Media and was released at the end of May in Europe. The band's previous album, This Godless Endeavor was released in 2005, making the five-year gap the longest between two consecutive Nevermore albums. The album was met with generally positive reviews. The Obsidian Conspiracy was the band's first album to chart in Austria, Belgium, the United Kingdom and the United States Billboard 200. As the band has been on an indefinite hiatus since mid-2011 and frontman Warrel Dane died in 2017, The Obsidian Conspiracy remains the last studio recording by Nevermore thus far.

Nevermore, having written 13 new songs, entered Wichers studio, North Carolina, in August 2009, to record the album. Van Williams completed recording the drumming on the album as 17 August, in Seattle. The whole recording process was finished in October.

Warrel Dane commented on the writing process: "These songs are full of newfound rage, lyrically and musically. Jeff Loomis has come up with some amazing new riffs that will no doubt please old and new fans alike. Also, I think the combination of Peter and Andy (production & mixing) will result in something very, very special."

Jeff Loomis commented on the writing of the album: "I think that with the new Nevermore, it still sounds like the band, but I think I'm giving Warrel a little bit more room this time around for more vocals rather than all the notey, kind of complex stuff and all that, so this time around it's just a little bit more wide open musically for him to really be able to do whatever he wants vocally this time around. So we'll see what happens. It's gonna be an interesting album for us, for sure."


Jeff Loomis has also stated in a recent interview that Peter Wichers had a major part in the songwriting, encouraging Loomis to "cut out the fat, and make the songs catchier and hookier", thus creating a simplistic and stripped down sound that differs from the original 7-8 minute complex tracks which Loomis originally wanted to record.

Trivia:
- The album peaked at #132 on the Billboard 200.

Music videos:
- Emptiness Unobstructed

Recording information:

Drums recorded at Robert Lang Studios, Seattle WA.
Additional bass and vocals produced at Cadillac Limo Studios.

Additional bass and vocals produced at Robert Lang Studios, Seattle WA.